Three courses at Michelin starred restaurant Ametsa with a Star Deal of just £38? We’re there!
If this was a review of long restaurant names then we would have a definite contender for the top spot with ‘Ametsa with Arzak Instruction’ and if you want to go fully long winded then it would be ‘Ametsa with Arzak Instruction at The Halkin by Como’. But let’s just stick with Ametsa shall we??
The ceiling is without a doubt the best (and possibly only) feature of the dining room – an abundance of hanging test tubes undulating in a scientifically organic pattern above you. However the actual seating and tables are pretty cold and Im sure the seats were better suited as garden furniture. The staff do warm the room though as they are all very attentive and seemed always on hand – it was the perfect service.
We booked through bookatable.co.uk and went with the Star Deal of 3 courses at £38 per person. This gave us a tapas starter, a choice of two mains and two desserts with coffee and petit fours after the meal, all kicked off with a lovely glass of cava.
The starter was simple and tasted great; squid in squid ink, Iberian ham on a bread pillow and bell peppers. It was preceded with a chilled tomato and strawberry soup. We also ordered a couple of cocktails which came perfectly timed after our final sip of cava.
The main was beautiful, adorned with petite flowers, and probably the most tender lamb I have ever had – however that is pretty much all it was. The slices of lamb. No sides, no vegetables, no accompaniment whatsoever. I totally understand we were paying less than some of the main a la carte dishes for our entire three courses but I would expect something a bit more – it was a beautiful and delicious, yet incomplete main.
Dessert was similar – I opted for the french toast with coconut and mango which came artistically arranged on the plate and tasted amazing but was very small – maybe a typical bread soldier size cut in two. What happened to the rest of the toast?
It felt as if we were dining on samples of a much larger tasting menu which, if we were, should be portioned accordingly. I can’t fault the service or the execution of every dish but for a total bill, including 4 cocktails and water) of £159.80 we certainly didn’t feel that we had experienced our moneys worth. And I am not entirely convinced that the Spanish roots of the dishes came through enough; something I was quite looking forward to.
