Wanting a casual yet fun place to celebrate my friend’s birthday, I remembered Esquina which I last visited in 2012. Yes, that long ago. And having enjoyed my previous dining experience at Esquina, I was confident it won’t disappoint. Celebrating birthday of a important special person you see. Keke. And thus, reservation was made for a Tuesday evening via Chope.

Knowing that it’s notoriously difficult to find a parking lot in Outram Park, one can say my friend and I were very lucky because we easily found an empty parking lot along Teck Lim road. Or… Maybe it’s because we arrived pretty early at 7.20pm? Hmm.

The first thing I noticed about the restaurant was that the interior was brighter than it used to be. And this time, I managed to get my preference of counter seats. Yeah.

And from the menu (pages 1, 2), we ordered:-

1) Tsarskaya oyster, jalapeno ponzu, salmon roe, pickled ginger flower, $7 each (above) – I am very sure I have not gotten over my phobia of oysters. A slight taste of fishy-ness could make me cringe. So thankfully this didn’t. But, it’s not like I would recommend this dish as a ‘must order’ too. But hey! That’s coming from a person who’s careful with oysters. So I guess oyster-loving customers may enjoy this.

2) Esquina’s Spanish omelette, $6 each (above) – Confit onion, potato, crispy bread, olive oil caviar. Instead of an eggy omelette, its texture leaned towards a pancake instead. And that of course made me, a pancake lover, really excited. But that instead made my friend, who loved his eggs, a little disappointed. Haha. And it was through our interaction with chef that we learned the batter was created by blending the ingredients before cooking. Ahhh. Thus, the pancake similarity. This dish has a ‘yes’ from me.

3) Iberico bellota “5J” with pan con tomate, $30 (above) – This was a little too much in terms of portion for 2 people. But I enjoyed this nonetheless.

4) Potato and truffle “gratin”, burnt onion sauce, organic egg yolk, iberico ham, $20 (above)

5) Dingley dell pork jowl, chipotle mayo, pickled pear, $14 (above)

6) Pigeon, forest berries escabeche, burnt rosemary polenta, crisp shallots, $24 (above)

7) Spanish suckling pig, rhubarb and apple chutney, mulled wine jus, $32 (above) – Really good.

8) Sea urchin and lobster paella, saffron aioli, snow peas, $32 (above) – And of all the dishes we had, this was my friend’s favourite. And it’s not hard to see why. Instead of serving the lobster meat, the paella was cooked in rich lobster broth. Thus giving it the rich and flavourful taste. A must order.

9) Strawberries, basil sorbet, olives, marshmallows, vanilla chantilly, $14 (above)

10) “BBC”, textures of banana, beer ice cream, warm caramel sauce, $15 (above) – If one only has stomach for 1 dessert, one should just go with this. It was also highly recommended by the staff. My friend and I wished there was more of the banana cake.

11) Chocolate ganache on toasted brioche (above), Complimentary – Topped with olive oil caviar and sprinkle of sea salt. Depending on one’s pace, this complimentary sweet bite would be delivered either timely after the mains or after one finished one’s meal. And the latter happened to us. Imagine our grateful but horrific faces when the dish was presented because our stomachs were already bursting.

So did dinner turn out as how I imagined? A definite yes. Personally, I always find it special to dine at the counter. The whole experience of watching the chefs doing their magic in the kitchen. Head chef is probably still not used to our Singlish way of pronouncing, so I was really appreciative that did not deter him from mingling with the customers. That said, we also had some difficulty understanding his heavy Spanish accent. But thankfully, the wonderful staff rescued us by chipping in the conversation too! Keke.

So yes! As with my previous review, I would again recommend Esquina. Food was enjoyable. Price was pretty decent. Ambience was great. And staff (chef included) were professional and friendly!

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