Cebo Restaurant

As a foodies, we cannot pass the opportunity to sample Spanish restaurant with one Michelin star in Madrid especially when the price is way cheaper than in Copenhagen Denmark.  We booked the table before we depart to Madrid and look forward to it.

The restaurant

When we enter the hotel where the restaurant located, it looks very luxury with modern amenities, beautiful lighting and bar counter where the chefs prepare the food and guests can watch directly from their seats.  The restaurant light is a bit dim – like in a nightclub and probably not that good for taking photos.

Our table has crisp white linen and two beautiful vases with life flowers soak in the alcohol.  Most of the tables place in a good distant from other dinners for a privacy.

The staff is very courteous and friendly.  Once seated, we were offered drinks immediately.  The menu was offered but it really do not make much different since they only have 2 menus which consist of 10 courses meal or 17 courses for the full experience “food around the country”. We definitely choose the 17 courses to samples all the best food in Spain.

The Food  

Unlike other Michelin Restaurants around the world we have dined, this place only offered one snack, olives and some kind of gelatin before we start the food journal. In addition, they only give one piece of bread to each people when they start serving the food.

I was surprise to find the bread was cold .  We assumed that dine  at this type of restaurant would be different in term of presentation, taste and service.

 

 

1“Iced Gazpacho baby shrimp and olive oil remojon”

The dish is quite interesting but quite bland as I only feel the cold ice on my tongue.

 

2. “Baby lamb Russian pie and tender almond”

It is beautifully presented with full colour, but I can hardly taste the lamb.

 

3. “Asturian croquette made of fresh milk compango and clam”

This dish is okay, but I do not like the sauce. It taste a bit bitter and not match to the dish itself.

 

4.“Anchovy, lavender and picon- cheese”

It is a fest to the eyes and taste delicious. I am very happy with it and the dish was beautifully decorated like a painting. Ps. We are not supposed to the eat green stuff.

 

5. “Egg, saffron and pork rind stock”

 

Not much presentation on this dish but the taste was okay, much better than dishes no.1 and 3.  I find the sauce at the bottom of the bowl was kind of similar with the sauce on dish no.3 which not that nice to be honest.

 

6. “Iberian Pork from Guijuelo”

At this stage, I start wondering if this restaurant deserves one Michelin star or I just being fussy.   Not much presentation of the dish and the food was soo tiny compare with the plate and taste was so so.

 

7. “Spring onion, strawberry and empedrat of maresme pea”

It looks like a brown snowman and kind of boring.  We have to eat the whole lot at once by hand, and I was wonder if it fit into my small mouth. To my surprise the taste was delicious.  Once I bite, it exploded into my whole mouth.  The inside was empty and juicy.  Probably it was the best dish for the night.

 

8.“ Anchovy 3 ways”

OMG…… this is the worse dish I ever had in a Michelin Restaurant.  Have you Chef taste it??? Anchovy ice cream??? It taste awful.

  

9. “Cayeene pepper cream from La Vera, Torta de la Serena cheese, Criadilla and amanita caesarea mushrooms”

 

10. “Pote Gallego with cabbage and barnacle”

Taste bitter and the waitress noticed that I start skipping the food.

 

11. “Grouper sancocho, Green mojo and canary salmorejo”

The portion is really small and I might need to go to the tapas bar after finish dining here.

 

12. “ Brut rice with Iverian D.O. sobrassada and mahonese”

Taste was great but it was way too salty.  My blood pressure will go up way over 100 if I continue eat this, so one bite is enough.  When I tell the staff that the dish was too salty, she only said it was the “sobrassada”.  Oh Gosh.. if the chef know it is very salty, why don’t you reduce the use of sobrassada.  You need to find a balance Chef.

 

13. “Cod cooked the Riojan way with lamb sweat breads”

This is the best dish I can eat the whole night without complaining. Unfortunately the portion was very small for the main dish.

 

14. “Paparajote remake with lemon and grape

Interesting concept but it was failed miserable.  The cookies was too hard to bite and I was afraid it will break my teeth and not much taste either.  The sweet wine help ease the pain though.

 

15. “The Sweet Garden”

A selection of fruits jelly with ice cream. It is beautifully decorated on the plate but the taste just not there yet.

 

16. “Pantxineta and patxaran”

I do not know what that mean.  It is like a sponge chocolate cake with ice cream and chocolate cream. Not the best dessert I ever have but it is definitely better than no. 14

 

17. “Orange, mandarins, horchata, Mediterranean and orange blossom flower aromas”

I start to wonder if the Chef does not know how to make a dessert since this is only a cotton candy decorated with many different types of jelly and macarone.

 

Conclusion

Since I am a fussy eater,  I am not that impress with the food here.  The food decoration and taste are not as good as other Michelen Restaurants I have dined in other countries.  Not sure How they earn the “Michelin Star” recognition.  However the service was really good and the staff look after us well.

The Chef “Aurelio Morales” does not actually prepare the meal.  He just stand there to supervise the staff which I found quite strange.

 

CEBO Restaurant

Address: Carrera de S. Jerónimo, 34, 28014 Madrid, Spain

Website: Restaurant Cebo