Ashley H.
Yelp
I wanted to try a Michelin star restaurant during my trip to Portugal. I had a big group with me, a party of 6. Unfortunately, most Michelin star restaurants only take up to four for a reservation. However, Eleven was one of the few that took up to 6! I was hesitant because of the low rating on Yelp. Due to circumstances, it was the only restaurant available for the date we wanted. Nonetheless, $158 for a Michelin star restaurant sounds like a great deal to me. I had to put down 150 Euro for my reservation and it was deducted from my final price at the end.
Fast forward one month after I made the reservation, we had our dinner on a Monday night. The restaurant was half-filled. And we had a fantastic time there. I haven't had that many experiences with Michelin stars restaurants and this one definitely tops them all.
When I look back on my dining experience, I usually evaluate on these couple of areas: Food, Environment (convenience of parking, noise level, decoration), Service, and Price. While different restaurants I would have different expectations for these categories, my expectation definitely impact my rating for the experience.
Food (5/5): My expectation was high for a Michelin star restaurant
We got the 11 elements standard course. The menu only listed 9, so I wasn't completely sure what constituted the other 2 elements. Anyways, The food was amazing! Even the bread they put on the table with the butter, I'm not a bread person, but let me tell you, I killed all the bread. I loved the scallops, that was definitely my favorite element of the meal. One of the elements was the soup. They put a lot into thinking about how the soup should absorb the flavor from the ingredient. We even had a demo on how they cook the soup. I love that little thing they do. But if you ask me if I can tell the difference on whether the soup was evaporated/ sucked by the fire like a chemistry lab exercise or just boiled, I probably couldn't tell you. Nonetheless, I liked the detail they did with innovation. The only thing I didn't like was the cheese plate, map of Portugal. But that's only 1 out of 11.
Environment (5/5): The restaurant was on a hill and you could oversee the city from the restaurant. You also have a large glass to see the outside while dining in. Because we came during dinner time, it was pretty dark, we couldn't enjoy the view. They also have a parking lot for those who drive.
Service (5/5): This is definitely a michelin star establishment, from the way that they explained the course and always served the ladies first. I felt like the staff were very well trained.
Price (5/5): For $150, this is definitely worth it. Also, its almost impossible to get this price for this much food in United States. I would highly recommend other to come here.