Manresa, take 2

I meant to move my random thoughts into G+ and keep posting about food and travel on this blog, but it seems I forgot. I'm going to be catching up on food outings in the next week or so, and back-dating appropriately, so sorry for the confusion...

D and I went to Manresa once about 4-5 years ago. We didn't have that great of an experience; I forgot my camera, we didn't order the tasting menu, and although the food was well-executed and we enjoyed it, we weren't wowed by the level of creativity.

Last week some friends invited us to go with them, so we decided to give it another chance. There were six of us, and we all ordered the full tasting menu. This time we were much more impressed; I especially liked the foie gras and chestnut croquettes, the tomato soup (and I don't even like tomatoes much) and the roast duck. My only complaint was with the desserts; they were both not-quite-seamless mixtures of sweet and savory flavors.

They also seem to have renovated both the exterior (adding a nice courtyard area) and the interior (going from more ranch/rustic to more modern, which I prefer), and my water glass never got more than 1/3 empty, which is quite an achievement on the service side.

black olive madeleine & red pepper gelee:


foie gras & chestnut croquettes (super tasty!):


coriander ice...


...with barely cooked tomato soup (also very good):


shellfish w/ chestnut & persimmon, roast chicken jelly:


bay scallops, verjus of green tomato, ginger w/ seaweed:


"into the vegetable garden" (very cool presentation):


"autumnal tide pool" (uni, foie gras, mussels, mushroom, seaweed):


black cod w/ tomato & fig leaf honey, fennel, & bitter herb (did not try):


roast duck & persimmon, cauliflower mushroom, walnut wine (best of the entrees):


saddle of roe deer, quince, matsutake, wild watercress:


pumpkin confit, pistachio cake w/ fenugreek ice cream, toasted colza (not a fan):


gianduja mousse w/ hazelnut milk, green tomato confit, sorrel w/ olive oil (also not great):


chocolate madeleine & strawberry gelee (cute to start and end w/ gelee & madeleines):


the menu: