Estela

We came here on a weekend after I saw a couple reviews from local food critics saying this was a mainstay. We sat at the bar so we could get a breeze from the big open window. We ordered the burrata, fluke, squid arroz negro, and swordfish. The fluke was a nice standout dish and uniquely paired with kohlrabi and avocado. The arroz was really salty and had tiny pieces of squid that was hard to pick out from the rice. The «green pesto» that came with the burrata seemed like a simple mint blend and didn’t offer much beyond that. We ordered four dishes and if it wasn’t for the rice, we would’ve left hungry. For the amount of money paid I would either expect better flavors or more food. I’ve definitely had similar types of cuisine that really wow’d with ingredients, flavor, and presentation for a lot less money.

I’m shocked that I didn’t write a review for Estela the first time I dined here a year ago. But here we are, after Estela made it into the World’s Top 50 Restaurants of the year. I revisited Estela last night to refresh my memory.
Hidden yet shockingly good surprises are the name of the game here (including the restaurant itself). Go up the steps from Botanica Bar. Be prepared, it’s tiny, packed, bustling, and can feel like everything’s gone haywire. Hopefully you’ll think that’s part of the charm. It may be difficult to hear each other, but just cozy up closer and it will all be fine.
The last official seating for reserved tables is at 10:30pm. We were seated on time.
The cured fluke with sea urchin looked pretty plain, the white fluke neatly hiding the wonderful sea urchin below it. Lovely melding of flavors. Our favorites of the night were probably the lamb ribs with charmoula and honey, and the steak on a bed of lovely hashbrown-​like potato and amazing chimichurri.
I really loved how accessible everything looks and feels– simple, with a pleasant twist. Our otherwise sweet server made a lot of mix ups throughout the night, but I’m sure everyone’s just had a long night. So we drank and we were merry, and it was just grand.

Ermagherd.
Had dinner here last July and it was phenomenal. (In other news, I write reviews and leave them sitting in draft mode too long!) The place is definitely busy yet unfussy, and the food is imaginative but approachable.
My friend YT and I shared several dishes, starting with the endive salad, which I didn’t expect to like but was wonderful! The endives are served individually and you basically create a lettuce-​wrap style bite with the rest of the ingredients. Then we had the black rice with squid and romanesco — another dish I didn’t expect to like but ended up loving! We also had the lamb ribs and the pork. Everything was well done, a little different, but better, than expected. Can’t remember the two cocktails I had but they were boozy and to my liking.
I can’t wait for another opportunity to visit Estela and try more of the menu… or maybe I’ll be a bad girl and order the same things again!

Food is absolutely fantastic here and worth going with several people so you can share plates and try more. The beef tartar, burata and steak were definitely standouts.
Only thing keeping it from 5* is the price and you have to stay on top of reservations — they didn’t call when a table was ready but luckily we poked our head in to check on the situation. The food is incredible so it was definitely worth it.

Burrata dumplings, lamb, Black arroz with squids: amazing!
Panacota and the chocolate cake for dessert are a must

My friend strongly recommended this place to me, due to their fabulous yuzu oysters; unfortunately someone from our group did not eat raw oysters so we had to give up on that… nevertheless we were able to enjoy a bunch of other signature dishes.
We shared the toast with jam and lardo (the pork). Really impressed by their crunchy toast and that the jam was completely absorbed by the bread. I also enjoyed my white fish muffin — the fish roe was popping up in my mouth! My friend liked her avocado toast a lot as well, with the fact that egg yolk was melting!
Estela was packed the second it opened up at 11:30 for brunch, so a reservation is a must. But once you have enjoyed the great dishes (I will have to test out their dinner version, but so far so good!), every minute of wait would be paid off.

So 3 weeks ago today (⁴⁄₂₀), during a recent visit to NYC for dear daughter’s spring break, I met a friend for a 7pm meal at Estela. Let’s just say from the start at street entry (the blue door with gold lettering with very little visibility what is inside since it is up a level), the tone is set for a appetizing dining experience. I did make a reservation a few weeks prior, and glad I did since it was pretty packed the entire time I was there.
While waiting for my friend and the table, I sat at the bar and put myself in the barman’s hands– requesting nothing too sweet but also nothing too bitter. He served me up the perfect pre-​dinner cocktail, which he titled «Old Hickory». Orange and Peychaud’s Bitters, dry and sweet vermouth, ice, and fresh citrus & lemon peel (with some of the essential oils rubbed on the glass) made for some smooth drinking while I awaited my friend!
Once she arrived and we were seated at our table, we decided to go mostly for small plates so we could try more stuff! The Beef Tartare w/​sunchoke, Mussels Escabeche on Toast, and Burrata with Salsa Verde and Charred Bread were truly out of this world. I think the one that sticks in my mind after all this time is the tartare! The Endive, Walnuts, Anchovy, and Ubriaco Rosso was a little too bitter/​tasteless for me… likely because it followed all the other dishes. As the server, I would have suggested this one to come out first but maybe she was thinking palate cleanser. We couldn’t leave without trying the ricotta dumplings (this preparation was with mushrooms and pecorino sardo) and they were delicious! To wash down all this (mostly) tasty food on a warm spring night, I ordered 2 dry white wines– a Chamiot (2014 Jacquere from Savoie, FR) and a Chardonnay (2014 A&M Tissot ‘Patchwork’ label from Jura, FR).
For dessert, we decided to go all out and try 2 of the 4 choices. Both were splendid– Panna Cotta with vinegar and honey, and Chocolate Cake w/​Whipped Cream. Cake was not sweet and the whipped cream was also not sweetened, while the panna cotta’s dueling flavors of acidic vinegar and sweet honey were light, refreshing, and on-​point! I indulged in a dessert wine, the A&M Tissot Macvin du Jura Rouge from FR. Apparently I was on a French wine theme tonight.
Service was just what you’d expect for a place like this (unobtrusive, timely, and friendly) until my friend had to leave earlier than I was ready in order to meet a blind date for post-​dinner drinks (she was expecting 2 hours as a reasonable catch-​up period with me, but we just had so much to talk about!!). After that, service got pretty lovely. I felt bad holding the table and informed our server that I was happy to finish up dessert and wine at the bar so they could turn the table over. The GM came over, said they were truly appreciative (there was now a line out the door which I didn’t notice until I got up and made my way over the bar), and basically told me that drinks were on them at the bar. I stopped at one glass as I really didn’t feel like stumbling all the way back to the UWS via subway on heels to have the whole family see me arrive drunkety drunk. But it was a lovely gesture!
Quite enjoyed this foray into Soho! :)

Not your traditional menu selection of brunch food, but definitely a nice and tasty change. The toast with lardo and jam is yummy and the avocado/​pancetta/​egg sandwich was amazing.

I was reading all the reviews here, amazing this, amazing that, so great, yada yada yada…
I’m a brunch connoisseur, not a very good Unilocaler but I’m out there checking out what’s good and avoiding the not so good. Estela isn’t on top of my list of my top 10 spots to go for brunch. Trust that I’ve been to many places.
Ordered the egg, pancetta and avocado sandwich. Asked for the pancetta on the side, it came with zero pancetta. I asked where is it, waitress said «oh thought you didn’t want it». I said yes I want it she says she’ll check if I can still get it. I mean, I’m still paying for it right? 10 – 12 mins later I checked for my pancetta as I stopped eating another waiter came and said that they don’t do that. They don’t do what? I asked if they will charge me full price, I was told yes so why can’t I get it on the side and not inside my sandwich? Is that too hard to do? Really? 8 mins later pancetta came… Almost burnt :(I moved on…
The fluke came next, yeah that was unforgettable… Moving on… Again…
The saviour of the day? Or I should say saviour of the brunch? The panna cotta. Thank goodness that lil situation happened or else it would be no stars for me.

a vertiable feast of tastes. small plates served in rapid sucession, four forks go flying into the middle of the table, slicing, nomming and mmmm’ing. in the midst, little chitchat and recaps, i love this, i didnt care for that, that really changed the way i knew that dish.
started with pickled carrots — my favorite vegetable — but it was mostly just sour and uninspiring. but whatever, cuz a fuckload of courses are coming up. its just that it took a while to really make me go mmmm.
like the cured fluke that came up next, that was really white and bland and forgettable. moving on… the beef tartare started to get me going. nothing like red meat and bread right. haha.
the burrata is the self proclaimed specialty of this place so we ordered two, and yes, i get it. like this is totally the most inventive burrata iv ever had. i usually find it to be like eggs in spicy tomato sauce — a lot of red. this dish was distinctively green. giving it a completely different flavor and feel. like it was really fresh, almost a little cold.
and it just kept getting better. a pork dish showed up that was buried in the lettuce. i skipped the rabbit food and greedily took 2 of the 5 pieces of pork. just do it swiftly so theres no awkwardness about it right. haha.
i always find that when you go out to these pricey group dinners is to never be the cheap one. because invariably the bill is split evenly or someone picks it all up, so you best eat whatever you want and try not to feel that dagger to your wallet. keyword, try.
but i digress, because this black rice had arrived on the table. upon our collective oohs at the flavor, we learned it had squid ink in it, which made it even more enticing. this dish is why this place gets 4 stars. i love it when a restaurant reinvents a dish so simple and basic. like fucking rice. and you’re at a table where everyone definitely ate at least 5 servings of it a week growing up, and each and everyone of us was like, holy shit, thats really good. an inventive take on rice. wonderful.
just as things started getting too interesting, the main course procession ended and so wrapped it up with 3 desserts for the table. the sweet potato one was a turn up, like real talk, each bite into this moist «flan» cake or whatever was a kick of booze to the mouth. and there was a fruit one, sugary, like a red jolly rancher and another one that i honestly dont remember today. oh and i just remembered, we got the cheese plate too that was actually a real treat. i so couldv eaten more haha.
which is a good transition to wrap up this review. sometimes forgettable but mostly memorable $ 75−80/pp meal (including tip). i just wish we werent so ravenous, cuz i couldnt take any pictures.

Amazing brunch spot in Soho!
Made the reservation through open table for a Sunday brunch. My friend and I went there after a morning work-​out so we decided to have something healthier. We ordered oysters with yuzu sauce; egg, pancetta, and avocado sandwich; and, Panna cotta. I also got got to be happy, and my friend got a coffee.
Everything was DELICIOUS! Absolutely enjoyed the yummy oysters, one of the best I had in NYC. The sandwich is rich, creamy and very flavorful. Lastly, the Panna cotta — great contrast of flavors! (As a friend said «it’s addictive!»).
Definitely worth a visit.

Great ambiance and waitstaff. Small place, but if you get there early enough, you can find a spot at the bar or be lucky enough to score a table. A+ to the ricotta dumplings and lamb ribs. However, skip dessert — while sweet potato with ice cream sounds intriguing, it was not very good.

This Mediterranean-​influenced restaurant in SoHo serves small, shareable plates. My friend and I came to Estela for brunch. Making a reservation is a must — the place was PACKED! The waitress recommended ordering between 2 – 4 plates for two people, but if you are indecisive and/​or have big appetites like me and my friend, you can definitely order more.
We started with Burrata with salsa verde and charred bread ($ 16). It was absolutely divine. The creamy burrata sat on top of charred bread with delicious, broth like salsa verde.
The next dish that came out was the Blood Cake with onion marmalade and egg ($ 15). This dish also resembles a toast. I thought the blood cake was the toast at first because it’s shaped like one, but you get the bread on the side. The blood cake (basically made with blood pig sausage) is topped with sunny side egg with a side of sweet onion marmalade. This was definitely a pretty unique dish, and I liked the flavors of the blood cake.
The two «entrees» (but these are still tapas-​style small plates) came out together. The Lamb Ribs with charmoula and honey ($ 21) was probably my least favorite because the ribs were SO fatty. In fact, the ribs were probably 80% fat and 20% meat. I liked the flavorful char on top, but again, too much fat distracted me from enjoying the dish.
On the other hand, I loved the Ricotta Dumplings with mushrooms and pecorino sardo ($ 23). These are big, super fluffy dumplings made with creamy ricotta and topped with thin layers of mushrooms and pecorino sardo. I especially loved the green broth that it came with.
For dessert, we had the French Toast with crème anglaise ($ 14). This was another standout. The French Toast has sugary top that has been torched like crème brûlée. It is served on top of vanilla crème anglaise. I think the French Toast would have been an even better dish if it had a dollop of whipped cream or some berries on top.

Solid brunch spot with good options.
I stopped by as a party of four on a Sunday for brunch, and we split the toast with jam and lardo as a group, and the flavors went together very well. For my entrée, I had the egg, pancetta, and avocado sandwich, which was hefty and also had great flavor as well. I also sampled the lamb ribs, which were very tender and tasty. It’s a little bit busy and without a ton of space, but worth visiting for brunch if you can get in.

Some of the best bites I’ve had all year.
The lamb ribs with charmoula and honey were exquisitely tender and flavourful on both visits, and will always be on my list of «must haves» for this restaurant. The cured fluke with sea urchin was a brilliant bite to start the meal, with the surprisingly generously-​sized pieces of mussels in the mussels escabeche on toast a great way to follow. The beef tartare was also an amazing demonstration of highlighting freshness and textures, which makes choosing which of the three (since the lamb ribs are a given, right?) to enjoy even more difficult.
The kohlrabi with apples, hazelnuts and mint was a surprise hit our first visit there, but replaced with a celery, raisins, pistachios and blue cheese dish which we did not try. The endive dish was nicely balanced and a walnut-lover’s haven, but the kohlrabi will still be one of the few meat-​less dishes I will still think back about.
The steak with king trumpets and taleggio was undeniably tasty, but $ 37 for two pieces of meat that probably summed up to a few ounces? Yes, we pay a premium for good food and well-​sourced products, but the price tag for this particular dish seemed a bit over the top.
And for dessert? I’ll always love their simple yet decadent panna cotta, and will always look forward to finishing my meal with a bowl.

My boyfriend and I had a great brunch here this morning. The vibe is super hip and we definitely didn’t feel cool enough to be eating there but we carried on anyway. The tables are really close together so getting in and out was a bit of an ordeal but that’s not really a big deal.
We ordered the English muffin with whitefish, the eggs with beans and mojama (salt cured thinly sliced tuna) and the French toast. The English muffin with whitefish was DELICIOUS. I took the onion off of mine, but that’s just personal preference. I’m usually not a fan of whitefish salad but this was delicious — not too salty or fishy. Not your typical Jewish deli whitefish. My boyfriend loved the eggs with beans. The eggs were cooked well and the dish was an interesting mix of ingredients. The mojama is really salty but it helps cut the spiciness of the rest of the dish. It seems to be a popular dish but it wasn’t for me. The French toast though was phenomenal. The top is brûléed so it had this really delicious crunch on top and the crème anglaise is the perfect addition.
Also their coffee was great. I would definitely recommend!

4.5 stars.
I can’t remember the last time I had brunch. Has it been a year? Two years? Regardless, I can count the number of brunches I’ve had on one hand. Translation: my brunch game, is weak. And I don’t mean weak for someone living in New York, because brunch is a way of life here. I mean it in the most all-​encompassing sense. You know that really uncomfortable emotional dilemma where you know you have a problem, but you haven’t yet figured out how to find the willingness to do something? That’s me and brunch. Until Estela. I agreed to brunch. I agreed to two meals in one. And my life was forever changed.
Made a reservation for brunch here at 12:30 on a Sunday. The place was moderately busy and continued to fill up during the next hour or so. I came here with a brunch fanatic who very confidently assured me Estela’s brunch was one of the most adventurous ones out there. I have literally no way to verify this given my limited experience, but who am to disagree? This food was outstanding.
As I had hoped, our server suggested sharing, if we were open to it («If»??? Don’t insult me.). After drinking way too much coffee, we ordered:
–Toast w/​lardo and jam (A-​/​A)
I’m very into eating healthy so the fact that I tried this at all is pretty shocking. The lardo, as you can see in my picture, is basically just a layer of fat. I mean technically it’s a type of pork, but for all intents and purposes, it is a big olé slab of fat. And you know what? I’m American, and I think fatty food tastes great (how I feel about myself after eating it is a different story). This was a perfect way to start our meal: salty, sweet and crunchy. Perfect to nibble on as we downed cup after cup of coffee.
–Endive w/​walnuts, anchovy, and ubriaco rosso (A-​/​A)
I am going to overlook the fact that the preparation of this dish was incredibly odd. Calling it a «preparation» at all seems like I’m giving it too much credit. The endives were endives. Okay. But all of the good stuff was hiding underneath — was that the point? In any case, the good stuff was more than good. I don’t think I’ve ever tried ubriaco rosso cheese before but it was really yummy and made the dish for me. It’s a hard, strong cheese with a nutty flavor, so obviously paired quite well with the walnuts.
–Frittata w/​stinging nettles (A)
Okay, I had to laugh when I saw this on the menu. Stinging nettles? How ridiculous can you get? Is this like poison ivy? Am I going to get hives on the lining of my stomach? Is the sting supposed to prick my taste buds such that they’re more attuned to subtleties of flavor? Our server just replied: «it’s good, it’s got a nice herbaceous flavor — a little bitter». Completely unfazed by the fact that I was sitting there, incredulous (at that point we obviously needed to order it). This all said, this frittata was light, fluffy and really yummy. It’s the smallest of the egg dishes here, so I’d suggest sharing a few things along with this, if it catches your fancy like it did mine. Balanced out our heavier egg dish quite well. It comes with some sort of yogurt sauce as well as some type of onion. All components together made for a very well-​rounded dish.
–Eggs w/​beans, croutons, mojama, and harissa (A/​A+)
So much more than its simple description. Mojama, as I have just learned, is a kind of salt-​cured tuna. So it looks almost like prosciutto or something else you’d get on a charcuterie board. As you can see from the picture, it’s quite alluring on top of that perfectly-​cooked egg. I thought the croutons would be a bit odd here, but they soaked up a lot of the flavor (the harissa in particular) and added a bit of crunch to an otherwise texturally uniform dish. I could’ve done without the beans, if I had to eliminate one ingredient. The egg and the mojama though — there’s a combination for the ages.
My only complaints:
a) Our server gave us exactly zero minutes to think about what she wanted. While she didn’t seem overtly exasperated at our indecision, she returned every minute on the minute (that’s an EMOM, in gym-​speak) to ask if we were ready. Maybe try three minutes and then we’ll actually have time to think! Otherwise, she was nice enough, and our food came out quickly.
b) Tiny tables, not much space between them. This isn’t the case for the whole establishment, but we were cramped. Not optimal. Thankfully, those dining adjacent to us weren’t snobby/​obnoxious/​any variation of these things.

Easily the best meal I had during my last visit to NYC. The service was lovely, and despite not having a reservation they managed to squeeze three of us in near to the bar for dinner and drinks. The wine list was terrific, a tight little selection by the glass with some unnusual drops to match different parts of the meal.
I loved the food — classic flavours and ingredients prepared in fresh and innovative ways. Every dish was beautiful to look at and was a textured and balanced to eat. Having three of us meant we could order a wide selection and try a little of everything. I especially loved the burrata, escabeche and a sprightly witlof salad. Perfect for the warm summer evening on which we visited.

I go for value — although it was delicious, I find the place too expensive. The dumplings were good (on the salty side) with a string mushroom tasting broth. What makes it special are the wafer thin circles of some carb covering and laying on top of the dumplings. But for the price, I can see it under $ 23.
Everything in the menu was high including the salads.
Ambience? Basic. You open the outer door and immediately are the steps.

Ok, so Estela is even better the second time around.
Each dish was better than the next. It felt like we fell into some magical world.
Where the drinks are amazing and never ending.
Where the scallops melt in your mouth.
Where burrata is salty and savory and perfect with salsa Verde and crispy bread. It’s a perfect bite of creamy cheesy goodness with sauce and a crunch.
Where the ricotta dumplings needed bread to sop up every bit of the mushroomy goodness.
Where each dish was perfectly executed. Where each of us couldn’t come to a consensus what our top three dishes were.
Want to know mine?
Burrata, ricotta dumplings and arroz negro.
Maybe it’s the wine, maybe it’s the company, maybe it’s a major celebration, but this was one the best meals since El Club Allard.
A huge fan.

We went there for brunch with my 2 best friends: the food is amazing (try the mussels!), cocktails are very tasty and service is friendly. If there is no table available, they’ll sit you at the bar!