October 17th 2013
Another renowned place which struggles to live up to expectations? Whose fault is it? Is it the work of those very objectionable journalists who decided to compile a random worldwide list of 50 restaurants they've heard about? Is it me who had unrealistic expectations? Anyway, while I acknowledge the admirable work of the Roca brothers in setting up such a restaurant and to maintain a certain level of service despite the curious crowd of loud tourists coming from all over the world, I can’t help from being puzzled that this one restaurant is particularly celebrated.
There were many good things, like this admirable olive-tree bonsai which bore some caramelized olives. Some marvelous prawns, sea anemone and langoustines. There were also some solid mistakes like the clumsy repetition of a the cocoa-butter bonbon technique which we had at least 3 times in various flavours. This interesting technique permits the encapsulation of some once-frozen liquid (a broth for example) in a thin coating which melts in the mouth. This is clever but cocoa-butter it is and cocoa-butter it remains; if it is not perfectly executed and especially if the coating is too thick, this brings a very oily texture which is not the most pleasant or refined. And while once is fun, three times is really too much.
The other objection I would have over the whole meal is the overwhelming presence of the sweet taste in a number of the dishes. Not being a sugar-person, I was somewhat bothered with that.
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The world:
Mexico: burrito with mole poblano and guacamole
Peru: ceviche broth
China: pickled vegetables with plum cream
Morocco: almond, roe, honey, safron, ras el hanout, goat yogurt
Korea: panco fried bread, bacon with soy sauce, snow peas, kimchi and sesam oil |
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| Caramelized Olives |
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| Carpano bombon with grapefruit and black sesame |
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| Truffled bombon |
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| Crispy Shrimp |
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| Zucchini omelette |
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| Boletus edulis brioche |
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| Vegetable stock with sprouts, flowers, leaves and fruits |
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Fig leaf
Fig leaf cheese, green almonds, physalis, fresh and charcoal-grilled fig, fig-leaf terrine with fig skin and rind, vinegar anfd fig ice--cream, cumin, fennel, tarragon and chervil. |
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| White asparagus and truffle viennetta |
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Mackerel with pickles and mullet roe
Mackerel sauce with white wine, lemon, capers and chillies in vinegar, fried tomato, mullet roe, mackerel marinated in sugar and salt. Mackerel infusion. |
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| Salad of sea anemone, razor-clam, royal cucumber and sea-weed in escabèche |
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A whole prawn:
Charcoal-grilled king prawn, head juice with seaweed, sea water and plancton sponge cake |
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| Palo Cortado-steamd langoustine, bisque velouté and Jerez caramel |
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| Grilled sole with black and white garlic, parsley juice and lemon |
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| Sierra Mayor Iberian suckling pig, melon, orange and beetroot |
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| Charcoal-grilled lamb breast fillet and sweetbreads with eggplant, coffee and liquorice |
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Pigeon parfait and onion
curry-caramelized walnuts, juniper, orange peel and herbs |
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| Sourdough ice cream with cocoa pulp, fried lychee and sherry vinegar macaron |
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Viola
A sphere of cinnamon and viola with coconut and honey toffee |
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| Hazelnut, lemon and ratafia |
El Celler de Can Roca
Can Sunyer, 48
17007 Girona
Phone +34 972 22 21 57
http://www.cellercanroca.com
