An unforgettable experience in rural Portugal, in an almost The Menu-esque setting (in the middle of a beautiful vineyard). I made a reservation via email. It's a relatively traditional menu layout, with 6 and 8 course options at 120 and 150 euros, with reasonable wine pairings available. We went with the 8 course, but in hindsight definitely should've gone with the 6 due to the sheer amount of food.
My overall experience was definitely positive. A few really good bites, and overall very impressive cooking and presentation, all in a very unique and cool environment. Service was solid and professional. I think that it's a pretty great value compared to anything similar in other countries, and would say that 1 star is the correct evaluation. However, I will say that I was hopeful for overall better flavors. Most bites fell in the good to very good range, with really only the first bite being exceptional for me. Presentation was impressive, but as you can see from the pictures not 100% precise the way some places achieve. So while it was still a great time, I won't really remember many specific flavors as I might as some of my all time favorite meals.
The beginning bite, even before seeing a menu, was the pine nut ice cream. For me this was actually the highlight of the whole night–it was perfectly balanced with it's sweetness, salt, and herbs. Excellent flavors, and worked really well as a first bite. I'll remember this one for a while to come.
There were several more small bites before starting the menu. The course of pea-based dishes was impressive, with some good bites standing out. The same was true of the second, beet-based course. The horse mackerel I was unfortunately not a fan of. Finally, we got some bread, olive oil, and butter which also was not notable.
The menu began with the smoked eel asparagus. I always love smoked things so enoyed it, though the asparagus was stringy and difficult to cut.
The sea bream was next, and was my favorite of the fish dishes. Nicely cooked, gentle flavor with a nice bread to go with the sauce.
Cod came next (very popular and important in Portugal) with a codfish belly salad. The fish was very smooth but not the best flavor, and the salad was interesting but way overpowered by vinegar and broccoli.
The John Dory course was pretty good, but there was nothing notable besides the fish itself which is a decently mild flavor.
The lamb and lamb tartare were quite good. The salad and carrot peanut butter thing were super weird and out of place, however.
Palette cleanser kiwi/celery sorbet with a "cottage cheese" was very refreshing and did its job well. Great course, one of my favorites.
"Apple pie" dessert was also quite solid and fun. Essentially apple, cinnamon, white chocolate, ice cream. Hard to miss.
Pineapple dessert was not very noteworthy. Kinda hurt to eat the sugar crystal barbed wire lol.
Finally, the chocolates (also sold in boxes by the restaurant) were pretty ambitious flavor combos, and not all my cup of tea. I liked the 7 spices one the most.
by ragnarak54