I've lived in Kew for over 10 years now and when you live in a place for so long, it just becomes, 'my neighbourhood'. All the exciting stuff happens outside of 'my neighbourhood' and therefore, into the city or Collingwood I would run to!
So, for such a long time I never knew Estivo existed. A one hat restaurant just 5 minutes down the road from me? Really?
Maybe I can blame it's modest exterior, and the fact that it's slightly away from the main strip of shops, although I profess to not even checking them out that much (maybe something I ought to change). At any rate, being on the entertainment card, on a lazy afternoon, made it the perfect candidate for a lunch date with my grandma.
I called up to make sure there was still space for lunch, just in case and lo and behold, upstairs was free. Downstairs in the intimate but airy space, bright and inviting, was a happy gaggle of older women celebrating a 60th birthday. I couldn't help but smile at the yellow novelty "60th Birthday!!" balloon bobbing away on the birthday girl's chair.
Upstairs was a more cosy space, but still quite neat and sleek.
Our waiter was a bit older, a bit old school and slightly brusque but polite enough and efficient. I still somehow got the feeling he didn't like us that much, maybe I was a bit younger than he's used to seeing...?
To get our palettes going, soft shell crab on a watermelon salad with chilli peanut brittle and a Thai lime dressing. Quite a delight, for some reason it looked like a cool temperature dish to me, but after dishing out the two generous portions of soft shell crab onto our plates I was surprised at how hot they were! And how flavourful they were! Followed up by the cool watermelon, it was a very refreshing combination, a lovely light way to start lunch.
Whenever I take my grandma out, she usually refuses to actually pick anything off the menu herself, claiming she never knows what to order at western restaurants. I think she might just be a bit lazy to read the menu herself...
I know she doesn't like lamb or things with dairy, so duck seemed like a nice lunch option. Roasted magret of duck, cooked medium-rare, with an onion and duck leg tart, spiced carrot puree and bittersweet duck jus. Oh my goodness, I should have ordered this dish for myself! The duck magret was so amazingly tender and juicy. And the duck and onion tart? Just divine, the onions were so well caramelized and so sweet, it went beautifully with the duck.
I opted for fish (as I usually do, red meat seems a bit heavy for lunch...), getting the wild barramundi with steamed vongole, confit tomato, white anchovies, basil and tomato consomme. The barramundi was lovely, cooked just right and with a thick, crispy skin. Perfectly seasoned, the consomme was also delicious, especially after squeezing the lemon over the dish, the acidity complimented everything so well! However, whilst the vongole are quite pretty and do create a nice aesthetic, I didn't find they really added anything flavourwise and were quite small, there wasn't much to chew on there! Could have gone for more tomatoes as well...I did appreciate the salt of the anchovies though.
When I saw it in the menu earlier, I pretty much knew I had to have dessert. Chocolate creme brulee with pear sorbet and fig tart. Chocolate. Creme. Brulee. Ooh, once the crystallized sugar was tapped through, the custard was rich in flavour, but light on the tongue and in the stomach. So moreish, I didn't mean to just gobble it down, but I couldn't help it! At least most of the other lunch diners had departed by then! The pear sorbet was a refreshing compliment, really waking up my tongue from all the chocolatey-ness!
And to top it off, a lovely pot of peppermint tea. Aren't the flower decals on the cup adorable?
So, a delightful way to over extend my lunch from maybe 30 minutes to ooh...I don't know. 2 hours? I'm sure work can wait for my emails....
So, for such a long time I never knew Estivo existed. A one hat restaurant just 5 minutes down the road from me? Really?
Maybe I can blame it's modest exterior, and the fact that it's slightly away from the main strip of shops, although I profess to not even checking them out that much (maybe something I ought to change). At any rate, being on the entertainment card, on a lazy afternoon, made it the perfect candidate for a lunch date with my grandma.
I called up to make sure there was still space for lunch, just in case and lo and behold, upstairs was free. Downstairs in the intimate but airy space, bright and inviting, was a happy gaggle of older women celebrating a 60th birthday. I couldn't help but smile at the yellow novelty "60th Birthday!!" balloon bobbing away on the birthday girl's chair.
Upstairs was a more cosy space, but still quite neat and sleek.
Our waiter was a bit older, a bit old school and slightly brusque but polite enough and efficient. I still somehow got the feeling he didn't like us that much, maybe I was a bit younger than he's used to seeing...?
To get our palettes going, soft shell crab on a watermelon salad with chilli peanut brittle and a Thai lime dressing. Quite a delight, for some reason it looked like a cool temperature dish to me, but after dishing out the two generous portions of soft shell crab onto our plates I was surprised at how hot they were! And how flavourful they were! Followed up by the cool watermelon, it was a very refreshing combination, a lovely light way to start lunch.
Whenever I take my grandma out, she usually refuses to actually pick anything off the menu herself, claiming she never knows what to order at western restaurants. I think she might just be a bit lazy to read the menu herself...
I know she doesn't like lamb or things with dairy, so duck seemed like a nice lunch option. Roasted magret of duck, cooked medium-rare, with an onion and duck leg tart, spiced carrot puree and bittersweet duck jus. Oh my goodness, I should have ordered this dish for myself! The duck magret was so amazingly tender and juicy. And the duck and onion tart? Just divine, the onions were so well caramelized and so sweet, it went beautifully with the duck.
I opted for fish (as I usually do, red meat seems a bit heavy for lunch...), getting the wild barramundi with steamed vongole, confit tomato, white anchovies, basil and tomato consomme. The barramundi was lovely, cooked just right and with a thick, crispy skin. Perfectly seasoned, the consomme was also delicious, especially after squeezing the lemon over the dish, the acidity complimented everything so well! However, whilst the vongole are quite pretty and do create a nice aesthetic, I didn't find they really added anything flavourwise and were quite small, there wasn't much to chew on there! Could have gone for more tomatoes as well...I did appreciate the salt of the anchovies though.
When I saw it in the menu earlier, I pretty much knew I had to have dessert. Chocolate creme brulee with pear sorbet and fig tart. Chocolate. Creme. Brulee. Ooh, once the crystallized sugar was tapped through, the custard was rich in flavour, but light on the tongue and in the stomach. So moreish, I didn't mean to just gobble it down, but I couldn't help it! At least most of the other lunch diners had departed by then! The pear sorbet was a refreshing compliment, really waking up my tongue from all the chocolatey-ness!
And to top it off, a lovely pot of peppermint tea. Aren't the flower decals on the cup adorable?
So, a delightful way to over extend my lunch from maybe 30 minutes to ooh...I don't know. 2 hours? I'm sure work can wait for my emails....
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aww thats so cute! ... i should really take my grannie out to lunch sometime soon too.. everything looks so yummy!!
ReplyDeleteThis is such a sweet post! And I think you're lucky really that she'll eat such foods - I tried to serve my (admittedly traditional) grandma ham once, and she thought I was trying to poison her "IT'S RAW!!!". I've heard good things about Estivo, but also that it's very tiny. I have to say that barramundi is just the prettiest little thang..
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