DiverXO — Restaurant in Madrid

On Wednesday 21st July (2021) we went to live a gastronomic experience at DiverXO; having heard about this magnificent restaurant millions of times, having seen Dabiz Muñoz many times in different programmes and documentaries, our expectations were very, very high. And we were not disappointed.

We arrived at 20:05, our reservation was at 20:15, we were so nervous that we almost entered through the kitchen. Thank goodness we decided to walk around and arrived at the entrance for real!

All the attention received from minute 1 was incredible, luxury, cordiality and always with a smile.

The menu is unique (250€ p.p.), but they do give you a choice for the meat dishes, between pigeon and lamb (I won't give more details, because they give all kinds of description, enough to choose from).

For drinks, in our case we chose a Maridaje de altos vuelos, which is the most expensive (300€ p.p.) and we opted for this one because we wanted to make our experience unique. And so it was.

I don't want to describe or tell too much about the dishes, as it is a fundamental part of the experience, with surprises included that I won't spoil. I'll just put the menu in a nutshell to give you a rough idea:

Southeast Asian inspirations: (All the dishes are served together, it's a feast of flavours in which you set the dance and rhythm). Thaipirinha. Pad Thai. Indonesian Saté. Green Curry. Laksa Singapore. Som Tam.

World upside down. Frosted salad from the bottom of the fridge and seafood garnishes. (Delicious and refreshing from start to finish, with touches of pure genius).

Steamed explosion with ribbons of cuttlefish in pil-pil sauce. (Not all mouths are made for this great morsel, not because of the palate, but precisely because of the size, at least mine...).

Blue duck in orange sauce. (It was a shame to eat it because it was so beautiful... but after the first bite, all the pain was gone).

Duck cracklings... (Unique !!!!).

Ceviche with crunchy textures... (In my humble and particular opinion, the tastiest dish of the whole menu, probably because of my Galician roots...).

Sea noodles... (A dish that unites everything: beauty, aroma, textures and flavour, I would have eaten two of them).

Galician lobster on the beaches of Goa (Another work of art that not only pleases the eye, but also delights the palate in a masterful way).

Cold pigeon poached on a chopped stick, marinated for a week (it went in easy, smooth, unctuous, tasty).

The texture as an ingredient... (The quality of the meat used to make this dish is unparalleled, you have to try it to understand it, you can't describe it).

Sweets:

Toasted butter risotto with tuber melanosporum (Complicated name, under its apparent simplicity there is a world to discover, incredible!!!).

Blackcurrant chewing gum (visually groundbreaking, surprising sensations on the palate).

As a final point, the atmosphere is great, spacious, the service is unique from start to finish, all of them are great professionals who know how to do their job to perfection.

I would have liked to see Dabiz Muñoz and thank him for one of the best gastronomic experiences of my life? Yes, of course. Was it possible? In this case, no. Are we disappointed about it? Not at all, we went to DiverXO to taste an exquisite and unique meal with the best wines, and we got 100% of that.

But I would like to express my sincere thanks to Dabiz for having created a menu that made us fly.

Thank you very much to the whole DiverXO team, we will...

Walking into DiverXO feels like stepping into another culinary universe – bold, playful, and unforgettable. From the very first moment, everything is tailored to you. As a passionate gastro-hedonist with extensive experience dining at restaurants from the World’s Top 50 List, I had the privilege of receiving a few surprise creations personally added by the chef. What followed was not just a lunch, but a four-hour sensory journey where every dish told a story, every detail had purpose, and every bite pushed the boundaries of flavor. The staff are extremely professional, refined and full of valuable insights. Dedicated hosts follow your table throughout the entire experience, while the manager joins several times and even takes part in the preparation and serving of one of the courses. Ambient, restaurant-personalized music further enhances the distinctive vibe, creating an atmosphere that is both intimate and theatrical. The cuisine is a brilliant contemporary fusion of Spanish and Asian influences – elegant, daring, and eclectic at the same time. Some highlights from my lunch experience: Frozen oriental ceviche that redefined my understanding of freshness. Lightly roasted caviar with pistachio and jalapeño sauce – unexpected yet brilliant. Galicia chicken in three versions with baby eel noodles – mind-blowing! Fried barnacles with gnocchi, joined with fried egg taco with acidulated flower and thai “tigre que llora” – unforgettable. A reimagined mini sandwich where crunchy pork belly replaced bread, filled with pulled pork, black trumpet pesto, homemade sriracha, egg yolk, cured goose, pecorino cream cheese enriched with timut pepper, wild rocket, and basil – insanely balanced haute cuisine! Oxtail consommé served in a real buffalo horn. Lobster: refined tail and “sexy” head. Japanese-style deconstructed paella – spectacular in both performance and flavor. Wild boar in two versions, with slow-cooked chop – wildly impressive. A dish of “leftovers” reinvented with reduced caramelized sauce, aged whisky, bergamot, and Australian black truffle – a sustainable guilty pleasure. Complex dessert with Buddha’s hand citrus, miso, galanga, paired with warm camel milk – a mix of tenderness and intensity. Five petit fours inspired by mochi, redesigned with European-oriental flair – like baklava, kadaif, toasted pistachio… a powerful finale. After the four-hour ritual, I was invited into the kitchen to see firsthand how this extraordinary team creates their magic – the perfect ending to an unforgettable performance. Atmosphere, service, food, creativity, boldness – all on point. DiverXO is my...

Food, service and wine pairings were all of the highest calibre. Unfortunately, the restaurant set expectations that I didn't feel that it met and I felt it offered poor value for money.

We were two people who enjoyed the degustation lunch in late August and we shared one wine pairing between us.

Service was excellent. After sitting at our table we were served by Gloria. A month later I can recall her name. Proof positive she was excellent.

So too the sommelier, really enthusiastic and he had a lot to be enthusiastic about. The wines were all bold, unexpected and paired extremely well, a real triumph.

Food. I have just looked at my photos and there was great imagination in temperatures and colours and flavours. For me the leafy salad with shaved ice that seemed to turn itself into gazpacho was most memorable.

So I have little to complain about. Why the four rating? The videos on the web site told me this was to be an out of world experience. Avant garde, oleo en lienzo, punk/gothic. It was very good, the dishes reflected imagination and colour but my expectations had been built too high.

The first impression is the building from the outside, which was ......Oh. Am I in the right place? This is beige on bland. The space inside. Yes the ants and butterflies are fun. But, in the dining hall are tables individually enclosed/surrounded by lace curtains I didn't like it. I am interested in eating as a more communal experience. I want to watch what others are eating and I didn't want to be sat inside my own tent, I felt isolated. I didn't like the chairs, they are large and unwieldy and I felt uncomfortable for the staff as they wrestled to help people in and out.

Then something that surprised me. At the end of lunch Dabiz Munoz came into the restaurant. He went over to one table and had quite a chat. I thought that was a lovely personal touch. There were four other tables with people still in the room so I thought he will come and say hallo. He didn't. He left. He convinced one table that they were important and welcome. And in the same action convinced those at the other four tables that they were not.

Finally, value. We had the great good fortune to secure bookings at five really fabulous restaurants in five weeks. We ordered the same at each. This restaurant was AUD$1280 on my credit card and the most expensive one at which we ate. The other four averaged AUD$930 each . I don't think of DiverXO as the least positive experience, but nor was it the most positive. Consequently, I didn't feel the value proposition at DiverXO was where I would like it to have been. I wouldn't return a...