188 replies to this topic

[vserna]

If this restaurant was in London, Michelin would need to create a 4* category

But it's in Spain, so it only gets... two stars. As the Romans would say, "quod erat demonstrandum"...

[Corinna Dunne]

We too had an incredible meal here a few weeks ago. We went for the tasting menu, which is phenomenal value at 67 euro. We opted to have our wine paired by the glass, and this came in at an unbelievable 29 euro per person!

The amuse, which were served with Cava, were similar to ScottF's and also included a green asparagus foam with pink grapefruit served in a shot glass. Our foie gras course was the same too. I agree that this is a wonderful dish. It looked like, and had the consistency of turron, yet the foie gras still had its voice. And the pairing of this with the fluffy shavings of white truffle was simply heady. A glass of a sweet grenache played a perfect support role.

The soup of comte with onion which followed was wonderfully intense and could have been a clever take on French onion soup, as it was served over 4 mounds of 'gelatinised' onions, with flavours of rosemary, thyme, bay and white wine. This was twinned with a glass of a single vineyard Manzanilla Pastrana (spelling might be wrong).

Next up was red mullet with cus cus of his liver. Another extraordinary dish; the skin of the fish was heavily salted and crisped, which contrasted beautifully with the soft, almost caviar like quality of the wonderfully flavoured cus cus. This was served with an orange oil and some samphire. It was paired with a grenache blanc Rioja.

A slow cooked egg with sea urchin, oil of black sausage and a rice latticed crisp followed. I presume that this is the sous vide technique (of which I know nothing), as the waiter explained that the egg was cooked at a temperature of 63 degrees Centigrade for 3 hours. The black sausage oil worked incredibly well with the richness of the sea urchin. Our wine pairing for this was a half bottle of Matarromera Ribero del Duero which carried over into the next course.

The final savoury course was a rack of lamb (off the bone) with morrels stuffed with lambs' trotters (cannelloni) and peas. This was also very good, but perhaps the least exciting of all of the dishes. (The pigeon on the surprise menu sounds wonderful).

The first dessert was Eternity by Calvin Klein which is a bit quirky. This is a very light, and yes, perfumed dish (notes of vanilla, mandarin, basil, almond), which upon completion, requires the diner to smell the perfumed strip to compare taste with smell. Maybe not for the macho man, but sensational none the less. This was paired with a glass of MR, a Muscat from Malaga (a mountain wine we were told).

The second dessert, Royale de Chocolat defied the typical heaviness of chocolate and was a delicate, moist mousse, encrusted in roasted nuts with cake, icecream and a blade of caramel. This was accompanied by a glass of Dolc de Medoza, a sweet blend of cab sav, merlot and shiraz which packed a great fruit punch (without too much pudding) but still had plenty of acid and tannins for balance.

Not only was this menu well balanced, it was also well paced and not too excessive. Can Roca hits all the right notes: exquisite food, incredible wines (at all price points), relaxed but competent service and unbelievable value for money. Remarkably, and thankfully, it doesn't carry the overwaitered burden of 3 stars, something which I feel detracted from our experience at Can Fabes. I really, really can't wait to get back.

Edited by Corinna Dunne, 19 May 2005 - 11:58 AM.

[SamanthaF]

That pretty much sums up what we had. The egg dish was not liked by most of the table.

The soup was amazing.

[pedro]

The egg dish was not liked by most of the table.

What did you not like about it, Samantha?

[SamanthaF]

mmmm..I think it was possibly a texture/tempreture thing. I didn't like the feel of it in my mouth or the flavour combination.

This was (for me) the only bum note in a stellar evening.

[Corinna Dunne]

mmmm..I think it was possibly a texture/tempreture thing. I didn't like the feel of it in my mouth or the flavour combination.

I agree about the texture of the egg, it seemed a bit rubbery, and I wondered about the benefit of 3 hours slow cooking. Somehow, it was a bit of a disappointment not to have it slightly liquid in the centre. However, balanced against the rest of the dish, I think it had a role, and the robustness of the rest of the dish kind of carried it.

[Luis Gutiérrez]

My God! I'm not going to read this thread anymore. I cannot stand reading the description of the dishes and being so far away... And it's so painful to know that Pedro is going back before me...

Cheers,

Luis

[Bux]

Hi Bux,
I'll have lunch at can roca on next saturday ( and dinner at el bulli on sunday).
I definitly go for the surprise menu;
regarding the wine, could you give a price range for the pairing ?
thanx

Nine pours - 52 € per person. We didn't set any price range, only that they be Spanish.

Edit: There was also a cava poured as we sat and enjoyed with the amuses, or what they call "snacks" and "tapas." That wasn't listed on our printout and I believe it was complimentry.

[Bux]

I have to admit that the tasting menu was very tempting, but the last time we were there we felt we short changed ourselves by not having enough, so we ordered the surprise menu which had more courses than the seasonal menu or the tasting menu. Had the pigeon not been so exceptional, I would have said the meal should have ended with the roast pork.

On a personal note, I have to say that overload didn't kick in until several days later, after elBulli, when after eating my way through what may have been a huge plate of the best rice I've ever had, I delved into a dish of pig's feet, black sausage and espardeynes. I don't think I got more than halfway through that before I realized I had probably also had too much sun that day. More about that meal later, on another thead, but I have no sympathy for Luis, who on any given day is likely to be thousands of miles closer to Can Roca as well as a number of other coveted tables.

[docsconz]

These comments here have made me even more upset that I had to miss my meal at Can Roca last fall because of illness. I will have to try to squeeze it in this summer. Unfortunately, I don't know if that will be possible.

[scordelia]

Here is a long critique (with pics) comparing El Bulli and Can Roca from Gastroville:

El Bulli v. Can Roca

[Rogelio]

Reaching Can Roca is not easy, once you get there discovers that Can Roca is the former fammily restaurant still runned by the mother and that El Celler de Can Roca, the is the anexed modern restaurant runned by the three Roca brothers. Both restaurants share the kitchen reminding the brothers where they come from.

The dinning room has two separated areas divided by the cellar. The kitchen can be seen from one them.

Two different tasting menus features on the menu: The 9 courses surprise menu and the 7 courses proper menu as well as a selection of previous years’ greatest hits and a la carte.

After thinking for a while we chose the 7 courses tasting menu and didn’t regret because at the end of the meal our stomachs were completely full.

While we were chosing the snacks arrived, anchoives with raspberries, chanquete’s bread and cot tripe crunch.

And were followed by three more tapas: Mi cuit foie grass with wine reduction, marinated sardine with sangría icecream and veloute of anissed herbs with sea water gelee.

Both, the snacks and tapas were good bt the lowest part of the meal, the best part was still to come.

First dish was a fig gelee with safron in a foie grass soup, tha was both, delicious and reconforting and showed how the dishes were going to be composed, a main ingredient with an enhancing companion and a contrasting touch conforming a balanced whole.

Following course was a comté cheese soup but due to my cheese fobia I had a squid parmentier with the squid cooked two different ways and a paprika souce that contrasted the potato and the squids.

Nexte came on of the highlights of the meal, an smoked (literally the smoke was in the dish) tuna belly with ginger and peach, amazing the tuna beelly was plenty of fat strips looking like marble, the peach added some juice to the tuna and the ginger contrasted with both ingredients and all was enhanced by the subtle smoked tast of the whole dish.

When the next course arrived we were still stunned by the previous dish but the next was almost as good as the former, red mullets with their own livers cous-cous with orange and salicornia. Mediterranean red mullet is une of my favourites fishes and were cooked sous-vide with the skins roasted on the plancha giving two different textures and a seafood flavour enhanced by the salicornia and the cous-cous and again contrasted by the orange. Terriffic.

The last main course was an smoked pidgeon cooked to perfection with a crunchy skin and raw meat with arice made with the pidgeon’s livers and a sauce made with orange, oloroso wine, hazelnuts and juniper. Outstanding.

Every sigle dish is conceptually perfect and the whole menu is a whole by itself, each dish takes you naturally into the next course without disruption.

Many has been said about that there was no wow factor but a this is really serious cooking, made with pristine ingredients where there’s nothing missed and nothing is superfluous. In other restaurants once you have discovered the wow the trick is done you don’t want to repeat, but when I left Can Roca I was on the verge of booking for the following day to taste all the dishes that I had left on the menu. Something that had never happened to me.

Desserts and wine are something else that perfectly complete the whole dinning experience.

Two desserts where on the menu, two perfume interpretation, one by Donna Karan and Hipnotic Poison by Dior. Refreshing the first and aromatic the second. I’m not into perfumes at all but may wife was having a lot of fun with this interpretations.

The wine list is outstanding with three complete volumes. Knowing about the interest of Josep (Pitu) Roca, the charming maitre de’ and sommelier, for the german wines we left him to chose a riesling Im Sonneschein Rebholz 99 from palz that was growing during the whole meal being a perfect companion even with the pidgeon. The perfect pairing for a perfect meal.

Don’t know if the restaurant deserves a third star, maybe not because of the premises but the food is trully three star experience in the way of Berasategui and Santamaría. And IMHO this is probably the most consistent restaurant in Spain nowadays.

[Bux]

. . . .
After thinking for a while we chose the 7 courses tasting menu and didn’t regret because at the end of the meal our stomachs were completely full.
. . . .

Well at least you had the pigeon which in our nine course menu came after I was quite sated. Even though I thought I was completely full, that pigeon and its rice disappeared in no time. I think I could have walked in there full, and still enjoyed every course. I must say however, that I didn't have much appetite the whole next day. That didn't stop me from ordering a very rich dinner the next night, but it did stop me from finishing it.

[Luis Gutiérrez]

Following course was a comté cheese soup but due to my cheese fobia I had a squid parmentier  with the squid cooked two different ways and a paprika souce that contrasted the potato and the squids.

Man, you don't know what you're missing! Can Roca's Comté soup and all the cheese in the world! I'm so shocked I think I'm going to bed...

[Corinna Dunne]

Following course was a comté cheese soup but due to my cheese fobia I had a squid parmentier  with the squid cooked two different ways and a paprika souce that contrasted the potato and the squids.

Man, you don't know what you're missing! Can Roca's Comté soup and all the cheese in the world! I'm so shocked I think I'm going to bed...

Exactly my reaction. This soup was utterly sublime and the note of thyme worked perfectly. In my opinion, it is a classic example of the elusive fifth taste "umami".

[Corinna Dunne]

Don’t know if the restaurant deserves a third star, maybe not because of the premises but the food is trully three star experience in the way of Berasategui and Santamaría. And IMHO this is probably the most consistent restaurant in Spain nowadays.

Rogelio, I think it is more a case that the box ticking Michelin men might use this as a reason, and is not a case of Can Roca "deserving" just two stars. I really like the way this restaurant doesn't smack of formality and pomp. We sat by the window, over looking the pool in what is effectively an urban back garden. I loved the incongruity of this and I love being able to eat without the feeling of being constantly monitored by over zealous waiting staff.

[pedro]

I agree with Corinna. I for one also prefer places where I can feel at ease and not care too much about what I should wear while enjoying great food.

Regarding the service at Can Roca, I can't point out a single issue with it. In fact, I believe most of the people in the front were the same that were serving the previous year.

[Bux]

Personally I enjoy places where one feels the need to wear a tie at times. Alas they're a dying breed and the kind of service that went along with the formality of dress required by diners at formal restaurants seems to be dying out as well. Not so at Can Roca. The same may be said for elBulli, by the way. I don't think I've been to another restaurant in Spain where the service is so perfect. Well perhaps Can Fabes, but it's been a while.

I have previously noted my surprise at finding this level of service in a provincial restaurant in Spain. It's as good in every respect as any I've found in NY or Paris for example. It offers just about everything I want along with what I need from a service staff and introduces nothing I don't need. I've noticed unfortunate pretension in three star restaurants in France and a bit of stiffness in upscale country restaurants in Spain. The best ones are relaxed. At Can Roca, they manage to stay relaxed, while offering the most formal service. It's one of those restaurants where I enjoy watching the floor show. Corinna's comment about over zealous staff is a good one. It's a common fault. I always suspect it's a fault imported from the US. It's not a fault at Can Roca.

[pedro]

It looks to me that ties were once the passport to access to the temples of fine dining. Now that correlation has loosen and ties mostly grant you access to places where a certain class meet, being food a secondary issue.

But let's not drift too far from Can Roca.

[nimzo]

Finally made it and am now kicking myself for not having gone before.Three of us went for lunch, we decided on a la carte as the degustacion was a little heavy on liver and I am supposed to be avoiding it at the moment ( lacked willpower when it came to the stunning foie coca at 5 Sentits however).I started with the cold apple soup, a perfect lunch dish on a surprisingly warm day, my mother had the carpaccio of trotter and adored the sweet onion tuile and my wife went with the Comte soup, well documented already but still wonderful. All mains were wonderful, lobster with trompettes de mort, duck terrine with pear and fideu of prawns without the noodles, a great range of cooking styles and all perfect. The desserts were the high point of the meal for us, Viaje a la Habana for me which was the essence of my fathers ashtray the morning after a good Monte Cristo, my mum had the Zen Garden, essence of jasmine in green brushed sugar and y wife had the Poison which mirrored the perfume perfectly. Excellent coffee and petit fours, a bottle of Condrieu Depocins and a glass of Roda 2000 ( turned into several after the sommelier offered a vertical tasting), three glasses of cava and a 15 year old rum with a total bill of 275 euros. With Ryanair flying to Girona for £40 I am seriously considering giving up my local restaurants and heading south instead.Had a long chat with Josep and Jordi which rounded it off a treat. Well worth the 2 stars and a much more enjoyable meal than at Santi Santamaria in every way.

[docsconz]

The desserts were the high point of the meal for us, Viaje a la Habana for me which was the essence of my fathers ashtray the morning after a good Monte Cristo,

Funny, bu this doesn't sound terribly appetizing!

[Corinna Dunne]

and a 15 year old rum with a total bill of 275 euros. With Ryanair flying to Girona for £40 I am seriously considering giving up my local restaurants and heading south instead.Had a long chat with Josep and Jordi which rounded it off a treat. Well worth the 2 stars and a much more enjoyable meal than at Santi Santamaria in every way.

My husband and I had this conversation less than an hour ago! We were contemplating going to Cork in the South of Ireland to try some of the more interesting restaurants down there, and worked out that it would be cheaper and more enjoyable to fly Ryanair to Girona. For once Ryanair's idea of what constitutes proximity to a major city has its benefits!

Edited by Corinna Dunne, 30 October 2005 - 10:31 AM.

[vserna]

What Nick Lander, the Financial Times' restaurant critic, wrote after a recent visit:

http://www.jancisrob...nick/nick050910

[Corinna Dunne]

A great piece, deservedly so. That 'smoke' dish sounds incredible! I'm surprised he didn't mention the desserts which are also outstanding.

[dipardoo]

this is my attempt to post something useful to add to all the lovely reviews above and in nick lander's recent ft review.

i did the ryanair trip to girona for a meal to el celler de can roca. it was well worth it. my second time this year, and just as good, nay better.

the useful bit of my post is not my opinion which is gushingly favourable - just a couple of travel tips.
i stayed at pension belmirall, a delightful pension in the old town, just 60 euros for a double night. n.b this is advice for no frills travellers, not the posh lot on these fora. cab only costs about 6-7 euros from pension to the restaurant. cab to town from the airport is around 25 euros.

i had the menu sorpresa, 90 euros a throw, with all-spanish wine matches. menu as on other posts - apple soup, comte cheese soup, foie gras turron, shellfish veloute, smoked tuna belly, red mullet w couscous, pork belly, pigeon, hypnotic poison
the whole thing came to around 95 quid a head - sorry can't convert into euros or dollars, other than by saying, what a bargain for this standard and this much pure joy.

can any of you spanish speaker on the forum who know josep encourage them to dim the lights? v unflattering!

[pedro]

. . . . .

can any of you spanish speaker on the forum who know josep encourage them to dim the lights? v unflattering!

No way!

Personally, I find the lightning at Can Roca quite pleasant and I can't stand this trend consisting of places where you hardly see your food.

Was the lightning uncomfortable for you?

[dipardoo]

i mean it entirely lovingly! i love the place, but i suppose what i'm driving at by saying that is it's not the dimmed light kind of place.
pedro, i'm guessing you've not been in the ladies' loos, but honestly the cigarette burns on the toilet roll dispenser!
again, i mean it lovingly. don't expect perfection, except for on the plate. i suffered the stansted express and stansted airport just for this restaurant. i'm a fan.

[vserna]

We don't have many 'dimmed light kind of places' in Spain - thank goodness! Not being able to see what's on your plate is a favorite sport, seemingly, in such places as New York. We are not so sophisticated here. To us, dining means enjoying every aspect of your food - including its looks. If you want dim lights to enhance the romantic atmosphere with the person you're with, you can always go to a club later. But dining is too serious an experience to cut away part of it.

[vmilor]

A very recent visit to Can Roca on October 20 proved (at least in my own eyes) that my earlier praise for this modest place located in a dull suburb of Girona continues to be one of the most exciting places to eat in the Western World that I am aware of. Normally I am not a proponent of multi course small portion format but Joan Roca understands extremely well the concept of the flow of the meal and the progression throughout the meal is well thought out. I admire the way he creates explosive taste combinations from complimentary ingredients while at the same time adding an element of surprise (a contrasting ingredient) which elevates some of his dishes to a divine status (pork feet with espardenyes for instance). I am also quite skeptical about the wide scale application of "sous vide" technique to meat but somehow Roca is able to deliver crunchy skins (his lamb and pork dishes) and escapes some of the pitfalls of this method. Even though this method was originated at the kitchens of the Troisgros in the 70s, I would say that Roca fares better than Troisgros (where I ate on the 21st of October the day after Can Roca) when he cooks sous vide. I am also thrilled by Roca's constant search for highest quality ingredients as he brings his suckling lamb from Ribera Duero (churra breed) and his squab from Bresse (France) and so on. His fish and shellfish has been impeccably fresh in the last 3 visits too. In terms of sensitivity to high quality ingredients both Can Roca and Con Fabes score much higher than El Bulli.

I have two complaints though. One is that(somehow nobody mentioned) the bread tray is too good and I can not help devouring his various brioche concoctions to my detriment. Second, the wine list is is treasure for rare Spanish (Cantador 2001, Cursion 2001) and great Burgundies at very fair prices so no matter what I do I always leave the restaurant feeling that I could or should have tried bottles other than what I ordered!

[Bux]

The ability to make you leave feeling you've still misssed something after you've wined and dined with full satisfaction is not the worst thing one can say about a restaurant. On our first visit, my only regret was that we hadn't ordered the longest menu. On my second visit, I thought my appetite gave out before the meal had ended, but nevertheless, I wiped clean every dish that followed my loss of appetite. As for wine, we simply asked for a pairing and requested they all be Spanish wines. We were pleased. I'd like to go with a group only to be able to order bottles and still taste several wines.

If I have a complaint it was that when we asked for more information about the red dessert wine we were served on the first visit, we were told we'd not be likely to find it in a shop and thus didn't look very hard for it. Several years later, actually the week after our second visit, we found a lone bottle in the bins at Lavinia. We grabbed it, brought it back to NY and served it (Dolç de Mendoza) to some worthy French guests (fans of food and thoroughly lacking any chauvinism) with local berries at the height of season. It was a simple and perfect dessert combination.