When the chemistry is right part 2

Tamara and I went through the Alkimi menu and chose a simple lunch of 3 savoury dishes and 1 dessert.

First arrival was rather elegant - tall grissini, looking like a modern decoration.

Then a wee glass with a deconstructed dish. There is a spanish speciality which is made of toasted bread with fresh tomato rubbed on to it, and olive oil drizzled on top.

Instead... a shot glass with a cold tomato essence, cool olive oil and crisp bread cubes floating in it. On top was a piece of Spanish salami. The tomato had a taste like lemony cucumber and was very refreshing.

To accompany it, a piece of soft bread with sundried tomatoes and olives. The next amuse-bouche was foie gras. The dish looked like it just had a jelly in the bottom, but in fact below that was super soft foie gras. To accompany its creamy, rich texture was quinoa, which I guess was fried so that it was lovely and crisp. (Must try doing that)

Then finally the first dish that we ordered: a sort of soup/salad, with salmon, roe and coconut. It was gorgeous looking, with beautiful flower petals and leaves draped over the fish. The waiter then poured the coconut fluff over the top. This was an exquisite concoction. Somehow the coconut was not oily, the salmon delicious with little salty bursts of flavour from the roe. I am not really a huge fish fan but this was pretty damn good nosh.

At this point, Tamara and my choices parted. She was presented with a sort of inverted ham and eggs: a creamy ham "white" and a yolk made of ...? with golden runny yolk inside.
My dish was a sort of canneloni elegant platter with a built in dip for a sort of, served on an dressing, and with a pretty looking salad on the side, which included a strip of apple and cucumber - doesn't it look charming?

Tamara and I had chosen differently for the next dish too. Tamara chose a fish dish, while I indulged in a rich dish of pork cheek with mushrooms.












The mushrooms were incredibly garlicky and yummy and the cheek all crunchy on the outside and well done on the inside; thats one of the five major foodgroups taken care of (I will have to explain my version of the five major foodgroups in another post).

Time to wind up the meal, with dessert, chocolate brownie with chocolate and yoghurt icecreams. This was probably the most ordinary part of the meal, with the brownie being tasty but unexceptional. The yoghurt icecream was lovely though, creamy and just a little bit tart.


Tamara persuaded me that we simply MUST order tea or coffee, just to get the petit fours. So a nice cup of mint tea later, we were presented with one of the most difficult dishes to photograph that I have ever been presented.

There were 2 sweet little macaroons with raspberries, strawberries and cream, financiers and two sort of chocolate lollipops filled with what we think was a blackcurrant icecream. I don't know how we managed to squeeze them in, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

All in all Alkimia was great. Very reasonably priced at 32 euros a head the presentation of the food was excellent, and the quality far outstripped my other Michelin star experiences so far. The service was slightly odd, as there was a sort of serving table beside us, and food was brought to that table, then distributed to... well, other people actually! Our food was placed on a side table beside someone else and then brought over to us. It was a little bizarre and at times a little cruel, as we got to see all sorts of delicious dishes that we didn't get to eat. But I would definitely recommend this restaurant and go back again in a heartbeat.