Ester

To say, I had been looking forward to dining at Ester for awhile is an understatement. Was it since they won Best Restaurants and Best New Restaurant at The 2014 Time Out Food Awards which I attended last August? Or perhaps it was when they won  Two Hats, as well as Best New Restaurant, by SMH Good Food Guide 2015, which clinched it? Either way, it had a lot to live upto when I dined there with a friend last week. The menu all looked great and we were both feeling indecisive, so decided to go for the Banquet Menu (a bargain at just $65 per person, as it includes 9 dishes). You can make specific requests for dishes in the Banquet Menu, or ask for omissions, but generally it is based on the chef’s choices. We tried the: house baked bread with house churned butter, roasted oysters, beef tartare/oyster/horseradish, veal/cos/whipped bonito (who knew whipped bonito could taste so good!), duck & pistachio terrine, tuna sashimi with cucumber (pictured), bone marrow with chilli paste (which was delicious and not spicy at all thankfully), cauliflower/almond/mint (one of their signature dishes), leaf salad and three milks dessert (amazing, especially the dulce du leche). Their wine menu is as good as their food; we had two French wines (which usually I am not a huge fan of) and both were very easy to drink, perhaps too much so! So, why has Ester won so many awards lately, despite just opening in July 2013? Well, the food is delicious, the staff are very accomodating and friendly, the service is sublime, the wine is extremely quaffable, and there is a bar if you cannot get a table/have to wait for yours. Tip: Go there now!