abantal MICHELIN STAR

Eating fine food was our only plan for today... and what a great plan it was!
After a good 20-minute walk, we thought Google maps had led us astray. After a panicked moment, we thankfully found abantal: a very unassuming restaurant front. We might have walked passed it again if it wasn't for some other diners standing out the front.
The amuse-bouche once again was a great start with the tastebuds singing with each bite. The beetroot soup was my favourite, so smooth and refreshing.
The meal began with a salad. Jeremy is a pumpkin hater, and they were happy to remove the pumpkin from his salad. It was a delicious salad with and sin pumpkin.
Fortunately, abantal was happy to accommodate fusspot Jeremy, and while I enjoyed my fresh oyster he had a clam dish. The only downside of my dish was that it was finished in two mouthfuls.
Three seafood dishes followed: tuna, sea bass, and lobster.
The basil broth served with the tuna was mouthwatering but distracted away from the tuna.
The sea bass was my favourite seafood dish. The addition of orange and cauliflower was a math made in heaven.
I was thinking the lobster dish may have been voul-au-vent like with the mention of puff pastry. It was nice to be wrong with the lobster shining atop.
The 'meat' dishes were next: one beef and one chicken. Both cooked perfectly. The chicken just slightly better than the beef in my opinion. Mainly due to the silky smooth, concentrated flavours of the sauce (came close to delicious sauce had at Akelaŕe).
I love passion fruit, so the first dessert made me very happy. Refreshing and palate cleansing. The ginger combo was delightful. As nice as it looked I could take or leave the final dessert. Under the appealing green dome was a mousse which did not have much flavour. Chocolate as part of the petit fours matched perfectly with the local sherry.
Another mighty fine dining experience...Read more