Fantastic meal by Chef Shane Osborn. - Poached taiyouran egg with white beans girolle velouté and lard - Ballotine of chicken and veal with wild garlic mashed potato, brassicas and chicken jus - Warm chocolate brownie with Piedmont hazelnut, caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream
 $458 (3 courses Lunch Set) 3rd Floor, 18 On Lan Street, Central, Hong Kong . #NomnomCentral

We're not sure if being members of the "Chef Riley of @canvasbkk" fan club since almost 3 years now makes us the best or worse judges. But like any fan possessing such high expectations, the latest visit to try the latest menu has plenty of emotional ups and downs and also somewhere torn in-between. The river prawn / dala flower / red spur chili in all its vibrancy of reds, browns, pinks and irrescent pool of liquid, pretty much set the tone of the entire meal. Exciting, forward, thrilling, passionate and sometimes showy and audacious. The complicated patchwork of Thai ingredient into explosive flavours are simply phenomenal, except at times the purity of the protein, or the 'star' component somehow became overshadowed, this was the case for the caviar, river prawn and most notably the sturgeon, with its unforgettable murky and earthy flavours created by sea grapes and hausa potato. Riley manages to take us deep into the river beds with these historical sea creature, the same could be said of the beef tongue / brassicas / black garlic / fermented fish, a transporter to other exotic worlds in taste and also by the new, art on canvas approach to plating. Like Pollock had somehow crept onto the menu without Riley acknowledging, each splatter, each drizzle, each drop had its purpose, a chaos in organisation. Although "classically Riley" constructed and meticulously formatted dishes, which we missed deeply, did thankfully reappear in the form of duck breast / pineapple / long pepper / ginger and also the shoftshell Crab / fennel / passionfruit / cowslip creeper. Yet, it was only days later did we truly begin to appreciate this other new found confidence and rebellion. Was it that there was not meant to be any star component? That the delicate touch and surgical-like aesthetic is now replaced with the creative overzealous of a stronger and heavier hand, and maybe we hadn't allowed ourselves to let go of the past and Chef Riley is again, ahead of the rest of us? #CanvasBkk #BangkokFoodies 4500 Baht ++ / 18 courses

@ester_au // back to my favourite restaurant after lockdown. I’m never a set menu person but I was super happy with this menu, which showcased some of the best and my favourite dishes at this place.😍 • Fermented potato bread with creme fraiche, dashi jelly and truffle... favourite bread now with truffles 🤤 • Roasted rock oyster, pepperberry & sake; scarlet prawn with bush tomato; uni toast and egg yolk 🤤 • Fried prawn head... super crispy 🤤 • Calamari, witlof, roasted hazelnut... who doesn’t love tender calamari? 👌🏻 • King prawns, fermented shrimp paste, butter... my all time fave dish 🤤 • Bone marrow, sesame sambal and toast... my long time favourite dish here 🤤 • Brassicas and parmesan custard... so clever and made those greens shone 🤤 • Wagyu oyster blade, radicchio, bonito... slow cooked and super tender 🐮👌🏻 • Leftover sourdough ice cream sandwich... the famous leftover sourdough ice cream come in sandwich form 🤤 • Apple, miso butterscotch and polenta... beautiful combination of flavours and textures... amazing!🤤 . . . . . . #ester #esterrestaurant #sydneyrestaurant #truffles #seafood #jamjamxester