A Fourteen Course Dinner

December in Australia is hot (and humid, sweaty, and at times horribly uncomfortable), but come 5pm, when the sun begins to make it's way down, the sky (and temperature) becomes tame and blissful.

Aaron and I have had Esquire on our list of 'things we must do' for quite some time. Esquire ranks as one of Brisbane's top dining experiences, being one of the city's only three-hatted restaurants. With Aaron's birthday in late November, we decided to visit Esquire to celebrate the occasion.

Realising that there's only like 10 weeks or something crazy until we move our lives to the other side of the world, I want to capture as much of our beautiful home city before we leave. We haven't used our baby GoPro since our trip to Stradbroke Island at the beginning of the year, and considering it's extreme convenience, ease of use, and portability, I don't know why we haven't been utilising it's power more. I love my DSLR but it can be really impractical to use and lug around. We carried our GoPro with us to capture the sights on our way to Esquire from Kangaroo Point and I'm SO pleased we did. The setting sun was quite divine.

We sat down to a fourteen course degustation. Having never experienced a degustation before, we went in with open minds, but also hopeful that the food would live up to it's reputation. While some dishes were out-of-this-world amazing - beautiful flavour combinations that balanced perfectly together, other dishes kinda missed the mark. We both adored the ravioli entree (sweet corn filling with a prawn bisque and chicory powder - the pasta cooked perfectly al dente). I also really loved the croissants (served between entree and main for something different - a much more dense pastry, almost bread-like), and a lightly seared lamb with dried basil leaves for a small main dish. Oh and there was this surprisingly indulgent palate cleanser between mains - grapefruit with fermented chilli and nut seed oil (a seemingly bizarre combo but worked beautifully together!). Aaron enjoyed the wagu beef main and the buffalo jerky served as an appetiser.

So we left feeling kinda.. nonchalant. The highs were really high, but the lows left us feeling flat. Although we went in with an open mind, we left a little disappointed. And also a little empty in our bellies. The degustation was $160 per person, but we went home and ate some more food. The courses were quite small, and Aaron also very cleverly noted that there was next to no vegetables served. Aside from a pineapple palate cleanser and the fruit-flavoured dessert, it was very much a showcase of meat combinations. Vegetarians could not dine here. People who are egg intolerant (ahhem.. *cough* me..) probably shouldn't eat at Esquire either. #yolo

I'm glad nonetheless that we took the time to try it out. I've never eaten so many courses before, nor have I spent that much at a restaurant! I'm beginning to view our adventures amongst this city through a different lens. We're stuck in limbo with two and a bit months until we leave Australia, and I'm soaking it all in; making a note of how pretty the buildings look when the sunlight bounces off them; attempting to enjoy the humidity that comes with summer; the noises, the birds, the people, the hustle and bustle of busy city life in Brisbane. I feel like whenever it is we return (if we do), it'll be a very different place. I guess it won't feel like home anymore. And that's both scary and exciting.

x k