In the striving food scene of Lisbon, 100 Maneiras represented a new wave of contemporary gastronomic restaurants that combine diversity with creativity and flair.
Bosnian owner-chef Ljubomir Stanisic was one of the first to introduce a "no-choice" tasting menu in Lisbon. In his daily 9-course degustation menu (52 euros), he promises local flavors fresh from the Mercado da Ribeira. But from what I've read from different bloggers, I am expecting more than just an innovative cuisine. I am expecting a little bit of molecular gastronomy techniques injected into some of his dishes as well.
Chef Stanisic described his cuisine as futuristic yet reto. Perhaps that's the reason why he named his restaurant "100 Maneiras" (100 ways in Portuguese). I certainly hoped they have one hundred ways to impress me with their cuisine.
Like Sicily, Italy where we visited a few days ago, Lisbon is also known to start dinner relatively late. Most restaurants do not open for dinner until 7:30pm to 8:00pm. We tried to arrive 10-15 minutes before our 8pm booking, only to find that the staff was still getting the place ready.
Our first starter of the night, Codfish clothesline, drew inspiration from the way typical Lisbonites dry their clothes (out on the window?)!
Slices of dried codfish pegged onto a clothesline were served with a homemade coriander and red pepper dip.
It tasted very much like cracker bread but with a special codfish flavor. Very unique.
Next up was Soil & Sea, a beautifully presented seafood medley consisting of steamed scallops, octopus and clams serving with cinnamon, onion purée on a bed of corn bread powder. A coriander foam put the finishing touches on this wonderfully refreshing starter.
Our third course, playfully named Playbunnie, was a marinated rabbit terrine with garden vegetables and black pudding powder. Dashes of mushroom and pesto sauce helped out the decoration of the dish.
I thought the texture of the rabbit meat reminded me a little of tuna. What I liked most about this dish was the seasoning which was strong and flavorful.
I have never shied away from any foie gras in my life but this foie-gras bon bon was a tad too sweet even for me who's known for having a real sweet tooth! I wish the chili sauce, ginger, lemon thyme and dehydrated olives powder could do more in supporting the frozen foie gras.
Our fish course was a steamed mere with wild red rice in a very intense bouillon duck broth. This dish reminded me a lot of a similar fish dish we had at Jean Georges a few months back.
The duck broth was way too overpowering for me.
A little palate cleanser of Eucalyptus powder, grapefruit meringue, syrup and rosemary foam, chestnut ice-cream with hood flavors was served before our meat course.
Our server said the presentation of our meat course was inspired by the game "tic tac toe". The suckling pig in crepinette with mushrooms purée and lemon gnoccis scored far more points with its presentation than it tasted. Again the seasoning was too dominant while the texture was a little too dry for my liking.
Our pre-dessert was a red wine lollipop. The frozen red wine was quite refreshing while getting us ready for our dessert. And you gotta like the "fish" that held up the lollipops!
Finally, we were down to our last dish - a fake cheese cake and "Pastel de nata". Yes another pastel de nata! We had about 5-6 today already!
On the left was a de-contructed pastel de nata with crispy pastry, nuts and Maria wafer ice-cream. I had trouble relating the taste to pastel de nata. More successful was the fake cheese cake on the right with layering flavors of dried raspberry, cream and caramel.
By this time it was already close to 11pm and we were so full. Luckily there's no petite four so just the bill for us before we hit the road again.
This was a very unique dining experience. I was slightly disappointed with the drop-off starting from the third dish. I would definitely use the word "unpredictable" to describe this meal but would be reluctant to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it from a culinary standpoint.
Food Rating: 5/10
Price: $$
Address: Rua do Teixeira, 35, Bairro Alto 1200-459 Lisbon, Portugal
Closest Metro Station: N/ATel: +351 9103-0757
Website: www.restaurante100maneiras.com
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