Moments restaurant presents a show-stopping autumn menu

BarcelonaAlmadroc and juvert are two dishes whose origins we have documented as far back as 700 years. They appear in the Sent Soví book, and now, in 2025, they can be enjoyed on the autumn menu at Moments restaurant, owned by Raül Balam and Carme Ruscalleda. In fact, since they have set out to be true to the season and to Catalan cuisine, we begin here, with the origins we have identified.

Autumn is usually a time for chefs to shine, so the restaurant, which has made some changes, doesn't hold back in making the most of the products that arrive these days. One example is mushrooms of all kinds, which can appear in rice dishes as well as in a growing trend in fine dining: desserts. In this case, a macaron made of mushrooms. A delight. Another example is game cuisine, and at lunch we tried venison with beetroot and migas monteras.

This menu also offers the opportunity to try unusual ingredients, such as the Sharoni persimmon. We found it in a very interesting dish of steamed oysters, samphire, and harvest skink. They harvest it, skink.Balam explains that it's a typical Scottish soup made with smoked fish. He's bringing it to our region. He makes the soup with salted and dried cod and adds local aromatic herbs. This creates a completely Catalanized version. His touch is also evident in the dentulo with seasoned mango and curry. The curry sauce is very delicate and elegant. An Indian diner who visited, Balam says, declared it the best thing he had ever eaten. Nothing like the robust, extremely intensely flavored sauces of the past. He was certainly surprised.

The autumn menu is constantly evolving, just like the season itself. We had a warm start, during which I could still serve fig leaf. The cold arrived suddenly, introducing a new dish, like foie gras, with sweet and spicy contrasts. This offering is a marvel of flavors, each appearing in its own time, one after the other. A truly well-rounded delicacy. As the cold weather sets in, the artichokes will appear. It's a shame I haven't picked them yet.

The restaurant has a good cheese trolley, which allows us to prepare for dessert, where we find a tribute to panellets. On the dish they call Panellet 2.0, there's quince, almond, pine nuts, chocolate, coffee, and coconut. The ingredients transport us back to the assorted tray of these traditional little balls of autumnal happiness.

The Moments restaurant, located in the Mandarin Oriental hotel, has undergone a period of change. Last year it celebrated 15 years And he did so with a tribute menu, a grand retrospective. With that menu, he brought to a close the era of menus inspired by films, operas, painters, or stories. A new era began, one in which they shed the "straitjacket" of the themed menu, in Balam's words, and could be much more flexible. The chef gives me the example of peas. "Imagine I had a menu that included them, but they haven't arrived yet." Last year, the Michelin Guide also decided to reduce their two stars to one.

Moments restaurant continues to offer service worthy of the finest establishments. Head waiter Pablo Gerhold is exquisite. Lucía Zaccari's talent shines through in creating an interesting non-alcoholic wine pairing. And finally, there's sommelier Alexandre Zaragoza, who avoids the most obvious combinations and always tries to go a step further and surprise diners. One example is an Australian Sauvignon Blanc with tropical notes.

Changes, whether seasonal or within the same restaurant, are good for recharging and getting a fresh start. This is precisely what has happened at Moments restaurant.