Estelle

Great little bistro in Fairhaven. Estelle offers a refined, but relaxed atmosphere with soft lighting and a large, welcoming bar. I had a glass of the Côtes du Rhône, the steelhead crudo, and duck confit. Everything was excellent, but the crudo was a real highlight. The service was friendly and on point - I'll be back for sure.

Earlier in the year we came for dinner with friends. We found the food tasted 'warmed up' and took forever for drinks. No one was impressed for the price. So we hadn't been back. Came in last night for an early dinner. Server was on point and suggested the Rosé, which was good. We both ordered the little gem Caesar salad. Lettuce crisp and cold, well dressed, and instead of croutons there was a crispy breadcrumb topping. Only complaint was either no anchovies in dressing or hardly any. Be really nice to have that offered as an addition. We also had the burger and beef tallow fries. Delicious. Both of our buns were burnt on top and hard on the bottom but tbh it didn't deter us! The meat was thick as in a pub burger but the burger itself was on the smaller size, bigger than a slider but smaller than a regular burger. Not sure how the meat was cooked? No real sear to speak of, almost seemed sous vide ? Anyway, it was delicious. Came with caramelised onion and pickled shishitos, really well done! And the fries were like you remember from Ronnies when you were a kid. Tasty!The ambiance is great because they have some Christmas lights up and everyone seems happy to be working there. It's a small menu but from what we could see from tables around us, people seemed to be enjoying their meals.

Ambiance and service very good but food and wine not so great. The duck confit was smothered in an orange sauce (!!!!) - a good confit doesn't need a sauce- served with uninspired radicchio leaves - also sauced in orange.Caesar gem salad was grainy.In contrast, hamburger was terrific. Prices: highMenu: very limitedGood place for cocktails

I love this place!!! I had high hopes when I recognized the white umbrellas and black rails from the now long-gone and my beloved Gainsbarre--I got so excited! (It all looks so elegant and French!) Sunny and a sweet seat outside later, I was happily ensconced in the menu with a lovely, summery mocktail-concoction by owner/chef/bartender, Aaron, enjoying the many beautiful plants in the decorative planters. (Inside is very lovely and welcoming too. And the goldfish wallpaper in the end bathroom, fabulous!)My first time there, my favorites were the crab salad and not-really-a-salad (an incredibly crab-flavorful mound of crab--tender and delicious!) and the wonderful chop salad with the extremely fine and generous mimolette cheese, studded with sunflower seeds, an occasional sweet scallion or vegetable surprise like haricot vert (thin French green beans). On this occasion, the chop salad had transmogrified into a Caesar and is likely to remain as such "because it was pretty much a Caesar anyway," we were told. Well--hint to the owner/chefs--the Caesar is lovely, but the chop salad was steps up from that in specialness and flavor. While I love a good Caesar, as this was, the chop was one of the most unusual of chops and one of the best salads I've ever had--ever.The steak tartare was incredible--in itself. It was topped with a gribiche sauce (creamy, with a little egg and some tiny green somethings studding the top (chive?)). The sauce didn't quite work for me with the meat, but a solution was easy as I just slid my fork through the bottom. (Next time I'll order sauce on the side.)Also incredible, and every little bit, was the duck confit--the legs cooked in duck fat were so tender and flavorful, and the sweet and spicy sauce (some cinnamon?) was a perfect compliment. Oh, I loved this so! (Passersby saw us eating it and were cooing! "Confit!" we heard excitedly and gave a big thumbs up. They hurried inside.)Last but not least--my second time for the dessert of roasted stone-fruit, crème and crunchy sugar concoction. OMG!According to our delightful, informative and charming server, Julianne, the menu has been changed regularly to work out the best ideas and approaches, but is nearing settling. I say, so much here is absolutely fantastic and some things, in my humble opinion, are extremely close. (It's nice to have a little change now and again too, so I hope they don't settle too much for those of us who may be regulars.) And chop salad back, please!!!Highly recommended!!!

Excellent duck excellent food service ambiance all of it! We cozied up to the bar! The steak frites were amazing and the sauce for the fries omg sooooo good! So much flavor and the texture so good! Excellent suggestions and service by the bar staff and knowledge of the menu and drinks as well as ingredients!

Drinks. Cocktails really seems to be their thing. Creative drinks with fresh ingredients. If that ain't your thing don't worry. They have a large wine selection and a small beer selection. Service. Excellent at the bar and at table service. Atmosphere. The entire place just oozes out cool and relaxing. Great place for drinks and a light meal. Food. Everything was on point. The grilled oysters were great. The Duck Confit was fantastic. Crispiest skin I have ever had with a very nice sauce.

Estelle is a relatively new arrival on the Bellingham restaurant scene from the owners of Carnal. The atmosphere is nice with low lighting, nice furnishings and an inviting bar. As with Carnal, the staff was uniformly friendly, helpful and welcoming. The fully stocked bar turns out some interesting specialty cocktails and well as all the standards. Although the selection of wines, beers, and ciders is not extensive, it appears to be well curated, matching the dishes on offer.We started our meal with a couple of specialty cocktails and the chicken mousse. My wife enjoyed the Calliope,a run based fruit forward with spicy notes from cardamom and nutmeg. I had the Over Dark Glasses, pistachio infused rye with apricot liquor and small amounts of two amaros. The chicken mousse was a generous smear of chicken mousse on crusty bread with a garnish of greens and pomegranate molasses. The mousse itself was smooth and pleasantly seasoned with good flavor. The molasses was a nice sweet foil for the rich mousse, however, being very sweet and strongly flavored, it tended to overwhelm the taste buds. Sometimes less is more: a little lighter hand would have been better.For entrees I had the trout amandine and my wife had the duck confit. The trout was definitely non-traditional. Rather than the usual whole trout sauteed and served with a brown butter sauce and almonds, this dish was a very large hunk of trout filet about 3 inches square and 1 1/4 inch thick (lake trout?). It was perfectly cooked and had some very nice crispy skin. The sauce was a thick creamy colored almond creation that was very rich. There were copied almonds and shirt prices of green beans scattered atop the sauce.My wife's duck confit was probably the star of the show. Perfectly cooked duck legs (2), a sweet sauce to counter the richness of the duck accompanied by a bucket dressed salad. Two duck legs was a large serving, and one went home and found itself in duck tacos the next day.We shared there only dessert on offer, a bay seasoned creme brulee. The very smooth custard was redolent of bay, but was not overly sweet, which was a nice contrast with the sugary topping.Where Carnal has a clear meat-forward focus, Estelle seems to lack the same cohesiveness. The menu and atmosphere are very definitely bistro, with a modest selection of appies and small plates and a few entrees, a well stocked bar, and a welcoming and informal vibe. The menu has some French influences, but one probably shouldn't focus on that aspect, more on the bistro setting.Definitely worth a visit to Fairhaven. As time goes on I think we can expect to see good things from Estelle.

The food is absolutely amazing! We started with the steak tartare, piled on top of two large crostini's, fresh and seasoned well. Then ordered side of carrots in a coconut yogurt sauce (forgot name and actual ingredients) that was the best I've ever had. For entrees, ordered duck confit and hangar steak with frites. The duck was soooooo good-that sauce is liquid gold, highly recommend. The hangar steak cooked to perfection and the fries were awesome too.Great service, Nadine was our waitress and gave excellent recommendations!Would easily go again!

The ambiance at Estelle sets the perfect retro/modern vibe. The food was impressive, the staff were friendly and helpful. However the noise level reminded me of dive bars during my college days. And my wife and I came home smelling like food, which also a reminder of dive bars. Over all it was a good/not great experience. The restaurant is small, and filled with as many tables as they could get in there, so be prepared to get cozy with your neighbor. The food was fantastic, but the wait for food, drinks, and even the check was disappointing. We went on a Saturday night so it is understandable that they were busy. We might try it again because the food was that good.

We were attracted by the white umbrellas and the beautiful plantings in the outdoor seating area. Julianne was our server, and she was so helpful describing our options. We chose two salads to share: a crab salad which was tiny, but very delicious, and one of the nicest chopped salads we've ever had. It wasn't a typical chopped salad as it was predominately leafy. But it had wonderful, fresh greens coated in a light garlic dressing and a fine, delicious cheese, tons of sunflower seeds and with chopped vegetable bits throughout such as fine green beans. Beef fat fries were wonderful--nicely, but not overly spiced, and dryly crisp as if done in an airfryer.Wine selections were good: I had a red Bourdeau which I liked very much. Owner/chef Aaron was on as bartender for this Monday, and he crafted some nice mocktails for my partner, featuring verjus, which we'd never heard of, which is pressed juice of unripened grapes. Dessert was a wonderful concoction: slow-roasted stone fruit served in a brown butter crème anglaise. It was great! Fantastic place and ambiance outside and in.