Kabuki Wellington

[pedro]

If Astrid y Gastón was the long waited opening in the first half of the year and Divexo the surprise, Kabuki Wellington is what's going to take Madrid by the storm in the second half and beyond. After a long time of doing changes and renewal in the local, hitting all sort of issues, Ricardo Sanz's new place will start serving next week. He and his team just spent these past three days tuning things up with family and friends.

Spectacular setting in the hotel Wellington over Velázquez street, lots of room between tables and in the sushi bar and Ricardo's style of adding Spanish nuances to Japanese inspired cuisine. Add a provocative wine list to the mix, the clever move of adding Oriol Balaguer designing and supervising all things pastry --he's to open his own store in Madrid by November-- and you have a candidate for scoring pretty high in Madrid's restaurant scene.

Oddly enough Ricardo's main competitor will be his other place, the original Kabuki, which he left in the capable hands of Mario Payán.

So, the next two to three weeks are going to be a good time to score a table at the new Kabuki Wellington. After that, it's going to be much, much tougher.

[Culinista]

So, the next two to three weeks are going to be a good time to score a table at the new Kabuki Wellington. After that, it's going to be much, much tougher.

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You're just egging me on now.

[Rogelio]

I have just been having lunch there and I'm amazed, the setting is gorgeous and the food is as good or even better than in the former Kabuki. If you add the wine list, the beer list and the sake list and the superb desserts by Oriol Balaguer, I can say that this is going to be one of the top five restaurats in Madrid for the next years.

Just to remind you what we're talking about take a look to the first kabuki post that I wrote about a year ago.

This is what I've just had:

After some fruits, melon and cherry with our aperitive, then we were served:

Salmon escabeche

Nice amuse geule while taking a look at the menus

Then we chose to have Ricardo sending what he liked and this is what he sent:

Lemon fish sashimi with almod oil

This was good but the almond oil it's a bit tiring somehow.

Gallician blue lobster

Slightly steamed in sake and served with a ponzu sauce. So fresh that even if the tail was chopped it was still moving while we were eating it. Delicious is not enough to define it.

Asorted gallician shellfish

Cocles, two kind of clams, razor clams and oysters. Superb product just delicious.

Tuna tartare with angulas (baby eels) and caviar

This dish was both superb and delicious, the most luscious dish of the meal. What can I add.

Huitlacoche and arzua cheese maki

This Abraham García's Viridiana classic works perfectly with Ricardo Sanz's japanese fusion style.

Wagyu hamburguer nigiri

Delicious mini hamburger, it would have been even better without the rice.

Quail egg andf truffle paté

Truffle and egg makes a superb combination, and this is now a kabuli classic, same as:

Butterfish and truffle pate nigiri

You never get tired of this. as good as always.

Wok seared wagyu

Chilean wagyu, tasty and tender.

Last, but not the least, we were served a soup containing the juices from the head of the lobster that we first had, completing the circle at a perfect meal.

Japanese style soup with a deep lobster flavour and with the pincer’s meat inside it.

Desserts are something else, created by Oriol Balaguer, are worth to save some room for them

Seared mango and pineapple with passion fruit ice cream

Looking like Adrià's famous squid farcellets, they were both beautiful and refreshing.

Chocolate and butter

Chocoholic's paradise, believe me.

And when we were ready to leave we were served a classic joke, that left us with a wide smile on the face:

Chocolate con churros

A delicious and finest version of this traditional madrileñian dish.

Kudos and good luck to the chef Ricardo Sanz in his new adventure.

Edited August 21, 2007 by Rogelio (log)

[Pork Belly]

Terrific sounding restaurant and great posts. I like to get an idea the cost of an average cost of a meal and if it is necessary to reserve at the sushi bar. Thanks.

[Rogelio]

Average cost is about 100€. And thay have just opened this new branch and now it's not difficult to get a reservation, it will be harder in a couple months.

[vserna]

Lemon fish sashimi with almond oil

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The English name of 'pez limón' (Seriola lalandei) is yellowtail, Rogelio.

Are you sure it was almond oil? We had it last night (we got together with some of the usual Madrid suspects for a brilliant, impromptu dinner and some serious wines), and Ricardo served the yellowtail with two oils: one was Valderrama extra virgin olive oil made with olives of the rare ocal variety in Spain, and the other was Moroccan argan oil, made with the nuts of the argan tree. You might have mistaken this with almond oil. It's rather heavy and interferes with the flavor of the fish. We didn't like it much - it was much better with the ocal oil.

This is an argan tree, by the way:

[Rogelio]

You're right Victor, it was argan oil. It tasted like almond, and like you I didn't like it much.

[pedro]

As expected, Kabuki Wellington is right now the hottest place in Madrid with waiting lists working for most of the days. If a seat in the bar works for you, keep that in mind if they turn you down for a table.

[vserna]

Hey, they say we are in the throes of a recession, but for the time being getting a table at Kabuki Wellington, Diverxo, Astrid y Gastón or Zaranda is really hard work... (Not to mention that Sudestada is closed for their holidays and also on the verge of moving to another location - thus diminishing for now the daily availability of interesting dining spots!)