Norma in Guimarães
This Michelin Bib Gourmand recommended restaurant well deserves that rating, with a creatively presented tasting menu.
With the same group of friends we visited La Scarpetta with, we went for lunch at Norma in Guimarães this time. We call it a "dinner club," but we mostly meet for lunches. We met in this Michelin-recommended restaurant for another lunch on a Saturday. It's recommended as a Bib Gourmand, which we find fits what we look for in a restaurant reasonably well.
Norma has a nice-looking patio, but this was a scorching hot day, so we sat inside. The entire group wanted the tasting menu, which was good news. I don't want to spoil it for you too much, but the tasting menu follows the journey of a fictitious character, Norma, through her life, and each dish represents a chapter of her life. We ate our bread with butter and alheira-infused olive oil as the waitstaff explained the menu to us.
The tasting menu is reasonably priced at 65/85 Euros without/with wine pairing. All the dishes were very good, none of them mind-blowing, but the experience as a whole was very good and entertaining.
The first three courses were appetizers: tuna tartare served with brioche, rissole with mussels, and a sandwich with shoulder clod that resembled a Francesinha, served in that order, as Norma played at a beach as a child, and then went to college (hence the sandwich in a takeout box).
Next, she was backpacking in Japan, represented by a plate of salmon prepared three ways: cured, seared, and tartare. The next dish was a play on a fish stew, with her coming back home to Portugal, and then a softly alcoholic, palate-cleansing drink served in a baby-bottle-looking container. The meat of the menu was duck with beetroot, pickles, hazelnut, and onion.
Then came the highlight of the menu for us: a dessert resembling potatoes (and Norma's retirement, growing organic produce in her garden) that the waiter served out of a crate, with a chocolate crumble that looked like dirt. Even the cutlery was well thought of, shaped like a garden fork. Beyond the presentation, it tasted very good as well.
All in all, I highly recommend that you visit Normal at least once to experience it for yourself.