Ester is one of those restaurants and it definitely fits in with Chippendale's new hipster vibe with the polished concrete, the mismatched chairs and the industrial decor. We're seated underneath an arched window that looks directly into the kitchen, so we have a great view of the pass and all the awesome food that gets sent out to hungry diners.
 |
| Deep fried chickpeas |
Already on the table is a small dish of deep fried chickpeas, which make for a surprisingly addictive snack as you browse through the menu. The menu is designed for sharing, with the dishes getting progressively larger and heavier as you go down the menu. There's not much description on the menu beyond the key ingredients in the dish so it's a bit of a lucky dip as to what the dish will actually be!
 |
| Crispy squid dumpling - $4 each |
Queen Chu recommends ordering the squid dumplings from her previous visit to Ester, so we follow her orders and do exactly that. They come out as black football shaped pieces, coloured from the use of squid ink. It's quite an unexpected and almost intimidating presentation, but we dig in regardless. The dumplings remind me of the chewy football shaped "ham sui gok" from yum cha, with the same chewy texture and a filling of pork and squid.
 |
| Pyengana cheddar pie - $15 |
