British Critic Jay Rayner Reviews Estela, Where Good Food Outweighs the New York 'Cliches'

British restaurant critic Jay Rayner was in town recently, and took the time to review Ignacio Mattos and Thomas Carter's smash hit Estela for the Guardian. He starts off with a few jabs at how "New York" the restaurant is — complaining of cold staff, impossible tables, and the whole shared plates thing. But he's impressed nonetheless with the food:

Most impressive and most divisive is a plump folded omelette hiding the unashamedly creamed oyster tang of sea urchins. It's an outrageous idea. It makes every other act of food pimping look like a feeble, half-hearted effort. It's a glorious dish and worth the fight for a table alone. Could someone in Britain please half-inch it?

In any case, he says, it's not like trendy London restaurants don't follow the same model.

Also, as a bonus item beneath the review, he gives some love to the versions of food from his home country that April Bloomfield serves at the Breslin.