I've been following the San Pellegrino list seemingly forever, even back when I was a piss poor college student who could only wonder what the highest echelons of cooking were like.
It's worth mentioning that Mugaritz was on that list going as far back as I remember following it. Restaurants come and go, but it remained one of the few names that seemingly stood the test of time.
I also knew it's reputation coming into it. I've been to at least a dozen three Michelin star places before, but only been to one doing molecular gastronomy prior to Mugaritz, and that was Enigma which I will write about sometime later.
Full disclosure, I came in prepared to do two things: 1) be willing to open my mind and food senses to just about any possibility. I wasn't going to be cynically turned off by the showmanship of the restaurant and call it all parlour tricks.
2) That I wouldn't let my desire for this meal to be justifying the price so as to explain away dishes I didn't care for as interesting or thought provoking. If I didn't like a dish I would at least have to explain why I didn't and why whatever they were trying to do missed the mark for me.
To that end, I don't like writing negative reviews in general. But, I will give an honest feedback. I posted pictures of their three best servings of food.
In almost every one of these top restaurants, there are usually a dish or two I will forever remember because they were that good, at least a handful I will find exceptional, some amount that were are good or solid, and maybe 1-2 at most I just thought missed the mark.
In a sincere effort to not bash the place, I will say they served one dish that was in the forever remember territory(the beef cheek dish) and two others that were exceptional. The rest…too many just didn't work, but I'll spare the details because they suffered from one or two of the same issues.
In trying to assess what exactly happened here, I was clued in a bit when I got to meet one of the chefs close to the end of dinner service. He wasn't surprised I loved the beef dish. Everyone loves it, he says. But what about the others!!??
I think it's with this comment that I can begin to understand why this restaurant is where it is. At first blush, they have everything you could ask for. A top notch reputation. Impeccable pedigree. Every technique you could imagine. A flourish garden full of fresh vegetables. And yet…the dishes were just stunningly not what I wanted them to be.
I don't want to bash them for being unconventionally. Some of the dishes were unconventional in a positive way. A caviar and oakra dish worked! I don't think it would but it did! This was the center dish of the first picture. It had this mouth feel of a log of goats cheese but with the flavor of caviar bringing that initial salty, butteriness finished with the lasting flavor of okra.
The other were the fish courses. The one on the right was sword fish server with a praline like crumble underneath the skin which gave it this fattiness to compliment a sumptuous bite. And then the tomato with a similar praline texture coming from anchovies. The tomato was sweet and savory and the anchovy praline gave this kind of chewey anchovy finish that made dish seem like a seafood dish even though it was mostly a tomato.
Finally, the aforementioned beef dish is the one on the right of the last picture. Imagine an intensely beefy braised beef dish but with an initial chew before becoming a texture almost like of fois gras.
But apart from those highlights, most of the time, unfortunately, they just missed the mark. In some cases, really missed. One of the main issues that ran throughout the meal really came down to texture. For some reason, they love the texture of gumminess and chewiness. Think Mochie or gummy bears. This texture made it's way seemingly into at least a dozen different dishes for no reason whatsoever. And on top of that, some of the dishes were either bland or dry or both. Too often, especially at the end, it was one serving after another of food that had this tacky texture. It wasnt like there was even a contrast to play against. These were single bite dishes of a mostly chewey with one or two soft flavorings.
This all circles back to their desire to veer far away from conventional cooking and do their own riff on things. By their own admission, they are trying not to go the conventional route. I can respect that to a point and in some cases, it worked. But too often, it felt like they got way too clever for their own good to the point it just wasn't enjoyable.
It pains me to write this honestly, because I respect their pedigree and desires. But at some point, even the most esoteric eater wants something that tastes good.
by Think-Culture-4740