I could not wait to go to Estela, it was one of those restaurants that had a menu that looked perfect for me. This past Friday night I scored a table. The meal started off great but unfortunately it didn't sustain this way.
We selected a nice bottle of red for the meal. It was actually alittle cold - really it should have been room temperature - but, what are you going to do?
The mussel escabeche was FANTASTIC! Beautiful mussels hidden under cilantro leaves, on top of lightly toasted fresh bread, with a nice herbaceous sauce. Bright, fragrant and delicate, this dish was top notch.
Beef tartare came out and tasted like....air. Really, I don't know if they forgot the salt or forgot something else but there was no taste to it. Blah.
Razor clams....terrible. They looked fabulous however I took my first bite and it was so fishy, and not just fishy but like it had gone bad - I thought I was going to have food poisoning later that evening (thankfully I did not). Because I am a glutton for punishment - or rather I just really wanted to love this restaurant - I figured I should try another bite. It was delicious! I went for another bite, FISHY again. I figured I should quit while I was ahead.
I of course had to order the calamari. This came with squid ink and crushed and toasted almonds. All of the flavors played beautifully together but the calamari was chewy, rubbery, difficult to eat.
The ricotta dumplings came out with mushroom and pecorino. Nice concept but again, no flavor. Double blah.
I was so disappointed by Estela, maybe it was just an off night, but I hope they figure their shit for the next set of diners.
Estela
47 East Houston Street, New York, NY 10012
(212) 219-7693http://estelanyc.com
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