Today I got treated to a birthday dinner by my sister in law at a fancy restaurant, Esquire. It is located along the Brisbane River at Eagle Street Pier. I was quite excited, as I hadn’t been out to fine dining for quite some time since my kids came along.
The entrance was rather hidden, so thank goodness for smart phones and the sharp eyes of a pathologist (my SIL).
I knew we were in for something a little different, when we were greeted with a knee high pile of empty pippi shells used as some sort of interior decoration. No smells, some poor kitchen hand must have given these little shells a good wash. The reception counter was also decked out with two WHOLE skeletons of fishes, presumably leftovers from the precise deboning for the posh diners. You have to admit, it IS an unusual decorative piece, and a bit unexpected. Even the QLD science museum doesn’t have whole skeletons of little edible fish on display.
You can’t fault the service. Everyone was attentive and very very courteous. There appeared to be 2 kinds of wait staff, people dressed all black in suits, and people dressed in grey shirts with a grey apron over the top. I wonder what the difference is? Our servers were the guys and girls in grey, and many had strong accents, presumably they were holidaying young people with working visas.
I decided to have a citrus mock tail. Very pretty and pink to look at, and I suspect, carrying a hint of grapefruit, and rather a lot of sparking water. There were 9 courses to get through. The menu was printed on green card folded into a simple origami pyramid. Later in the evening, I noticed that they’d printed me a birthday greeting, which was a nice touch.
The highlights for me were:
- a dish of tiny hand rolled gnocchetti in a seafood bisque; I would have happily given up the rest of the plates for a big bowl of this
- a dish of stuffed semi-dried tomatoes, in some kind of pesto broth
- the sour dough bread with molasses butter – this smelt amazing and tasted like chocolate without it being chocolate
The rest of the dishes were ok, but I thought everything could probably have done with a bit more seasoning. My SIL noted that there were no salt and pepper shakers on the table. Maybe the chef felt it would be blasphemy to season his perfect food.
We had a very nice evening, chatting, discussing the various dishes, and people-watching. All adult conversation that had been missing from my radar in a long time.
This was probably the only disaster. It was a dessert dish, made from dehydrated blueberries and grapes, with crystallised ginger, and a sort of creamy soup. The berries were very tart because of the concentration of taste, the ginger cubes were quite spicy, and I felt that a little more of something sweet, cold and creamy would have balanced the whole dish better. As it was, it felt like I was eating a dish of raisins with a splash of milk. See, all that MasterChef watching has paid off!
All in all, I had a lovely evening, because most of the dishes were quite tasty, and the service was excellent. My SIL and I get on just fine, so it was very nice to be able to eat and talk in peace, without having to worry about the little people.
Thank you very much for the treat, B. I enjoyed myself very much. XX
