Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Happy Hour at Estate Restaurant and Bar (Santa Monica, CA)

by guest blogger @btsunoda

When the conversation at the next table is easier to hear than the person that I’m eating with, I’m generally not having a good time. This type of occurrence has been more frequent of late because many restaurants have adopted a bistro format with small tables and uncomfortable chairs. I recently had the opportunity to visit Estate Restaurant and Bar to experience their new happy hour menu, and luckily, Estate's layout provided plenty of space to diners to be comfortable.
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The interior of the Estate Restaurant and Bar is a modern take on what restaurants used to be like. Estate Restaurant and Bar has different seating areas and plush booths and individual seats. Because they don’t attempt to use every square inch of the restaurant, there is a general feeling of spaciousness. Even the bar has cushioned comfortable chairs.

Their happy hour menu had plenty of discounted food and drinks. We started off with the Tuna Crispy Wonton Tacos  ($9)
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Instead of frying taco shells, they use wonton shaped like a tortilla, just like classic tuna tartar. The contrasting colors and textures were both visually stunning and delicious. The tuna was fresh and the ginger nicely enhanced the tuna.

Char siu pizza with hoisin sauce? I had to see what that was all about.
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Crispy flatbread topped with char sui pork, pickled serrano chile, hoisin sauce, cilantro and mozza made for a very tasty pizza. If I were to have that again, I’d definitely pair that with a nice craft beer. The flat bread was also $9.

One of the more popular dishes to share is their Natural Canadian Scallop ($15 on the regular dinner menu)
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It was beautifully presented - a potato is spun into a circular shape with threads running horizontally. Visually, it resembled a deep fried taro root dim sum. It was filled with moist scallops and surrounded by edamame in a spicy green curry vinaigrette. I thought the spicy green curry vinaigrette nicely married the ingredients.

For happy hour, Estate is serving up $7 cocktails, which is a pretty good deal for this part of town (or anywhere in LA these days). Trending now are watermelon cocktails and Estate has their “To Melon Back” made with vodka, watermelon, mint & lemon
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 The Hemingway Daiquiri was made with rum, lime, grapefruit juice and luxardo
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The Eastside was my favorite of the three - Gin, Lime, Cucumber, Mint
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A fine selection of SoCal craft beers are on tap, including a nice variety of cans, such as Ballast Point's Sculpin and Golden Road's Wolf in the Weeds IPA. A nice selection of domestic and international wines are also available.

While I only tried a few items, there were many that caught my eye. Some of them included the Peekytoe Crab Sliders on Brioche, Spicy Kurobuta Ramen and the Alaskan Black Cod with miso glaze.  Their produce is locally sourced and their meat comes from places known for quality such as Beeler farms and Van Well Farms. So many items on the menu appealed to me; I’ll have to make a return trip back with my wife.

Because of its modern interior, it’s a great date venue, whether it be for happy hour or dinner. The comfortable chairs and setting lend itself to great conversation. Both the presentation and the quality of the food will also impress. Because it’s not on the Promenade, you don’t have to deal with traffic and parking. Valet parking is also available.

Estate Restaurant and Bar
1519 Wilshire Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90403
(310) 394-7722
http://www.estate1519.com/
Estate Restaurant and Bar Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

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