Tamas Ferencz

We went to the Brown’s for a birthday dinner. The place was packed, there was no table available turning up without reservation. The decoration is modern, the atmosphere and the music is trendy. Started with few really good cocktails while we have selected our food
The menu has a wide variety of dishes, from high quality tapas to burgers and uniquely combined bistro and gastro bar food.
For starters we have ordered Tequila lime prawns with garlic and coriander sauce and a portion of olives. The prawns tasted well, perfectly balanced with the acidity of the sauce. The olives were served lukewarm with pieces of chilli and garlic along with fresh crusty bread. Really tasty.
We have opted for pork belly, Jerk chicken and the pork shoulder croquette, pluma and pork belly trio as mains.
Every element of the trio was very good quality and were precisely cooked. The pork belly was very tender, with a good crackling. The chicken was accurately cooked, the flavours of the puree and croquette were balancing out the entire dish perfectly.
Rich homemade chocolate birthday cake was also divine.
The staff were very friendly and efficient, the service was superb. This was a very enjoyable meal, better than you can have at most of the restaurants in the area. Less

La Cabana Buenavista is on the hill above Murcia City. The owner and head chef Pablo Gonzalez has been cooking here since 2003, he is one of the greatest representative of the local Murcian cuisine.
The dining room is in a very high African style hut where the tables are comfortably and widely spaced. There is an attractive garden and terrace, where you can have the welcome drinks and the some of the starters.
The experience menu costs 120 Euro (additional wine pairing for 90 Euro and Caviar for 15 Euro), the experience+ menu 140 Euro ( wine pairing for 110 Euro and Caviar for 15 Euro).
The menu is very minimalist, only 9 dishes and you can not find any description or ingredients list. From the a la carte option we opted steak tartar with stewed potatoes and the wild turbot with pepper for starter, cow steak with Tubercles and grilled red mullet with lacquered octopus tentacles for main dish.
The meal has begun with a series of amuse bouches at the tapas stations in the garden. Very high quality bites with autumn and winter ingredients: partridge, red pine mushroom and boletus.
The canopies section has continued in the dining room after we sat down. Usual and unusual pairings came this time inspired by Japan. Wide variety of tuna and other seafood dishes, all with very good texture and perfect harmony of the flavours. But after the satisfying canopies the impulse got lost.
We ate here few times while it had one star and this was our second visit after the restaurant got another star.
The style of the cooking has changed since the restaurant got its second Michelin star.Much less of the Spanish traditions and more occasionally confusing Asian fusion odd cooking. Which would not be a problem if they know what they are doing…
This time, apart from some of the starters the whole dinner was inconsistent, along with a confused service. The English menu was practically unusable due some major translation errors which were leading to an inedible main course. The waiting staff did not handle the problems properly, so did not the owner-chef who came to our table at the end and the only remark he was able to make “the lady had no luck this evening”….
Well a wrongly translated menu along with an untrained staff with serious language barriers can lead to all sorts of problems…
The wine list is very extensive. The new Argentinian sommelier has substituted very well the genial Joan Belda executive sommelier who did not present that night at the restaurant. Less

We had a chance to visit David Munoz’s flagship restaurant in Madrid December 2019.
The extravagant 40 years old chef develops 35-40 new dishes every year. His very unique cooking style with his extraordinary creativity results a perfect dining experience. He is bravely mixing Mediterranean, Asian and South American ingredients into art on the plate.
The dining room is a reflection of his extravagant style. Fancy decor with pink colour dominations, lot of curtains and theatrical elements like flying pigs all over.
After the welcome drinks ( Grosset Grand Rose champagne with pink label) the meal started with canopes.
The cantonese chicken, the sheep's milk and maturated salmon croquette and the taco was a very impressive warming up, all were delicious with plenty of flavour.
This was followed by some Indian dishes. A very deep flavour vindaloo curry was balanced with greek yoghurt, Dal Makhani & Frog leg prepared like buttered chicken masala, with papadum of lentils. Pan puri filled with New Delhi salmorejo and Joselito's coppa. Very special steamed, light and fluffy naan with truffle and Mumbai flower with pink pepper. The spices were beautifully balanced in all Indian dishes.
Than we went to China. Roman style kokotxa was served together with Necora chilli crab and it was followed by one of the most successful dish of the meal, Xialongbao Xo Iberian soup dumpling with aged beef rib & bone marrow. All the elements were precisely flavoured and cooked.
And many, more and more beautiful dishes. Red mullet and smoked eel, The sea urchin we had to eat from our hand. That was followed by and another great dish, suckling pig skin with squids, matured tomatoes, Habanero puree. Idiazabal cheese, frozen green lemon and coriander root. The suckling pig skin was crispy and light, the light sweetness of the matured tomato was in perfect balance with the savoury of the cheese, the sourness of green lemon with coriander and the creamy Habanero pure. This was a terrific dish.
Red mullet with Moroccan lemon, smoked chorizo juice and Olluco puree. A lovely dish with rich flavour was carefully balanced. Kagoshima wagyu fillet steak. A high quality, A5 grade , perfectly marbled, very high quality Kobe beef cooked to perfection.
His 25 courses menu was a fantastic gastronomic journey around the world.
With this wonderful diner we had a wonderful wine, one of my favourite Spanish white wines, a bottle of As Sortes from Rafael palacios’s winery. The presentation was extraordinary, the service was top level, smooth and friendly all the way through the 3,5 hours dining time.
I am sure this was not our last visit to this fabulous place. Less

La Tasqueria restaurant is in the souther part of Chamberi district, very close to the famous Retiro park. The young owner- head chef Javi Estévez offers a very interesting and innovative mix of street food and old style Spanish dishes with almost forgotten offal elements.
The local tavern style ground floor dining room has minimalist wooden interior and two big windows with natural light.
There were two tasting menus at 50 Euro and 70 Euro as well as an a la carte choice.
The meal has begun with appetisers, beef tongue, olives and sourdough bread with olive oil.
We have ordered few dishes from the a la carte option. We started with a beef tongue and lobster salad, for second course we had tacos with beef tongue and lobster and third course brioche with roasted lamb and wild mushroom.
The salad was very pleasant and refreshing, the tacos were very enjoyable, the beef tong had good flavour and was nicely cooked. The brioche dish had rich flavours, the lamb and the wild mushroom were gently cooked, they went well together.
The place was very busy but the staff was attentive, our waitress was friendly and helpful.
The Tasqueria was a very pleasant experience, with the quality of the food, the well executed dishes and the atmosphere all together. We will be back. Less

La Finca restaurant is located in the outskirt of Elche in a typical Mediterranean setting. The chef/padron is Susi Diaz the autodidact chef, she has opened her place in 1984 and received a Michelin star in 2006.
The dining room has a casual atmosphere with wooden interior and natural light from the huge panoramic windows.
The menu offered two tasting menus at 99 Euro (13 courses) and 119 Euro (17 courses), one “your menu” for 79 Euro (nibbles, 2 starters, 1 main and desserts) as well as the full a la carte choice.
The wine list wasn’t too diverse but it is substantial and very well balanced between the local Spanish wines and some prestigious French wine regions.
The meal has began with a selection of nibbles and a portion of beluga caviar served with butter and blini. From the starter selection our favourite was the squid dish and the bluefin tuna carpaccio. The squid was served with lettuce, peas and garlic mayonnaise, the bluefin tuna carpaccio came with foie and crunchy biscuit. Both dishes were excellently prepared, the peas superb, the tuna delicate.
For mains we have ordered Sirloin with foie and truffle sauce and a very strangely named rice “tuna osso buco” and tuna belly tartare. The rice was lovely, the seasoning perfectly lifted the flavours, this dish was a nice surprise. The sirloin with foie was tender but a bit under seasoned. Three dessert were served. Lemon tartlet macaron with ice cream, chocolates with different textures and a caramelised brioche with greek yoghurt ice cream and coconut soup.
I am not a coconut fan but the elements of this dessert worked out really well together. We have finished our meal with a cheese selection.
Most of the dishes had lot of elements but the chef has really well combined the traditions with the modern touches.
The plating and the table decoration is worth mentioning. Some of the dishes are arriving on Pau Camara ceramic art pieces. The artist is from Altea, creating really beautiful handmade objects.
The waiting staff was attentive and knowledgable about the menu but we have noticed some uncertainty in the service protocol.
All together it was certainly a joyful meal from start to finish. We will be back. Less

Magoga is the first Michelin star restaurant is Cartagena with a well balanced contemporary and refined cuisine.
The young couple Maria Gomez and Adrian de Marcos has been formally trained in the Basque Culinary Centre and also in El Bulli by Ferran Adria.
They have a well structured a la carte selection and also a tasting menu for 70 Euro (40 Euro additional for the wine pairing).
The meal has begun with canapés, then we have ordered a grilled lobster salad and a steak tartar for staters, suckling pig and amberjack fish for mains. The lobster salad came with tomato, physalis and Ñora pepper, the steak tartare with fried egg cream. The lobster salad was excellent, the steak tartar was well seasoned and made of a high quality meat.
The glazed suckling pig was served with celeriac, accompanied by a pickled fruit compote. A really enjoyable dish, the sharpness of the fruit compote and the glazed suckling pig with its crispy skin were in a tasty harmony.
The amberjack was a decent sized carefully cooked fish, served with chato emulsion and citric meunière. This was also a lovely dish. The sourness of the citric meunière was perfectly balanced with the pan fried fish.
The wine list is impressive and they have an extraordinary artisan cheese selection with 30 different national and international cheeses. Our favourites were the Gameneu from Asturia and the Rio Vero from Huesca.
The owners are tireless working so the restaurant can achieve higher and higher level in the fine dining world.
This was a very enjoyable and well worth visit. We will follow their progress and career in the future. Less

El Churra restaurant is situated in the Heart of Murcia city in a small street very close to the Plaza Circular, opposite side of the same named Hotel.
We have visited this restaurant because we have heard good reviews about their cuisine.
The restaurant has two rooms. The first room with a bar is a tapas place. Here the tapas selection were typical just like other restaurants in the neighbourhood, nothing special.
The second room is an upper scaled eatery. They offer a special menu for 39 Euro, and also have a good a’la carte menu and seasonal specialities.
Our starters were red tuna tartar and gazpacho, for main we have ordered deep fried baby squid and turbot with grilled vegetables. The gazpacho decent and perfect for a hot day, the tuna tartar with balsamic reduction was mediocre.
The deep fried baby squid was very oily and heavy, we could barely ate it. The turbot was not properly cleaned and was very oily too. The turbot is a pricey fish and needs a little bit more attention to clean and prepare properly.
They wine selection based mainly on local wines but it represents very well the main local wine regions in Spain and all reasonable priced.
We were both disappointed by the service as well as the quality and preparation of the food. Less

We had dinner at Orobianco restaurant when we have visited Calpe. The restaurant located on the back hills of Calpe with a fantastic ambiance and beautiful view of the bay and the city.
This restaurant is listed in the Michelin guide as the only starred Italian restaurant in Spain. They serve traditional Italian haute cuisine. The head chef is the Emilia- Romagna born, Ferdinando Bernardi.
They offered 2 dining menus. The Evolution menu with 6 courses for 75 Euro ( additional wine pairing- 55 Euro) and the Gusto menu with 9 courses for 95 Euro ( wine pairing- 70 Euro). We opted for the 6 course menu with wine pairing.
The dinner started very promising. Both starters, the cappelletti with lamb terrine and the red tuna with strawberry and Martini rubino were well cooked , nicely presented and tasty.
The third dish was cream of squid which we could not identify and understand. It had lack of flavours and a very poor presentation.
The first main dish was a mushroom risotto with wild turbot. The turbot is a really flavourful fish if a proper size is served. The piece of turbot we have received with the risotto could have easily been any type of fish as it was so tiny that the typical notes of the turbot could not be traced.
The last dish on the menu was a Milanese style Chateaubriand. The steak itself had a decent flavour but wasn’t anything remarkable.
The service was pleasant, attentive, friendly staff.
This restaurant has a lot more potential but needs to fine-tune the plates and be a little more brave with the ingredients and seasoning. Less

After our first visit in 2018, we believed BonAmb Restaurant is a great choice for a special dinner with our friend, who had very little previous mediterranean fine dining experience. We were seated on the terrace in the beautifully kept and designed garden.
We have opted for the Sol menu again with appetisers, 13 main dishes, starters and desserts.
The quality of the menu and the service was nothing to compare to our previous experience. The quality of all ingredients are definitely high but most of the plates has seemed to be trying a bit too hard to reach the complexity and the combination of the huge number of flavours. We have felt that most dishes were more about style and plating rather than substance.
The service was excellent as usual, the staff were all the way attentive and professional.
The bill came to 490 Euro , which has included 3 glasses champagne a glass of rose wine and bottle of extraordinary As Sortes godello from the Rafael Palacios vinery.
All together we believe both Michelin stars are deserved, it is a great restaurant with a talented team, but on our last visit we have found many of the dishes highly imbalanced. Less