Stardust
Pro Food meets expecations, overall.
Con Service doesn't.
Pay
1⭐ Michelin
€€€€+
Per Person €90. Tasting menu, caña, bottle of red.
Find
Website http://restaurantelua.com/
Access Steps up from the street.
In Short
Hopes. Post Christmas food celebration.
Reality. Less than the sum of some of its parts.
First Impressions. Warm and cosy on a freezing January night.
USP? A familiar selection of galician flavours in fine dining format.
The offer in three words. Star shines dimly.
Service! Perplexingly inconsistent over the evening.
Friend friendly? Tasting menu, as advertised, is seafood, fish and meat focussed.
Rating for dating. Location, decor and ambience could be ideal.
Tip? Lost in the final 45 minutes.
Change one thing? Dessert design is debateable.
Revisitability. Not as high as they'd probably like.
Compare & Contrast
Dstage, inevitably. Sunne, at a fraction of the price, is not a million miles behind Lua, all told.
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
When you wish upon a Michelin star, it doesn't matter who you are. Hopefully, your culinary dreams come true. Food, service and ambience should work together to build an experience you can't forget and want to recommend.
At Lua you'll have an interesting, and noticeably Spanish food experience, with familiar flavours smartened up to starry standards, with some innovative challenges to expectations. That said, we hope your visit is matched by more consistent service than ours was.
Multi-course tasting menus are par for the course, and this one comes in cheaper than some in town. Possible consequences were evident. For one thing, there's no menu or dining card inhouse or online. I had to visit Tripadvisor to find one. Staff seemed thin on the ground. We didn't count, but about half a dozen servers didn't seem a lot, with 10 dishes, each with their own cutlery, to deliver (and later withdraw) plus wine, bread and water to refill as required.
The 10-course menu offers memorable and pleasing combinations, but there is the occcasional mis-step. In any event, we're sticking to our M* principle that some surprises should be kept back. So we'll keep to three dishes to sum up our experience.
Click here to jump spoilers. In any case, Spoiler Alert...
Onward then, and let's talk about a smart aperitif. This fantastic dish of tomato bread, pate and mackerel is a must try.
Of the highest standard, the bread was sweet but intensely flavoured. Our first ever sesame ash was like a savoury snow, and literally as light as a feather. A triumph of cooking skill and flavour balance, with memorable plating, too. Top class attention to detail.
Several courses later, the fish main divided us. Finely sliced ray fillet - we're thinking perhaps cooked sous vide to maintain the delicate texture - was matched with a chorizo sauce (and oil). My first instinct was it seemed an unlikely combination. Ray was a flavour entirely new to me, but I warmed to it and finally loved it. The sauce was rich and creamy, easily coating the fish. Lovely. But it only worked for one of us. Chorizo and fish is just not a combination that works for everyone.
Signature dessert is a fun-looking Tarta de Santiago, with a surprise in store. Slicing into it releases a caramel-like sauce. Combined with the sponge this was delicious. But, the eagle-eyed might spot something underneath this tastiness. A delicately flavoured citrus cream was blown away by the dense flavour of the caramel, like someone using a delicate handfan in a hurricane. I had to seek it out to know it was there. Excellent flavours, pleasingly Spanish ideas, but a mismatch when they were put together.
Less than the sum of its parts, that pudding sums up our Lua evening. At this level we know, from experience, detail is everything. Example? The presentation wasn't distinctive enough, with too many swirly white plates. The absence of background music suited the tone, but, perplexingly, at around 11pm, someone decided too much peace and quiet was too much, and thought some Alanis Morrissette covers would enhance the atmosphere. Yep. Ironic. The space is comfortable enough, with standard sized tables. But a humming wine cellar and banging kitchen door suggest it's small for the number of covers.
Water, wine and three breads were resupplied constantly, by whichever server was in the vicinity. Excellent radar, there. Explanations were forthcoming for each dish, but there was little engagement after the fact. If a chicken soup has a surprise spicy finish, ask me about it. Make the evening as special as it's supposed to be by making guests feel part of it. The food alone is not the experience, everything adds up.
And if it doesn't add, it takes away. So, we have to do the maths. The initially rhythmic service palpably slowed down when the room had filled up, and it took a full 40 minutes for us to be billed and pay. Who switched off the radar? Surely, from a certain point in the evening, every server should have their eye out for guests ready - perhaps needing - to end their evening? Extending two-hours' dining to nearly three, I found this incomprehensible. Worse, there was no acknowledgement of it. Sorry seemed to be the hardest word.
Bottom line? All told, while we enjoyed ourselves, we can't see a reason to go back. The food offers much to appreciate, but we weren't running out of superlatives, which has been part of previous Michelin experiences. Now, fine, cooking's a matter of taste. But service delays, absent menu cards and intrusive background noise are not.
Some - actually, all - of these things need addressing. Otherwise, someone might find themselves trying to catch a falling star.
Pro Food meets expecations, overall.
Con Service doesn't.
Pay
1⭐ Michelin
€€€€+
Per Person €90. Tasting menu, caña, bottle of red.
Find
Website http://restaurantelua.com/
Access Steps up from the street.
In Short
Hopes. Post Christmas food celebration.
Reality. Less than the sum of some of its parts.
First Impressions. Warm and cosy on a freezing January night.
USP? A familiar selection of galician flavours in fine dining format.
The offer in three words. Star shines dimly.
Service! Perplexingly inconsistent over the evening.
Friend friendly? Tasting menu, as advertised, is seafood, fish and meat focussed.
Rating for dating. Location, decor and ambience could be ideal.
Tip? Lost in the final 45 minutes.
Change one thing? Dessert design is debateable.
Revisitability. Not as high as they'd probably like.
Compare & Contrast
Dstage, inevitably. Sunne, at a fraction of the price, is not a million miles behind Lua, all told.
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
When you wish upon a Michelin star, it doesn't matter who you are. Hopefully, your culinary dreams come true. Food, service and ambience should work together to build an experience you can't forget and want to recommend.
At Lua you'll have an interesting, and noticeably Spanish food experience, with familiar flavours smartened up to starry standards, with some innovative challenges to expectations. That said, we hope your visit is matched by more consistent service than ours was.
Multi-course tasting menus are par for the course, and this one comes in cheaper than some in town. Possible consequences were evident. For one thing, there's no menu or dining card inhouse or online. I had to visit Tripadvisor to find one. Staff seemed thin on the ground. We didn't count, but about half a dozen servers didn't seem a lot, with 10 dishes, each with their own cutlery, to deliver (and later withdraw) plus wine, bread and water to refill as required.
The 10-course menu offers memorable and pleasing combinations, but there is the occcasional mis-step. In any event, we're sticking to our M* principle that some surprises should be kept back. So we'll keep to three dishes to sum up our experience.
Click here to jump spoilers. In any case, Spoiler Alert...
Spoiler Space
5
4
3
Nearly the last chance to avert your gaze.
2
1
0
Onward then, and let's talk about a smart aperitif. This fantastic dish of tomato bread, pate and mackerel is a must try.
Several courses later, the fish main divided us. Finely sliced ray fillet - we're thinking perhaps cooked sous vide to maintain the delicate texture - was matched with a chorizo sauce (and oil). My first instinct was it seemed an unlikely combination. Ray was a flavour entirely new to me, but I warmed to it and finally loved it. The sauce was rich and creamy, easily coating the fish. Lovely. But it only worked for one of us. Chorizo and fish is just not a combination that works for everyone.
Less than the sum of its parts, that pudding sums up our Lua evening. At this level we know, from experience, detail is everything. Example? The presentation wasn't distinctive enough, with too many swirly white plates. The absence of background music suited the tone, but, perplexingly, at around 11pm, someone decided too much peace and quiet was too much, and thought some Alanis Morrissette covers would enhance the atmosphere. Yep. Ironic. The space is comfortable enough, with standard sized tables. But a humming wine cellar and banging kitchen door suggest it's small for the number of covers.
Water, wine and three breads were resupplied constantly, by whichever server was in the vicinity. Excellent radar, there. Explanations were forthcoming for each dish, but there was little engagement after the fact. If a chicken soup has a surprise spicy finish, ask me about it. Make the evening as special as it's supposed to be by making guests feel part of it. The food alone is not the experience, everything adds up.
And if it doesn't add, it takes away. So, we have to do the maths. The initially rhythmic service palpably slowed down when the room had filled up, and it took a full 40 minutes for us to be billed and pay. Who switched off the radar? Surely, from a certain point in the evening, every server should have their eye out for guests ready - perhaps needing - to end their evening? Extending two-hours' dining to nearly three, I found this incomprehensible. Worse, there was no acknowledgement of it. Sorry seemed to be the hardest word.
Bottom line? All told, while we enjoyed ourselves, we can't see a reason to go back. The food offers much to appreciate, but we weren't running out of superlatives, which has been part of previous Michelin experiences. Now, fine, cooking's a matter of taste. But service delays, absent menu cards and intrusive background noise are not.
Some - actually, all - of these things need addressing. Otherwise, someone might find themselves trying to catch a falling star.