Pedro Lemos, located on a really narrow little street, opened in 2009. The downstairs level had wine storage, the bathroom and a large dining table for big groups. In 2015 they did a major renovation and made the upstairs a room with more widely spaced tables and took out a bar area and fireplace to make this additional space between tables. The nice sized tables were set with white clothes, napkins, purse stools and armless padded chairs. There were windows to the outside on 2 walls and a beautiful old wood floor. A decoration of swallows crossed the ceiling and on to the upper part of the dark walls. Music was in the background and the lighting was lowered. They offered two tasting menus of 8 or 10 courses and optional wine pairings. We chose the 10 course tasting. Portions were on the large side and pacing was good. The staff were quite friendly and spoke great English. It has one Michelin star.
As soon as we ordered they brought some snacks while we enjoyed a glass of champagne. A cod and potato cannoli was crisp rings of potato around chewy salted codfish. The potato was cut into rings and fried and the ends were dusted with herbs. It was very good. A purple macaron was made of purple cabbage and stuffed with green apple. It was tart and sweet combined. Good. A tart of artichoke and spinach was in a really thin crust. It was excellent. Afterwards they brought an expanding towel to wipe off your hands.
Cucumber/Salicornia (herb) was cucumber in different textures. It was grilled, marinated and jellied and mixed with mackerel, salty seaweed and mackerel foam. There was a surprising amount of cucumber flavor and it mated well with the fish. It was a nice light start to the tasting.
Rose shrimp/Curry was plated with mango and jalapeño in a curry sauce. It was quite aromatic and full of flavor. It was mostly smooth textures and really good.
Duck foie gras/Spice Bread/Pear was a course they have been serving since the place opened. It was a caramelized foie gras alongside a soft pear chutney and drunken pear ball (light brown ball). It was served with brioche bread. The pears were marinated in wine and cinnamon. This was an excellent plate of food. The lovely creamy foie gras was good alone or paired with the choice of pear tastes. The brioche was made in house and buttery and light.
inside
Bread service was a rye/wheat bread that was made elsewhere and finished in house. It was served with goat milk butter that was really pale. The bread was served warm and had a nice crisp crust with a soft, dense interior. The butter was lighter than butter from cow milk but good.
Bivalves/White Asparagus/Beurre Blanc was shellfish (razor clams and cockles) in a beurre blanc sauce of champagne, kaffir lime and butter. It was decorated with oyster leaves and almonds. There was no grit in the chewy clams and no fishy taste to the cockles. The sauce was truly rich and went perfectly with nice pop of the lime bits. They used local seafoods for this dish and they were very fresh and good.
Bluefin Tuna/Wasabi/Enoki/Dashi was inspired by a combination of Japanese and Portuguese flavors. The tuna was lightly seared and the the wasabi was stuffed in a slightly hot onion. The wasabi was a nice addition to the tuna and dashi sauce. It was a good combination of flavors.
Red Mullet/Beetroot/Iodised Sauce was red mullet with a red mullet sauce and caramelized beet root. The sweet beet was great with the fish. This dish the flavors melded nicely and the very pleasant sauce made the dish.
Sea Bass/Squid/Watercress was a grilled piece of sea bass with watercress and saffron foam with squid. The squid was chopped and below the fish with some onion. The greens were in a compressed square that was good. The mild fish needed all the side flavors to make the dish. There was lots of texture in this one too.
Squab/Mushrooms/Roots was squab with squab based sauce and a combination of 3 roots – chervil, cerefolio (local chervil like vegetable) and Jerusalem artichoke. A fried croquette of the leg meat was the large ball on the plate. It was good but not too crisp. The squab was cooked nicely rare and salsify was mixed with the chanterelle mushrooms. It was a good plate.
The pre-dessert was Apple/Cashew/Miso. A round of cashew cake was alongside miso ice cream. Bits of celery and apple gave the dish even more texture. The ball of cashew cake was smooth, chunky and sticky and additionally there were a supply of crisp sweet crumbles. All mixed together well.
Banana/Lavender/Sagu Pearl was the dessert. It combined caramelized banana, tapioca pearls and lavender. Then there was banana ice cream and purée as well as a cannoli of white foam. The tapioca had been cooked in Madera wine. It was a fun dessert.
A final treat was a warm Madeleines. They were buttery with a perfect crisp edge. A delicious way to end a fine meal.
