Esther, Sydney Aug 2025

Took a week long trip to Sydney in August and visited a few fine dining spots starting with Ester. Located a bit south of Sydney CBD, open mainly for dinner with weekends available for lunch. They offer modern Australian a la carte or set menu. The atmosphere is much more casual, it got quite lively in the dining room quite quickly. A number of the chefs I spoke with during the trip said they loved Esther, partly for their laid back environment.

I had ordered the set menu with a few addons, they are flexible in portioning dishes based on number of diners for certain dishes. The menu changes constantly based on seasonality and what the chefs are cooking up. The set menu was AUD 155, they offer a good selection of local wines which pair well with the dishes.

1. Fried pumpkin with szechuan chilis, cream sauce and leak powder: nicely cooked pumpkin, the heat from the chili was delicious and paired with toppings made it an instant favourite

2. Rosted rock oyster with chicken fat, garlic and pepper berry butters: a staple dish, its oven roasted and enjoyable variation from the many raw oysters i ate during the trip. The chicken fat gave it a nice depth of flavour.

3. Fermented potato bread served with kefir line, dashi jelly, salmon roe and soy sauce cheese spread. The spread was absolutely one of the best things I had, it packs a punch in flavour most notably the umami and salt notes but is still balanced well with its components. Freshly cooked potato bread pairs perfectly, must have.

4. Claypot braised duck dumplings topped with yoghurt foam and crispy soul bush. This was added on, reminded me a lot of Bak Kut Teh in terms of flavour, the broth is comprises of many herbs and when eaten with the foam forms a nice pairing. Crispy soul bush also gives it a nice textural element.

5. Yamba King Prawn with fermented prawn butter, tamari and fermented chili: terrific dish, showcasing the seafood australia has. They highlighted to each diner how its safe to eat the entire bone shell and all. They provide slices of sourdough to soak up all the sauce, another favourite.

6. Twice cooked pork belly glazed with burnt honey on top of macadamia cream and roasted leak: good but not great, didn’t amaze me like a few of the previous dishes. Nothing wrong with the flavour or combination.

7. Bakers potatoes topped with sage butter and fried curry leaves: i usually love a good roast potato, but the smell of sulphur from the curry leaves made me really nauseous. This was served with the pork belly which I blame partly for me not liking that dish as much. Couldnt bring myself to finish it unfortunately.

8. Crepe brulee with bitter lemon caramel: an entire crepe filled with creme and then brulee’d, i never knew i needed this until it was served. Generous amount of caramel, brought me back to a better mood. A bit on the sweet side for me but still very enjoyable.

9. Coconut sorbet made with uehara nigori sake: well balanced coconut flavour with the alcohol, as someone who doesnt like coconut sorbet i was pleasantly surprised with its flavour. Alcohol wasn’t overpowering as some desserts.

I would rate my experience mostly great, save for the main course i thoroughly enjoyed the meal and had no complaints about the service. Would easily see myself returning to try different dishes and having a fun time