Every year my fiance and I take turns to choose a restaurant for Valentine's Day date night dinner. Last year I chose Cafe Colon and this year he surprised me with reservations at La Manzana, a restaurant in the 5 star hotel Hesperia Madrid. La Manzana (the apple), was named in allusion to the golden apple that Hercules found in the Hesperides. The Chef Esteban Gonzalez's cuisine is characterised by the transformation of ingredients into creative and innovative dishes. Keep scrolling down to see what I'm talking about...
We were greeted by exquisite decorations and the most courteous staff. The menu was a V-Day special, so we didn't have to decide. All we had to do was sit back and relax. The menu consisted of 4 dishes and two desserts.
The first one was tuna tartare with egg yolk and Iranian caviar.
The design of every dish was spectacular. I almost felt bad for eating those beauties. Look at those plates, each one was different!
The second one was foie with beetroot and pomegranate served on a plate that reminded me of a fossil.
Then there was this salad made of skate, couscous and Shichimi vinaigrette. I had never tried this fish before, it's probably the tastiest and softest one I've ever had. It melted in our mouths.
Scroll up back to the menu to see the forth and final dish, veal shank on mashed potatoes.
There were two desserts. These people sure know how to please a girl with a sweet tooth. The first one -above left- was called amore and it's a mixture of different chocolates. The second one -below- called passion consisted of passion fruit, sponge cake and foam. On the last pic -above right- you can see what they served with our coffees. The little green balls tasted like mint and chocolate.
Happy as a clam with the rose that the lovely staff gave me at the end of a wonderful soiree.
I must apologize for the quality of some of the photos. Being a perfectionist, I don't feel comfortable sharing images that are not the very best. However, restaurants don't normally have the best light for photos. Nevertheless, I felt I had to share this magnificent experience with you.
Now, tell me. How did you celebrate Valentine's Day?
Cristina xo
