Epur, the restaurant of French chef Vincent Farges in Lisbon, offers a cuisine of apparent simplicity but truly sophisticated, thanks to the meeting of several influences and perfectly mastered technique.
Eating well in Lisbon is not complicated, to say the least, and there are excellent restaurants in all price ranges.
Epur is a Michelin-starred restaurant that I’d had on my list for a long time, but I hadn’t managed to find a table there on my last visit. Strangely enough, it wasn’t so difficult this time, even though I’d booked shortly beforehand. Maybe because it was in the middle of the week?
At the bottom of the page you’ll find a summary of the articles about this trip to Lisbon.
The concept of the restaurant
To say that this is a Michelin-starred restaurant serving Portuguese cuisine would not be wrong, but it would be a bit of an oversimplification.
Let’s just say that while the results and products are a tribute to local cuisine, the chef uses French techniques to create dishes that blend mainly French, Portuguese and Asian influences.
The setting
Simple, natural and uncluttered in a Scandinavian style, with tiles that remind us we’re in Portugal.
The menu
The restaurant offers just two tasting menus at 120 and 150 euros.
The dinner
To whet my appetite, I walked to the restaurant in the Chiado district. It’s high up on the hill, so you’ll have to make a bit of an effort, but at least you’ll have an unobstructed view of the city and the Tagus.
I’m greeted by a…Frenchman. He settles me in and we chat for a while, learning that he has a friend in Nancy, my birthplace.
The room has ten or so tables, widely spaced, and the design is so warm and uncluttered that I almost feel I’m in Sweden.
The room is empty, but will fill up completely as the evening progresses. A lot of French people, and one table speaks English, but the dress code is atrocious…but even in Michelin-starred restaurants, people have less and less manners.
The sommelier then comes over to offer me an aperitif and, as has often happened to me in Portugal, she insists on speaking to me in French to practice a little. By the way, the menu I’m given is in French too.
On her advice, I’ll have a Portuguese sparkling wine.
I’ll be opting for the 150 euro menu and, as usual, I won’t be taking a wine pairing, but rather letting the sommelier recommend glasses at my own pace, rather than racing against the clock to finish each glass before the next one arrives.
We start with a few amuse bouche: hummus mousse with espelette pepper, lime, olive oil and vegetable ceviche, melon, cucumber, grany smith granita and coriander.
The hummus is fresh and light, subtly spiced. As for the ceviche…I don’t see how it resembles ceviche, but the apple and coriander combination works very well.
A second round is served and I’ll have a harder time understanding what I’m being served. It’s all about mackerel, coriander, tuna powder (?) and I don’t know what about bergamot.
Home-made bread | Olive oil | Butter from the island of Pico
It’s not the first time in the recent past that bread has been presented as a dish in its own right.
There’s baguette and beer bread. Side dishes include avocado, olive oil, butter and chicken juice.
The baguette is warm and crisp, the other breads very good.
The butter is excellent, the oil a classic and the chicken juice a real killer.
Momo shrimp | Fennel | Beetroot
The shrimp come from the Algarve.
It is served with caramelized orange and fennel, and a beet and orange purée.
The prawns are perfectly cooked and the fennel and orange beet mixture is a delight.
The sauce really is something special…
Peas | Eggs | Pata Negra Ham
The baguette is actually made of ham.
If you take the components of the dish independently, it’s nothing special, but when you break the egg and mix it, it’s very good. I used the pseudo baguette as a dipping stick.
Very interesting texture, but if the taste is good, it’s still rather conventional. It’s actually the egg that carries the dish.
Catch of the day | Oyster | Halophytes | Geranium
The fish is topped with an oyster tartare.
The fish is perfectly cooked and the sauce is really very good, but the oyster tartare can be a little off-putting.
Sweetbreads | Spring onions | Morels
Very fine, and as always, the combination of sweetbreads and morels works very well.
Pigeon | Bean | Offal
The pigeon is in a Moroccan-style pastilla with giblets and pigeon jus. It’s accompanied by shallots and a bean purée.
The pigeon was perfectly cooked and melted, and strangely enough, the pastilla didn’t dry out. With the shallots it’s a delight.
Strawberry | Lime | Basil
It’s a palate cleanser.
Very fresh (which is the point) and a very pleasant blend of tastes.
Passion fruit | Jasmine | Mascarpone
It’s a mascarpone cheesecake with a passion fruit sorbet.
A little bland until you mix it with the jasmine mousse and it gives a dessert with a very pleasant taste.
I’ll finish with a coffee and a few delicacies.
And that’s the end of the meal, with a final bill of 220 euros including wine.
The atmosphere
Muffled, calm, relaxed.
The service
Really friendly staff, happy to make conversation in French.
Bottom line
A very good meal in a very honest restaurant that deserves its star and offers interesting cuisine. Perhaps a little less impressive than Cura and less surprising than 100 Maneiras, but very much in its own style. Not really impressive, but nothing to fault either.
The articles about this trip to Lisbon
# | Type | Review |
1 | Diary | Genesis of the trip to Lisbon |
2 | Hotel | Moxy CDG |
3 | Lounge | Air France lounge Roissy 2F (No review, already presented many times) |
4 | Flight | Paris-Lisbon Air France Business Class – A220 |
5 | Hotel | Moxy Lisbon City Center |
6 | Restaurant | Epur Lisbon |
7 | Flight | Lisbon-Paris Air France Business class – A321 |
8 | Diary | Lisbon trip debrief |