A Taberna Do Mar — Restaurant in Lisbon

We had the degustation menu today for 30€ each. It was advertised as being 10 courses, but when reminiscing about each of the dishes afterwards, we actually counted 14 plates of varying sizes that should, in our opinion, be classified as courses. Irrespective of the exact counting taxonomy, the value for money of the degustation menu is phenomenal.

Contrasting with its rustic and cozy interior, the food at A Taberna Do Mar is sophisticated and refined. It draws inspiration from traditional Portuguese dishes but showcases fresh seafood ingredients as the main protagonists. A variation of the classic Cabidela dish, consisting of chicken and rice, is instead prepared with a red wine, vinegar and cuttlefish ink reduction, paired with salty Bacalhau (cod fish) which is omnipresent in Portuguese cuisine.

This innovative hommage to local culinary culture is supplemented with occasional specks of influence from Japanese cuisine. The ox tongue and algae dumplings come with a ponzu and orange vinaigrette. Fish of the day (sea bass, in our case) is served as sashimi, lightly charred with a blow torch and delightfully smoked. The signature dish of the restaurant is a sardine nigiri which tells you all you need to know about this restaurant's appreciation for the outstanding quality of its raw ingredients.

While the degustation menu scores high marks by finding the delicate balance between innovation and simplicity, the crux of its ingenuity lies in the subtle stories and circularities which are woven into its culinary narrative. The sardine is a recurring ingredient in this menu and all parts of it are utilised. The fillets are treated with the necessary respect in the nigiri, the head is used to make a delightful sauce in another course and even the bones are ingeniously made into a syrup which serves as a gelatine replacement in the three-ingredient flan (egg yolks, brown sugar, sardine bone syrup).

While this holistic approach to using ingredients is exemplary and truly creative, the flan dish represents the only slight blemish in the degustation, as the sardine aroma lingers ever so slightly in this dish that should certainly be fish-free. Nonetheless, there are several other successful examples of the restaurant's care and judicious use of its ingredients in the menu.

If you've bothered to read this far, you are at least slightly interested in culinary innovation, and therefore you must go to A Taberna Do Mar. It is an engaging, fun and delicious experience. Make sure to call ahead and reserve a table. Go before Michelin picks it up and it will be booked...

It took me days to decide whether to write this. After recounting the experience, I felt that others should know what the experience was like for me on an evening I returned just after leaving a wine bar in the area.

I arrived to the restaurant at capacity, so I stood in the doorway for over 5 minutes waiting for staff to acknowledge I was standing there, hoping I could arrange for take away or to see if a table might free up soon. It wasn't busy in that the staff who was just a meter away couldn't at the very least welcome me.

I was also hoping to use the restroom, so after the staff, one particular gentleman serving the area wouldn't greet me, I went to use the restroom, where he stopped me saying the facility was just for clientele.

I explained I had been a customer a week prior (even tipped on a coffee and dessert).

He then stated that I should at least ask permission.

I replied that I had been waiting in the doorway without being greeted with every intention of supporting the establishment.

The entire restaurant fell completely silent.

After returning from the wash, I asked if I could be seated at some point or attended, he mentioned that the restaurant was closed AT FULL CAPACITY!

He didn't offer a menu for later or for takeaway, meanwhile he continued to serve guest, while I stood in the middle of the restaurant as if I didn't exist.

I waited at the door hoping to draw his attention while giving people in the restaurant their space to enjoy their food and the server, presumably manager, never acknowledged how disenfranchising and completely discriminatory his actions were.

I've lived enough experiences to know that this isn't the behavior non-Black or guests of African descent have to experience.

Not only will I never eat here again, I will discourage anyone I know to support...

I was not impressed. I came here upon recommendation from my friends and decided to do the 30€ tasting menu.

When I first arrived, no one would acknowledge me. I just stood there waiting to ask to be seated. The first thing one of the servers said to me was that they only accept Portuguese cards or cash. I thought this was odd considering we are in a large urban area. Even the remote areas I visited in Portugal, accepted Visa.

The food was a fusion of Portuguese and Japanese food. While the presentation was beautiful, I thought the food was mediocre at best, but perhaps it’s because I’ve been spoiled living in SF and have visited Japan. The portions are also very very tiny (each “tasting” is the size of a nigiri or smaller). You get 10 food items and 4 desserts. I didn’t like any of the desserts and found two of them to be quite bitter, but thought that the soup and the dumpling were good. Everything else wasn’t very memorable.

The only redeeming thing about this place was the amazing, kind waitress that I had. She described everything wonderfully and was very attentive.

I spent close to 40€ for the tasting, water, and tip and definitely didn’t think it was worth it.

So overall 1/5 for the lukewarm welcome upon walking in, 1/5 for not accepting major credit cards, 3/5 for the food, and 5/5 for...