Esther Sham's charming French-themed restaurant maison es is a gem
Designer Melissa Bui falls in love with the Parisian décor and food at new restaurant maison es and feels right at home
Melissa Bui fell for maison es, a new French-themed restaurant on the slopes just off Star Street, even before she stepped through its pale green doors. "Just walking up I saw green," she says. "And then I saw the flowers and I was like, 'Oh! I'm in Paris'." The young, rising designer drags out the oh in a contented sigh and smiles as if transported back to France, where she had been just two months earlier attending Paris Fashion Week.
The restaurant is charming. The doorway, filled with pots of roses, belladonna lilies and begonias in varying shades of pink, could easily be mistaken for a Parisian florist. Inside, whimsical sketches and paintings deck the wall, and the salon-style furniture is all in owner Esther Sham's favourite pastels. Sham reportedly sourced all the furniture and crockery herself, scouring French markets for vintage finds. The spacious restaurant has its own terrace, which leads to a private kitchen where diners can sample the original menu Sham presented back in her first food venture, Ta Pantry.
As a starter, Bui opted for the seared langoustine on warm miso butter corn and mozzarella salad. The unusual combination of miso butter and corn had caught her eye, although she later confesses, "I don't eat a lot of shellfish because of my allergies."
