Restaurant Martin Berasategui

Given that this was more of an experience than a meal itself, I felt as though it deserved a seperate post.

We arrived at the restaurant around 1pm, absolutedly famished given that we generally had refrained from eating all day in preparation for the main event. After being seated we perused the menu for a bit, but there was really only one true option: "The Great Tasting Menu"...

And after we placed the order, they brought us out a detailed print-out as a souvenir. Each item had a date next to it (almost like a wine vintage) to highlight when it was created. It seemed a bit over the top with the dates, but at the same time it was a great way to remember the meal.

The tasting menu began with three appetizer courses (for lack of a more sophisticated description), with the following official introduction:

I propose that you allow me to seduce you in small mouthfuls... seductive, light and succulent, they will whet your appetite and be the introduction to a magnificent meal.

1995 - Mille-Feuille of Smoked Eel, Fois Gras, Spring Onions and Green Apple

2011 - Tuna and Seaweed with Liquid Cucumber and Spring Onion with Red Fruits and Radish

2001 - Squid Soup and Creamy Squid Ink Ravioli Served with Squid Crouton

 

All three were fantastic, though I preferred the first and third. The squid ink ravioli was particularly memorable as the interior was hot squid ink and you had to crush the ravioli "shell" in your mouth while making sure not to indavertantly open your mouth and get the black ink everywhere.

We then began the heart of the meal...

2011 - Oyster with Cucumber, Sour Fruit, Kafir and Coconut

2009 - Little Pearls of Raw Fennel, Risotto and Emulsion



2011 - Corrotxategi Egg Resting on a Liquid Salad of Red Tubers and Dewlap Carpaccio

2001 - Warm Vegetable Hearts Salad with Seafood, Cream of Lettuce and Iodized Juice

2011 - Curdled of Seaweeds with a Translucent Consomme of Carabineer

2009 - Roast Red Mallet with Crystals of Edible Scales, Tail and Juice of White Chocolate with Seaweeds

2009 - Roasted Araiz Pigeon, with a Fresh Pasta Bone Covered with Mushrooms, Spring Onion and Light Touches of Truffle Cream

Everything was excellent, unique and interesting, though my favorites were the vegetable hearts salad (the visual alone was pretty impressive), the red mallet with the edible scales (the scales tasted kind of like a fried shrimp crust, albeit a high-end version) and the pigeon (fortunately the taste made me disassociate the name from the common pigeons we're all famialiar with).

And if that wasn't enough food, we still had two desert courses remaining...

1995 - Vanilla Apple Pie with Granny Smith Sorbet

1995 - Chocolate Souffle, Caramel, Cinnamon Ice Cream and Cocoa Cream

The lunch lasted a solid three hours and by the end we were in desperate need of a walk. It was a great meal, though -- definitely one of my best ever -- and we even had the opportunity to meet the chef afterwards (though this was true for all the tables).