Located beside the Lisbon Cruise Terminal, Marlene is one of three eateries owned by experienced chefpreneur, Marlene Vieira.
Housed in a glass-fronted building by the Tagus River and adjoining her Zunzum Gastrobar, décor here is contemporary minimalist, a memorable feature being its large central kitchen, with counter surround from where guests watch chefs at work (three when I was there).
Marlene, 44, who entered hotel management school aged sixteen and has been a chef for over 14 years, presents her innovative cuisine on two tasting menus, entitled ‘7 Moments’ and ’12 Moments.’
Having settled on the latter, my companion and I enjoyed opening cocktails, mine being a short- glass sakura comprising Japanese gin and raspberry puree and my companion a Sao Miguel mocktail of pineapple, ginger and mint foam.
Marlene’s wine list is also impressive, well over a hundred vintages from throughout Portugal, I was informed, including clarets from Alentejo, many aged in clay. I enjoyed a delicate Natus 2021, a fruity red produced mainly from trincadeira and castelão grapes and aged twelve months in oak and chestnut barrels.
After sampling tasty cornbread, based on Marlene’s grandmother’s recipe, with butter from Pico Island in the Azores, our feast began in earnest with what are termed ‘Snacks.’
The first, creatively resembling an open-top egg, was a panipuri shell filled with mackerel tartar seasoned with smoked olive oil and togarashi, a blend of yuzu, ginger, red chilli powder, seaweed, black and white sesame and sansho (Japanese pepper), all finished off with Hollandaise sauce and chives. Eaten in one mouthful, it oozed umami.
Next up was choux pastry filled with cured sheep’s cheese and truffle followed by a meringue of mushrooms with a mix of chanterelle and porcini varieties blended so well they simply melted in your mouth.
A smoked eel soufflé appeared next resting on a rice cracker shaped as a pillow in turn resting on a small rock, with caramelised onion purée and tomato water reduction while a tuna belly composition with an Escabeche sauce of carrots, onion and oil of parsley with roasted seaweed and fried fish.
One highlight of the evening was a homemade pasta of lobster and sea urchin gently flavored with chives and coffee oil. Using her magic, chef Marlene managed to preserve the freshness of the urchin in the sauce, delightful.
A Jerusalem artichoke served in a clay bowl was enhanced by a delicate nutty hazelnut foam with bitter-sweet feathers of caramelized endives.
Our efficient and friendly server, Sandipa Rana Magar, then presented us with soft fillets of sole poached in a white asparagus emulsion of butter and cream - instead of the standard white wine used for cooking this sauce, the chef used asparagus juice - the dish topped with caviar from Lithuania and pink flowers of wild garlic from the hills of Portugal.
Our next course was quintessentially Portuguese, feijoada de lulas, a hearty traditional stew of squid, beans, chorizo and sausage, simmered in a flavorful broth with tomatoes, carrots, white wine and different spices.
Staying with tradition, the restaurant’s emblematic Algarvian dish, xarém or xerém, a thick soup or porridge of cornmeal, is enhanced here with bold flavors emanating from clams, grilled scarlet prawns and broad beans.
Transitioning from sea to land - the first sign of the upcoming meat dish being the collection of knives presented to us, so we can choose one - was our ultimate dish, grilled Iberian pork enlivened with celery and quince.
Marlene, whose third eatery is in Lisbon’s popular Time Out Market, takes a bold, inventive approach to fusion cuisine, making this 32-person restaurant a must when visiting Lisbon.
