It’s lunchtime and I’m sitting in the brand-spanking-new restaurant Esquire Drink + Dine in Sydney’s historical Queen Victoria Building. This is one very lavish place; it’s spacious, with high ceilings, a beautiful long dark timber bar and gorgeous tiled floor, brass fittings and a mixture of leather chairs or banquets. An impressive open kitchen sits in one corner, a walk-in cellar in another. It’s an expensive, impressive-looking fit-out – quite NY like.

After sitting at our table for only few minutes, we are greeted with water and the menu. The menu looks interesting in the way that I’m really not sure what style of cuisine it represents – I’d probably classify it as modern Australian. We’re soon ready to order, but the front-of-house staff don’t seem to have any direction; they seem a bit lost and frantic. After 20 minutes we finally get the maître d’s attention.

From the ‘Bar Fare’ we decide on carrot crackers with taramasalata and coriander ($16). It’s a generous serve of bright-orange crackers that taste mildly of sweet carrot. They come stacked on smooth taramasalata, which is a bit light on the cured fish roe flavour. I like the addition of the salmon roe, and the three elements together work well, but all up, the flavours could be a little bit more pronounced.

We follow up with a ham and aged clothbound cheddar jaffle with fries and pickles ($20). This reminds me of the classic croque monsieur my mother used to cook for me as a kid, squeezed into an old-fashioned cast-iron press: quality ham, melting mature cheddar. I love the addition of the mustard on the side, but feel we could have done without the chips and the pickles.

Our entrée is crumbed sweetbreads with lemon, cauliflower, brown butter and hazelnut ($22), a take on the veal escalope Milanese with the addition of a soft and creamy cauliflower puree and the crush of hazelnuts. I would have preferred if the sweetbread had been just rolled in flour and crispy fried instead of being crumbed. I feel this crumb takes over the delicateness of these beautiful morsels.

A second entrée of barbecue octopus with chorizo, potato, cucumber, wakame and saffron ($26) is again a classic combination of ingredients, and delicious when done well. In this case, the brushed roasted potatoes, charred cucumber and saffron aioli on a plate dusted with wakame powder are all excellent. Unfortunately, the octopus, which should have been the star, is a disappointment. A little tough and chewy, my guess is it was over-charred on the grill.  

We share a main of squid maccheroni with prawn, chilli, green olive and tomato sugo ($34). The maccheroni are perfectly cooked, as are the prawns, and the tomato sugo is more like crustacean bisque; it’s absolutely delicious.

For dessert, we go for the Valrhona Dulcey mousse with yoghurt caramel, blueberries and Szechuan. The presentation is stunning. In terms of taste, the mousse is silky and not too sweet, and comes topped with a crispy Szechuan pepper tuile. The yoghurt caramel is a perfect foil, the yoghurt cutting through the sweetness of the caramel, while the blueberry coulis keeps the dessert very fresh. This dish is a winner.

The verdict
It is really hard, and perhaps unfair, to critique a restaurant when it’s only been open for three weeks – it’s a new team, back and front of house, with a brand-new menu. I may have criticised some of Esquire’s food and service a little in this review, but I’ve got no doubt it will find its rhythm in the next few weeks.

Best seat in the house
The tables with their leather banquets are very comfortable.

Best drink
Esquire has an amazing booze list – great cocktails and amazing wines and vermouths. But the whisky/whiskey list is absolutely the best if that is your drink of choice.

Date safe
Don’t do what I have done; just wait few more weeks until the team find their feet to bring your date if you want a great night.

X-factor
Great décor, great fit-out. I could definitely imagine propping up the bar having a few whiskies with friends.