Our pad in Dubai (with some cool artwork courtesy of Andy)

El Celler de Can Roca

Dined 01 February 2014

I made our booking for Can Roca in March of 2013 before the restaurant awards were announced.  Whew, if I’d left it a month a Saturday night booking in February this year would be impossible.

We have enjoyed the delights of the highly talented Roca brothers before, lunch in 2011 and at that time were able to get a table with 3 weeks notice even though it held “number two” then.  Things have changed!

We were so excited about this evening.  We had planned a holiday around it (skiing in Baquiera Beret and finishing with a night in Girona) for a wedding anniversary.  To ski in the morning and dine at El Celler de Can Roca that same night……one of the best days of my life.

We rocked up on the dot at 9pm.  The restaurant was beautifully lit, it is a stunning setting anyway however the night light sets it of magnificently.  There was the usual mix of casual and more formal dress being worn.  In Spain things are so relaxed.  You are as welcome in jeans as you are in a suit.  This relaxed take on life means you actually ENJOY a night at a high end place rather than feeling stifled by stuffiness and formality.

I have to make first mention about the olive tree.  When I had the olives in 2010 they were a bit sweet for me, not great balance and wasn’t going to waste precious stomach space but tried on encouragement from Andy and geez, we knew we were in for a night.  They are now spectacular.  They’ve been tweaked I’m sure of it.  The boys mean business.

We went for the Menu Festival as we had tried a number of dishes already on their classic menu.  On reflection I think this decision made the night even more exceptional. 

What was to follow was course after course of complete perfection.  COMPLETE PERFECTION.  Oh did I mention complete perfection??  We were gob smacked.  The seafood dishes were sublime.  The cured mackerel in particular was a taste, texture and visual sensation.  The white asparagus with truffle looked the plainest on the menu but by god did it pack a flavour punch. 

The portion sizes of the Festival Menu were judged impeccably.  Even I managed to finish almost every mouthful and I can be a teeny bit of a wimp when it comes to 20 course menus!  It’s hard to imagine how gorgeous and light each course was.  Elegant feminine food with a sensational mix of flavour and texture. 

Timing too was spot on.  We have felt rushed in the past with changeover of food happing so quickly it’s confusing and filling.  Not here.  Everything was so fluid.  Service was faultless. 

Jordi’s desserts were the standout for me on my last visit and so I was making sure I had room in my tummy for every last bit.  I was blown away. 

I can’t describe everything, it’s crazy to attempt that but I can say we had the most fun, and satisfying meal in our lives.  Every one of our senses were taken care of and I feel privileged to have experienced this level of dining and atmosphere.

Oh and Andy bought me two bottles of Jordi’s lemon purfume.  It is delicious – just like his desserts perfectly judged balanced.

Sea cracker with caviar omelette 

"The World" on presentation

"The World" revealed - China, Morocco and Korea

"The World"

Truffle brioche

Truffle bonbon in moss (excuse the rubbish photo, this was a highlight dish)

Vegetable stock, pumpkin puree, parsnip, quince jam, turnip, potato, carrot, violet potato, comte cheese, porcini gnocci, hazelnut tofu (whew, thank goodness I'm a fast typer!)  Stunning, light, beautiful.

Charcoal chestnuts, smoked eel, tarragon, fennel candied orange, toasted butter and yuzu

White asparagus with truffle.
This dish looked on the plain end of the spectrum (if anything out of Can Roca's kitchen can look vaguely plain!) but the flavour was IMMENSELY INTENSE.  Gorgeous.  

Mackeral with pickles and mullet roe, mackerel sauce, white wine, lemon, capers, pickled chillies, tomato, mackerel marinated in sugar and salt with mackerel infusion.

As stunning to look at as it is to eat, trust me.

Salad of sea anemone, razor clam, royal cucumber and seaweed.  Seafood heaven.  Treated with respect as per the Catalonian understanding (but in El Celler taken to a different level of sublime).

A whole prawn charcoal grilled with head juice, seaweed, seawater and sponge cake of plankton

Palo Cortado steamed langoustine, bisque veloute and Jerez caramel.

I have to add at this point that the prawn dishes were faultless.  Sweet and well just plain yummy!

Grilled sole with black and white garlic, parsley juice and lemon

Yes as you would have gathered another faultless seafood dish.  BORING!!

Are you serious Can Roca? Milk fed lamb belly, lamb sweetbreads, spicy mandala of artichoke flower, curry yogurt, beetroot, spinach, turnip, lemon, tangerine, sweet potato.

Red mullet stuffed with red mullet liver, red mullet bone stock, potato gnocchi, orange, chervil and saffron.  STUNNING.

Pigeon trilogy - heart of pigeon and the cloud of rice, pigeon stock, Botiffaro and Tatje pigeon breast .... cooked to melting perfection

Royale of hare.  By this stage I'm beyond understanding how they achieve this level of perfection....
and then there's dessert.........

Sourdough ice-cream with cocoa pulp, fried lychee, sherry vinegar macaro

Candy Apple (trust me when I say this, an apple dessert like none you have ever experienced (unless of course it was in the hands of Jordi Roca)

Walnut, lemon and ratafia (utterly amazing)...

Staggered out at 0130am into the taxi with an experience of a lifetime to reflect on.  

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Scallops with cauliflower and curry oil

I've made this Raymond Blanc dish a few times now.  It's simply gorgeous, flavoured subtly with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf and hints of indian spice.  With cauliflower bhajis and cauliflower puree it comes together to incredible effect and the scallop somehow shines through.  This is the presentation I think has been the most successful, with black basil and beetroot chips looking like rose petals.  The basil works on a flavour level too adding a hint of anise.

Atul Kochhar's lamb rack and pan fried lamb patties flavoured with rose petals

This dish has 50 ingredients.  Yes 50.  I have cooked it five times now and every single time it is utterly sublime.  Worth the effort, it is a simple dish technically but read the ingredient list first to check you have them on hand.  Utterly perfect in every single way however I omit the papaya as I find it breaks down the lamb too much for my taste and substitute lamb backstrap for lamb rack as it is a better cut in my opinion (as a Kiwi).  http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/lambrackandpanfriedl_86222

Duck with rhubarb

This was taken from Daniel Boulud's cookbook.  The rhubarb is pureed, pickled, added to the glaze, confit and poached.  This is a sublime dish.  The only change I would make next time is to omit the daikon and turnip.  Actually I would keep the turnip but would mandolin it and dry cook it in the oven to turn it into truffle tasting crisps.  The daikon in my opinion did not add anything to this dish and for some reason I think daikon smells horrible.

Anyway besides that this is really one gorgeous dish.  The caramelised pistachios (served both whole and powered) are worth the effort.  Stunning.

Pear, labnah, walnut, beetroot and powdered pistachio salad

Simply done, pear cooked with a little honey and spice (cardamon, black pepper, salt), finished with orange blossom water and the salad assembled at room temperature.  Beetroot, toasted walnuts, labnah pear and some powdered pistachio for colour.  Light and delicious.

Salmon, fennel, avocado, liquorice paper, black rice, black olive paste, beetroot

I've had the combination of anise, avocado and olive before and it's a beautiful combination.  The addition of liquorice paper (liquorice cooked with water and pureed, then spread on baking paper and slowly dried out in the oven) added sweetness to balance the salty black olive paste.  This dish would have benefited from a touch of mayonnaise of all things (in my opinion) and if I were to do it again I would use a wasabi mayonnaise dotted around the plate for creaminess and added complexity.