Restaurant Martin (Extreme Gastronomy)

Spanish restaurant that opened in Shanghai by Martin Berasategui, a Spanish chef with award-winning (if I’m not mistaken, he has either 2 or 3 Michelin stars) restaurants in Spain. His location in Shanghai is in an old office building from the 1930’s that has French architecture style, and supposedly has a ghost on the second floor (which is why we stayed on the first floor).

There were some pretty sublime dishes here, and surprisingly, the restaurant was relatively consistent—most of their dishes were amazing. Unfortunately, the restaurant’s ambience wasn’t conducive to picture-taking, as it had dim lighting and candles to give a romantic mood; given this, I can only but describe the dishes, and direct you to look at their website. The food was excellent, and it was at times mind-blowing to taste how the cooking techniques brought out the complete idea of the dish, and the complex flavors of the fresh ingredients.

Set menu: all of us got one of each of these things...

From their regular menu: we had one each to share...

Sopa fria de almendras con Boqueronos “Ortiz” (Cold almond soup with Spanish white anchovies): Very…mellow, and the different components added simple yet interesting insights into the dish. The almond soup was thick (crushed/blended almonds) yet milky, and flavored very delicately with olive oil, garlic and a bit of wine. Placing the pickled anchovies in the dish, added a bit of a vinegary-salty taste to it, which balanced out the mild milkiness of the soup itself. The grapes that were served on the side added a nice refreshing break from the soup, yet still in some way complemented it, adding a fruity touch to everything.

Gazpacho de melocoton con pan “tomaca” y Jamon (Peach Gazpacho with tomato bread and Iberian ham): Refreshing, and was an interesting contrast to the almond soup, because both took different approaches to the theme of cold soup. This soup, unlike the almond soup was more fruity and fresh, and adding the salty Iberian ham to it only highlighted the refreshing characteristics of the soup.

Plato de embutidos ibericos con hojaldre relleno de piperrada (Iberian cold cuts served with piperrada stuffed puff pastry): Not bad. I googled up piperrada and it said that it is an egg dish sometimes served as a tapa, or as a brunch. It is composed of different bell peppers, garlic, ham, egg and tomatoes. This dish was very simple—it was essentially a plate of 3 different salamis (lamb, ham and beef I think?) with a puff pastry which was filled with some roasted peppers and tomatoes.

Huevo con patata rota al aceite de oliva y emulsion ahumada (Soft egg with broken potatoes and smoked bacon cream): Such a rich dish. Honestly couldn’t eat that much of it just because it was pretty heavy. The yolk of the soft boiled egg oozed out when you poked it with a fork. Eating the egg with smoked bacon cream and potato was goood.

Esparde a la plancha con esparragos trigueros y aceite de hierbas (Grilled sea cucumber with green asparagus and herb oil): Perhaps one of the simplest and most unassuming dishes of the night, yet was the most surprising because of it. The asparagus was grilled in the herb oil very precisely, such that it was slightly crunchy and had a nutty flavor from the olive oil; when paired with the grilled sea cucumber (I think it was the stomach of the sea cucumber), which was so soft yet had a nice crunch to it. Such a deceptively simple dish with such clean flavors that maximized the potential of each ingredient—this dish could be described as poetic, and epitomized the restaurant.

Cuttlefish salad with tomatoes: One of the memorable dishes, because it was so extremely simple yet executed so well. It was basically cuttlefish served over halved cherry tomatoes, with a simple vinaigrette. Tomatoes were extremely fresh, cuttlefish was so delicately grilled, and the vinaigrette was uncomplicated (and didn’t mask the flavors of the rest of the dish’s components). Total combination while eating it was pretty beautiful. The tomatoes were so fresh and sweet that they burst in your mouth when you bit them, the cuttlefish was tender, savory yet had a nice chewy texture, and the vinaigrette just tied everything together and brightened up the dish.

Cochinillo asado (Roasted suckling pig): I thought the portion was so big (I was pretty full already), but the suckling pig was roasted to perfection. The conchinillo was hot and you could feel it melt in your mouth as you were eating it. In addition, there was no sauce (not much salt/pepper either) at all that went with this dish; it was served with a lettuce and olive oil salad. Overall effect was that the delicate flavors of the suckling pig were shown to their fullest capacity. I was a little sad that I was pretty full while eating it, so could not fully enjoy it.

Seafood Paella: Extremely disappointing, given the other dishes. Did not like it because the seafood in the paella was on the disgusting side—shrimp was mushy, salmon pieces were extremely overcooked and clams were a bit dry; in addition, there was not much flavor to the Arborio rice, least of all the saffron that I expect in paella. Moreover, there was close to none of that burnt rice crust that I love in paellas—this “paella” felt more like a risotto.

Torrija caramelizada de brioche casero (Caramelized homemade brioche): Wasn’t too bad. I didn’t care too much for the overall texture of the brioche, which I felt was a bit too densely spongy, yet I liked how the caramelized part of it went together with the nutella ice cream that topped this dessert.

Soffle de chocolate caliente con helado de caramelo y canela (Hot chocolate soufflé with caramel and cinammon ice cream: So extremely rich, that I couldn’t handle one spoonful of it anymore, as I was full to the brim already. Dark chocolate was pretty intense.