The concept of the restaurant and it's unique name is to produce food using ingredients from the Basque region of Spain but with twists and surprises a la Heston. Two of the 5 chefs are from the famous Arzak family that run the 3 Michelin star restaurant, Arzak, in San Sebastian, Spain and is currently no 8 in the top 50 list of World's Best Restaurants. In short, they're not too shabby at cooking.
A refreshing glass of cava was poured as we perused the tasting menu but as with all great restaurants, not too much is given away from the dish descriptions so we eagerly awaited what was to be brought out.
Three tapas dishes were brought to the table as starters. Scallops with Plankton Crust and a Pomegranate & Passionfruit jus, Jamon on a Bread Pillow and Foie Corn Cob.
The fish course was up next and the name of Hake with Celery Illusion promised another twist. This one was the best of the bunch.
The focal point of the dish, the hake, was meaty and flaked apart but the show was stolen by the 'celery'. What you think is a stick of celery is actually a potato, apple and pineapple combo moulded into a block with the distinctive celery lines indented into it. Simply stunning and great accompaniment to the fish.
The celery taste to the dish is given by shredded celery tops nestled on the hake and celery puree.
After a string of lovely rich dishes, the sweet element was welcomed and it ended the tasting menu perfectly. Hazlenut Ingot with Changing Juice was a lovely nutty bar encased in a port jelly with little crumbly cheese on top. The combination was delightful.
While visually effective the juice didn't really add any depth of flavour and actually made the ingot slimy and unpleasant so we agreed it wasn't really needed.
We highly recommend Ametsa for it's modern take on Spanish cooking and it's superb sommelier who recommended some stunning wines for us.
This Little Piggy Approves.
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