LAB By Sergi Arola

LAB By Sergi Arola was one of the restaurants that we really wanted to book when we decided to come to Sintra.

We discovered his frst restaurant in Barcelona 15 years ago, and when he opened Arola in Paris at the W hotel we went there to rediscover his unique cooking talent.

This time, we took advantage of our stay at Penha Longa Resort to eat at LAB where the chef just got one Michelin star. We were lucky, for our dnner on Friday April 14^th 2017, Sergi Arola was present at the restaurant.

We chose the Discovery menu which was amazing from start to finish: every dish, every bite was indeed a discovery, especially his tapas madness that represented each region of Spain and his signature amuse-bouche, a glass of Vermouth with green olive, and most of all his Andean dish (Guinea fowl with a spicy couscous made with Andean grains) which took us on a trip to Chile was the most accomplished dish that showed Sergi Arola's talent and creativity.

The wine list was amazing, all the best wineries in Europe were represented, but we privileged Portuguese wines, especially the region and the wine growers that were unknow to us. It also had a great selection by glass from sparkling to red wine, from white wine to cherry.

The service was perfect and our sommelier, Francisco Oliveira was impeccable for approving our selection of wine by glasses.

However, we have to mention there was a major faux-pas from the kitchen of the LAB because one of our dishes, the skate wing, was served with a big plastic string still attached (!). Fortunately, my partner spotted it on time before eating the fish. Unacceptable for a one-star restaurant... Sergi Arola came in person to apologize for his team's lack of rigor.

Fortunately for LAB, we are not the Michelin inspectors and also we know Sergi Arola and appreciate his personality and talent that is why we did not make a big fuss of this unprofessional mistake.

We hope for Sergi Arola and LAB that this will not happen again.

LAB By Sergi Arola

Estrada Da Lagoa Azul

Linho Sintra

Portugal

T. +351219249011