What a hip and fun looking restaurant!
It reminds me of entering one of those old school theaters. The name fits the design, Mini Bar Teatro. This is Michelin-Star Portuguese Chef Jose Avillez’s first gourmet bar. I’d like to describe this restaurant as a unique gastronomic experience delivered in a form of tapas for its clienteles. The way they present their menu will engulf you into a theater environment. The menu is divided into acts. The first act consists of some bite-sized mini cocktails. The second are mini snacks, followed by mini entrées; mini fish courses and the fifth act are mini meat courses. The restaurant also features two different sets of menus. First is the “Menu Now On” and the other is the “Epic Menu.” The “Menu Now On” is a fixed menu while the “Epic Menu” is a surprise menue made by the chef for the evening. I figure with the restaurant having such a renown Michelin-Star master chef orchestrating the restaurant’s culinary features, I highly recommend going with either the “Menu Now On” or the “Epic Menu” in order to experience as much as you can in a single visit. The two special menus each go from the first act to the last act, the final act being the desserts.
We had a very friendly and charismatic server named Beatrize who happily and eloquently described, translated and narrated the menu. After her wonderful presentation, we decided to have the fullest experience by deciding to feature both of the special menus. We were quickly served with drinks and a couple of unique concoctions.
ACT 1
The first act being the cocktails, we had the caipirinha – belcanto 2012 and the green apple and spearmint. Wow, they taste so incredibly good. When I asked Beatrize about the drinks, she listed an orchestra of ingredients that went into the invention of said cocktails. The drinks were quite compelling as I certainly felt the effect swiftly yet the flavor didn’t have any trace of the essence of alcohol.
ACT 2
The second act we had featured quite a few dishes. Let’s go through this one by one shall we? The first one was the el bulli olives 2005 XL. These were truly explosive. If you love olives, these are literal mind explosions of the flavor. The second is the ferrero rocher “not what it appears to be” bel canto 2011. As the name suggests, its packed with a lot more than what it appears to be. This dish I would describe as a blaze of flavor of lime and coconut, which left me a rather sweet sensation. The next dish was the algarve prawns in ceviche which came in a charming presentation. The dish highlighted a crunchy effect that went well with the soft savory prawn. There was also a slight spice, minty, and some tang going on too. The next dish is the “roasted chicken” with avocado cream, cottage cheese, piri-piri and lemon. As the name suggests, it’s exactly what it would taste like. The distinctive quality here is how crispy some parts are of the dish were. I adore how tasty and creamy this dish is. The tempura avocado with dehydrated kimchi was a mix of soft and velvety avocado with a slight spice going on. This is also pretty fantastic. The next dish is the coriander sprouts, lime and lemon. This was actually somewhat delicate and refreshing to the taste. There are so many ingredients going around that I’m surprised I’m still only on the second act.
ACT 3
The third act contained 4 different dishes (mind you, we were served with a combination of both the “Menu Now On” and the “Epic Menu”). The first was the beef tartar cone with mustard emulsion. At first I was hesitant to eat this when I realized it is raw beef. When this dish came in, it didn’t even occur to me that it was uncooked. As I started munching, it was so deliciously soft that it practically melted in my mouth. It had a crisp exterior wrapping, which greatly compliments the softness of the steak and the mustard emulsion. I was in shock when I later found out it was steak tartar because it was not at all the way I expected. The next dish is the bruschetta with foie gras confit, Parmesan, honey drop fig and balsamic. This was very delicious and truly savory. I mean… this is as savory as foie gras can get. The smoked mackerel apple and celery salad with truffle came covered in a small glass bowl. When the server opened it, a dramatic white smoke came out. It had quite the fishy flavor that seems to blend with the greens served with it. The celery salad consisted of creamy apple that had a hint of sourness, which also flattered the dish yet still allowing you to focus on the mackarel flavor. The last plate was the tuna tartar temaki cone with spicy soy. I love sashimi so tuna tartar was completely pleasing with me. The tuna was very soft and it, likewise, melts in your mouth. Wow, this restaurant does not pull any punches when it comes to delivering high quality ingredients! The sauce that came with the tuna had a very slight kick that is almost spicy.
ACT 4
At this point, I was starting to get full. The fourth act contained two diverse plates. The first was the braised tuna with chive and miso sauce, which looked so incredible! The dish featured a candle underneath to keeping it warm. The braised tuna almost tastes like meat. The gravy served creates a wonderful palette filled experience. What a blend! The second plate was a hot and cold escabeche codfish with raspberry vinegar. This was served on a warm platter. This dish makes me wonder just how the chef made the exterior so crispy but the interior so soft. I was truly impressed by how good this dish was. The fish was light and delicate.
ACT 5
The fifth act encompasses two special dishes. The first was the veal rice with Parmesan served in a small hot clay pot. This dish was quite smooth and meaty. The rice seems to have absorbed the natural veal flavor as you can feel the richness of it hastily. The second plate was the J A burger with small potatoes. The small potatoes were prepared well as they were quite wonderfully crispy without being burnt. They each had it’s own exceptional cream that I surely enjoyed. The beef in the burger was also super soft and decadent. I didn’t really feel the texture of it when biting through the buns. It was so exceptionally delicious.
FINAL ACT
Now, for the final act, the dessert as the finale! I enjoyed four different desserts at the Mini Bar Teatro. First came the raspberry yoghurt, mascarpone and meringue. This bowl reminded me of back when I was a kid as it featured a fun popping texture. What a wonderful surprise. I liked how this sweet is not tarty at all. The second dessert is the hazelnut 3 revisited, which I would interpret as hazelnut prepared in three different ways served as a dessert. I usually see other restaurants serve triple chocolate cakes, but this one is certainly quite unique. I love hazelnut so naturally I revere this dessert. The next dessert was the chocolate cone in three textures with fleur du sei and pink peppercorn. The mouse is indulgent and not overly rich in chocolate flavor. There is also some crunchy essence. The bottom is where one will find the chocolate ice cream. I like multi layer desserts but in this case, it was multiple layers entailing of different flavors and temperature. It had a sort of warm to cold thing going on. Pretty cool! The last dessert was the lemon-lime globe. As one could imagine, this one was rather tarty with a jelly consistency. The natural flavors of lemon and lime are truly evident.
Ultimately, this was one of the most unique and distinctive restaurants I’ve ever encountered. I have certainly not appreciated and experienced a tapas-like gourmet restaurant like this. Truly exceptional! As one would wonder, is the set menu enough for one person? Absolutely! I was already starting to feel full towards the middle there so I am sure anyone with an appetite would be wonderfully satisfied. I have travelled around the world experiencing different culinary talents and I must say that José Avillez’ Mini Bar Teatro in Lisbon, Portugal is matchless as it is remarkable.
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Thanks to Mini Bar Teatro | Rua António Maria Cardoso 58, Lisboa, Portugal