dining in lisbon

on friday night we decided to splurge on a nice dinner after sightseeing for the afternoon in belem. i chose a restaurant named feitoria, which has one michelin star and serves highly westernised, modern portuguese food. upon arrival we were slightly concerned to find only two other tables full, but thankfully those fears were unfounded... it was all incredible and not overly expensive!! unfortunately i have only a couple of photos, as we decided it really wouldn't be appropriate, so i'll try and describe everything i ate... 

to begin, we were served 4 amuse bouche: a salmon macaroon topped with salmon roe, a mini potato stack filled with mayonnaise and topped with a crispy cod-skin chip, a heavenly 'duck egg' of confit duck, and a rolled sardine with apple jelly and dehydrated sardine. as we didn't really know what to expect, we were all delighted by the amuse bouche and very happy with the accompanying champagne.

funnily enough the most visually impressive part of our meals was the bread, oil and butter. we were each served a focaccia, a large sesame wafer and given a choice of rolls (i chose carrot and herb). then arrived the piece de resistance... racks of oils in test tubes, butter in conical dishes and a little bowl of salt. they wouldn't have been out of pace in school science labs! they were so much fun though - eating goat butter, mild and strong oils, pretentious cow butter, and experimenting with flavours on our various breads. yum!

sarah and i chose to have the 3 course set menu, so for entreé we were served spinach and ricotta ravioli with oxtail. doesn't sound very exciting, but this was no ordinary ravioli. our bowls contained a single pillow of silky smooth ravioli with oxtail ragu and slivers of summer truffles, and when we cut into the ravioli an egg yolk spread through the dish. amazing! 

for main course, sarah and i had golden sea bream with cherry tomatoes and basil. whilst not as spectacular as our entreé, the fish was so delicate and delicious! 

in preparation for dessert, we were all served a hazelnut ice-cream. once again, a simple yet perfect mouthful... and then dessert arrived. sarah and i shared three and went to food heaven. cinnamon custard tart with lime, peach spheres with fresh peach and peach mousse, and stuffed churros with fairy floss and apple sorbet. utter utter bliss. 

we all but rolled out of the restaurant, a few bottles of wine and lots of food later. starred dining is definitely worth every cent!