Lasarte (*) – Barcelona, Spain

Nestled in Eixample, between Casa Batlló and La Pedrera – two of Gaudí's major works – sits Lasarte, the three Michelin star Barcelona outpost of Martín Berasategui (whose famed eponymous restaurant lies in Lasarte-Oria, in the Basque region of Spain). Lasarte opened in 2006, and has been headed up by chef Paolo Casagrande since 2012. It is under Casagrande's stewardship that the restaurant achieved three Michelin stars in 2017. Prior to becoming head chef at Lasarte, Casagrande worked at both Restaurant Martín Berasategui, and M.B. (another Berasategui restaurant) in Tenerife.

Of all the restaurants I visited during my trip to Spain this past week, this was certainly the most classic; light piano music played throughout the meal, every table in the dining room felt suitably isolated, and the food itself – while naturally using a great deal of produce from the surrounding regions – notably leaned more on butter than the lighter saucing at El Celler de Can Roca or Cocina Hermanos Torres. But for the occasional spicy elements, the French influence is strong in this one, which is understandable given that Berasategui went to culinary school in France and trained in French kitchens (including under Alain Ducasse).

Mine was a lunch sitting, where the options are between a shorter lunch menu and the full tasting menu. I opted for the latter, whereupon one of my servers assured me that it was 'quite light' anyway. It was not; there is a fair amount of food, a lot of which is heavy. Fortunately, I have no issues with this, and in fact the style of the food was a nice change of pace to the restaurants that preceded this visit.

The meal started with six appetizers that were variously centred on tuna tartare, prawn and mushrooms, but it was the two liquid appetizers, one of which was a spiced bisque, that kicked things off in the right direction. The amuse-bouche that followed was the first star of the meal, the glorious eel and foie gras Mille-feuille. Salty, umami, and sweet, this is as flavoursome a bite (two bites, technically) as one could hope for.

Dishes then seemed to alternate, going from dishes that were exciting and that I wanted to savour, to dishes that didn't hit the same mark that had been previously set. In the former group, we have the delectable parcels of fennel with caviar (strong, creamy and aromatic), the white prawns and barnacles (elevated to a higher level by the sweetness of the pineapple emulsion), the squid tartare (again with the sweetness, but this time cut with licorice), the venison loin (perfection – the best I've had to date. It was so incredibly tender), and the pistachio and white chocolate dessert (tastefully plated, and pleasingly light). And though everything else fell in the latter group, nothing truly missed the mark. While the ravioli was the biggest disappointment, (especially as it is another signature dish of the restaurant, the eel and foie gras being the first, and there I can see why), where the ravioli was technically proficient yet boring, there were no egregious misses, and the menu as a whole had a nice flow to it. Two nitpicks I have though: The first and the smaller is that I would perhaps swap around the Baba spheres dessert with the white chocolate and pistachio, as the former feels more like a palette cleanser. The second and more significant is that a few of the dishes have too many elements, especially as the proteins have to be eaten in less bites than the additional elements require. A paring down of some of these dishes (such as the pig's trotters and even the venison dish) would be greatly appreciated.

I was umming and ahing about going to Lasarte before the trip, as I didn't know if it would be worth it when put next to the other restaurants I had planned. However, I am glad I did, as the dégustation menu holds its own. I would recommend it for a rather decadent outing in Barcelona.

Courses:

1. Appetizers (pictured third onwards)
2. Marinated hamachi, smoked oysters, cucumber and pickles
3. Fennel, espardenyes and iodized sauce with Beluga caviar
4. Clear broth of free-range chicken and white prawns, barnacles and aromatic pineapple emulsion
5. Squid tartare with green apple juice and licorice
6. Cured scallop slices and its coral, seabed and vegetables
7. Crustaceans ravioli in its own essence, burrata and Champagne
8. Duroc pig's trotters with aniseed herbs pesto, aubergine and raifort
9. Marinated venison loin, truffle roots, amarena cream, beetroot and pink pepper (pictured second)
10. Pistachio, celery, lime and green apple (pictured first)
11. Baba spheres, orange Blossom and angostura
12. Petit-fours