Eleven Lisbon: Worth the hype?

I’ve wanted to visit Restaurant Eleven in Lisbon since we visited Adega in California last year. Adega is San Jose’s – my home town – first Michelin-starred restaurant and we had a fabulous meal there last summer. Adega’s husband and wife team started at Eleven under the tutelage of renowned chef Joachim Koeper. So when we made plans to visit Lisbon the February, on top of our list was to get reservations (we have Claudia, the concierge at Martinhal Chiado, to thank for that).

Eleven was started when 11 friends wanted to create a world-class restaurant in the heart of Lisbon. It’s Grand Chef Joachim Koeper, has worked at several Michelin starred restaurants (including the three Michelin -starred L’Ambrose in Paris) and has earned a total of five Michel stars himself, including 1 Michelin star for Eleven. Koeper is widely acclaimed as one of the masters of Mediterranean Cuisine.

Eleven is set away from the historic areas and in Lisbon’s business district (15 minutes by taxi or 20 minutes by tram from where we stayed at Martinhal Chiado). The purpose-built minimalist restaurant was designed with light in mind – with changing views throughout the day over Lisbon and the River Tagus.

Koeper’s ideology is that the menu should change daily to reflect the best available seasonal ingredients. Everything is made daily – including the stocks, sauces, pastas and desserts.

It all sounded completely amazing. But did it live up to expectations?

The date that worked best for us to go out was Valentine’s Day. I’d normally would avoid going out on Valentine’s Day but it was the only evening which fit our schedule. (BTW – Martinhal Chiado has an amazing Pyjama Club where kids can stay and watch movies supervised – and it’s all included with your stay). So with everything in place – we went for it!

We arrived for the first seating and were originally seated back a bit from the window and the amazing views over Lisbon. The manager came by to introduce himself and moved us (unasked) to the window. I was very impressed with that.

Because it was Valentine’s Day there was one set menu at 145€ per person. It featured 8 courses paired with wine (included).

This is what we had…. 

Amuse bouche means appetizer before a meal.  It was a scallop in a lukewarm broth which had a strong sea taste. The bread, which I don’t have pictured, was very good – and there were 7 different varieties.

Then on to …

I suppose this was meant to be the “wow” dish to make it Michelin-star worthy. The idea was that fattiness of the foie gras would work well with the sweetness of the chocolate. While I liked it, it was very sweet and was more like a dessert. In my opinion, the chocolate overpowered the dish. The aged Madeira was amazing, but again something I’d prefer after a meal.

Next was …

I loved the Pea Soup with Wasabi. Fresh and clean. This was served with a Provence Rosé 2016, which was nice and clean with peach overtones. This was one of my favourite courses. 

Then on to the Fish course….

The Fish Stone Bass with Rose Petals and Pink Pepper was perfectly cooked. Crisp skin, flakey fish. The accompanying wine, White “Arinto by Joachim Koerper” was served this course and the next. It was Arinto grapes and “5% of grapes only Joachim knows.” It was nice and by this time I felt like I wanted to slow down a bit.

The Seafood course ….

I asked our waiter to slow down a teensy bit and he was careful to do this. This bought us a bit more time to enjoy Koerper’s special wine. By the time the next course arrived (Seafood Crawfish with Oyster Textures and Avruga Caviar) we were ready to enjoy it.

The Meat course ….

There was a nice love story to go with our Meat course (it was Valentine’s Day of course). The wine, “Pedro e Inês”, is a Portuguese love story, similar to Romeo and Juliet. At least that is what I remember. I had several wine tastings by this time. The kebabs were veal and pork and cooked rare.  I don’t remember being asked how I wanted them prepared, but perhaps that just how they do it. The purees were beetroot and carrot, and served in the shape of a heart. I enjoyed this course.

Then Dessert …

Next it was time for our first dessert. Called “Just in Love” Assortment, it looked like a candy apple but was cunningly was chocolate mouse with a mango sorbet. In addition to the Casal Sta Maria Late Harvest 2014 wine (lovely) dessert was served with a Sex on the Beach cocktail, which I hadn’t thought about since my University Days! I would have liked to try it (the drink, silly), but I had reached my alcohol limit. If it had not been a set menu I would not have ordered this, since we had so much chocolate in our starter. I think I need to rewrite this sentence because you will get the completely wrong idea!

And lastly ….

Last was Mignardises – bite sized desserts served at the end of a meal. This is where I really felt Eleven fell down. Our waitress plopped them down without an explanation. I understand – It was Valentine’s Day and they were busy.  My husband and I waited a bit to see if she would return to tell us what they were. But she didn’t.  I think the flat one was a Florentine. The hearts were chocolate and I brought them home for my daughters since by this time I was chocolated-out.

Did Eleven meet expectations? I personally would hate to earn a Michelin star. The pressure would be too great. You would have people like me visiting, spending 145€ per person, expecting perfection. It wasn’t and I didn’t come away with that “memorable meal” feeling. Oh well.

If you’re staying at Martinhal, I’d skip Eleven (which is a 15-minute Uber ride away) and instead try Belcanto (Lisbon’s first restaurant to be awarded 2 Michelin stars), Alma (1 Michelin star), Sea Me, Mini Bar Teatro, or Cafe Lisbon – all just a stroll away.

IF YOU GO

Eleven, Rua Marquês da Fronteira Jardim Amália Rodrigues, 1070 Lisboa, Portugal +351 21 386 2211 http://www.restauranteleven.com/

Disclosure: My stay at Martinhal Chiado was organised as a press trip. All opinions are my own.