Digijam

I pretty much follow the same method as you Crosparantoux, just raising or lowering the flame to balance out the temperature - a little time intensive, but easy enough to do while preparing the rest of a meal. But I must admit I always do some browning. For me the Maillard reactions are as integral to the taste of meat as the texture. Just as I'd never grill a steak to well done (and lose texture in the centre) I'd never cook purely at low temperature and miss out on the browning flavours. Just a personal thing, obviously, but I like having the best of both worlds. Browning prior to vacuuming does seem to help that flavour permeate the meat (as well as killing those bacteria), but for a final taste kick and touch of crust I always do a quick blowtorch at the end, too - especially useful for duck or chicken with the skin on.

Guess I'm the only one with a dodgy love of Pizza Hut deep pan? Surely the most greasily comforting and consistently flavoured fast food this side of fish'n'chips. I would admit to always ordering the bbq sauce version, but I've probably blown all credibility already.

Veering slightly off-topic, but... can't vouch for the stability of the chantilly or the 'taste differential' (though I'm sure fans of chocolate mousse, Aero bars etc. could) but it's probably worth noting the recipe isn't Heston's. He has often credited Hervé This as the inventor. I understand Hervé collaborator Pierre Gagnaire has been successfully using the chocolate chantilly recipe (along with several other variations) for a few years now. Personally, I love the fact that the show balances the familiarity of Corrigan's cooking with Heston Blumenthal's science stuff, though it's not perfectly handled - no cooking temperature for the slow done beef, for example. Similarly the discussion of factory farming versus organic was most welcome, but why no mention of the more affordable free range option? If they can just take a little more care with each topic, dump the celebrity cooking spot, and quit with the near-pointless trips to the far corners of the globe they'll have a damn good half-hour food programme. And no Clarkson - bonus.

I usually find basil the easiest to keep alive of all. Even through the winter months. Lack of sunlight makes it a little paler and weaker-flavoured, but on the plus side it seems to be impossible to overwater. And unlike chives it doesn't hold any appeal for my cats...

It's a good job Lewis-Smith doesn't do hotel reviews...

Great write-up Gary, and not just because it's the first I've read that broadly concurs with my own. I was massively impressed with the level of ambition for such a small operation, and the kitchen's ability to turn out a 20 course menu, but rarely blown away by any one dish. Whether this is because I've become a little jaded after visits to a couple of the other usual suspects, I'm not so sure. (Maybe a visit to Anthony's will help answer that one.) When Rogan sticks to pairing real food with unusual flavourings, such as with the cubes of land and sea, or the egg and foam, he really is up there with the best of them. He seems weakest when he tries the Adria/Blumenthal horseplay, as with the tomato consomme (great concept, but why bother when the end result is just - as you say - a tomato paste flavour?), or the truffle custard (nice, but would work better as a component in a larger dish, rather than as the basis of a visual joke). Not sure the slate of contrasts really works, either. Stimulating each sense one after the other just felt like a pointless exercise, and that solitary meatball looked like it would feel more comfortable in a Westlers tin. The fact that the final three desserts are so substantial also smacks of overkill to me. But that may just be because I like a little sharpness to offset all the sugar and fat. And was full to bursting by that point in the meal anyway. Nit-picking aside, I do really hope Rogan and Penny continue to draw them in. Labours of love like this deserve to flourish. And if those folded loo rolls keep the likes of VLS away, then all the better. Digijam

Cathar – Speaking for myself, I figured people might be interested to hear about the food currently being served at a quickly evolving, world-renowned restaurant, and so thought it useful to make a post about my experience there. I didn’t come here for looking for validation of my writing skills. I have a day job for that, thanks. But what does worry me is that a post like yours might deter other eGullet readers from actively participating. If people were to stop posting here, for fear of being flamed because of any improper use of the English language, then it would be a very sad day indeed. Last time I checked this was a forum, a community where people gather to discuss their love of food in a spontaneous and uninhibited way. I’m sure anyone looking for perfectly crafted travelogues and critiques, ones slavishly honed, spellchecked and subbed until gleaming, will know to look elsewhere. It seems you have an issue with El Bulli and the fact that people are willing to go to such lengths to eat there, so I have to wonder what you’re doing trawling through this thread in the first place. ‘Nothing better to do’ indeed.

Bizarre that so many were celebrating their birthday, given that most people only seem to get in through a cancelallation. (It was a total fluke that we ended up going on the exact day - my wife only e-mailed them after they gave the date to request if they could do anything special). I wonder if 'birthday' is a useful keyword for bagging a reservation.

Great write-up Nerdgirl. Sounds like you had pretty much the same attitude going in as me, something that seems to be key to enjoying the whole experience. I guess some people are going to outraged about being served minty pork scratchings at such a swanky place, while others will just enjoy the flavour, have a good laugh about it - and, in my case, make inappropriate Homer Simpson-style 'Mmmm, porky' comments. I'm glad to see it wasn't just me that choked on that popcorn, either. Bit of a design flaw there, but worth it for that movie-going flavour. What really surprises me is just how many different things you had on your menu. I'd kind of thought the kitchen would focus on a set menu for a few weeks before changing stuff around. Guess they've got so many dishes already nailed by April 1st that they can chop and change every night, and do the occasional personalised extra for different tables. Neal - Looking forward to a more detailed report from you. Especially curious about the fact you didn't get a few courses that passed by. I wonder if they were for vegetarians or other selective eaters. On the night we went I noticed a few tables not getting all the courses when I was there, but had assumed it was because they simply didn't want them. The only one we didn't seem to get (I was watching the other tables like a hawk to make sure I didn't miss out) consisted of a couple of chocolates hidden inside a blown up Marigold glove, and I'd assumed that was because we'd been handed a birthday cake instead. Mark

Thanks for all the replies. Docsconz - I only actually stayed up at Roses for one day (at the Terraza), and didn't get a chance to eat anywhere but El Bulli. Prior to that I'd been in Barcelona for a couple of days, staying at the Hotel Arts. It's a bit pricey, but I can recommend it if only for the free champagne at breakfast! The hotel has two new restaurants which looked very promising, and seemed to be doing good business. As for food, on day one we did the obligatory tapas at - not sure about the spelling here - Cervecer Catalana (great value, but nothing amazing), followed by Can Sole in the evening. Food at the latter was very rustic, but superb all the same. Day two involved the inevitable paella, at L'Havernacle in the Parc de la Ciutadella - surprisingly good, considering the location. Then to round off we managed to wheedle our way into Abac, for a run through the tasting menu. I'd rate is as one of my all time favourite meals, not least because it was a surprisingly comfortable place. Few Michelin level restaurants seem able to offer a dining experience so formal yet friendly. Vserna - Good point regards the spice. Given Adria's Eastern leanings these days I had thought he might explore this a little. But then I guess he's more enamoured by Japanese than Thai, Indonosian or whatever. It's nice to see Adria giving Blumenthal the thumbs up. Not that he needs it, but it does help dispel the daft accusations of plagariasm. I really can't understand how anybody who has tried both restaurants could come to that conclusion. For me Adria's food is much more about minimalism (which I assume stems from classic Spanish cuisine and tapas in particular), and therefore more closely aligned with people like Nobu or Tetsuya Wakuda. There are generally few ingredients on the plate, it's just that they are very fresh, or transformed and presented strangely, or paired in unexpected ways. Blumenthal, on the other hand, mixes his interest in science with classic French influences, and so is as much into the idea of refining existing foods and dishes through techniques such as slow meat cooking, heating chips three times, and so on, as he is serving a few smaller, simpler, more out-there dishes. As a result - weird gadgets used by both parties aside - Blumenthal's main dishes such as the Pigeon with pistilla ( http://shopping.guardian.co.uk/food/story/...,876093,00.html ) seem generally more complex than Adria's. Not necessarily better or easier to come up with in the first place, just with more ingredients, more cooking stages and so on. All this typing is making me hungry... Mark

Thanks for the comments from you both. Glad it was of some use. Fat Guy - I definitely agree the overrall tone here is pro-Adria. It was just the disappointing experiences of Lizziee and Matthew Grant (http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=5915) that got me worried. Bufferfly - Nice review from the Chowhound guy. Very detailed. He's spot on about the whole thing tasting very healthy. Lots of clean seafood, nut, and herb flavours, and a complete absence of anything that would make people feel squeamish. Although to be fair, also an absence of spice or heat, which is maybe a shame. No doubt it'll all have evolved again when you head there next year. Just be prepared for the expense of a trip the year after. And the year after that... Mark

We stumbled upon Absinthe a few years back, while staying at the St James et Albany down the road, and have been back every single time since. It's got friendly service, a superb atmosphere and always excellent food. Definitely recommend you try to crayfish ravioli. There's a place just a few doors away, Nomad, that's also worth a spin. The Moroccan influenced dishes can be a little hit and miss, but when they get it right it's very good indeed, and againt it's a wonderfully laidback place.

Not sure how interested anyone will be, given how many times Ferran Adria crops up on this forum, but here goes with a slightly longwinded roundup of a trip made to El Bulli last Sunday, 4th April. I'd been dreaming of going there for some time, having stumbled upon the whole molecular cookery thing after getting into Harold McGee and Peter Barham, which in turn led me to Blumenthal and on to Adria. So, having bored my wife endlessly with talk and kitchen experiments involving foams, slow cooking techniques and the like, she not only bought me the El Bulli book for Christmas but also managed to get reservations. This seems to have been a matter of sending begging e-mails even when Louis Garcia sent the customary 'sorry, but the whole world wants to eat here' reply. Amazingly the date he finally offered was that of my birthday. That, plus the knowledge we'd be eating a brand new menu just four days after the restaurant reopened, just seemed too good to be true. Then I discovered eGullet, noticed a few negative comments up here about last year's menu, and started to worry. Had I missed the golden years? Had Adria lost the plot? Not a bit of it. It turned out to be the best meal I've ever eaten, no contest. Not that I've eaten in all the big namecheck restaurants, but I'd like to think I know enough about food and eating out to know good from bad, and exciting new ideas from emperor's new clothes. First, the service: In contrast to those negative posts, I found the staff extremely enthusiastic. Maybe our enthusiasm was infectious, but they seemed to relish handing us every one of the 30 courses. The initial appetiser dishes arrived a little too quickly, and clashed with me attempting to wade through the wine menu, but that was really about as bad as it got. Yes, they only fill a small amount in each glass. But given that we never once had to wait for a refill this wasn't a problem. It clearly didn't slow us down. Starting a manzanilla aperitif we managed to plough through a bottle of cava, a bottle of white, and a bottle of Muscat dessert wine over the course of our five hour meal (a little too much booze to appreciate the food by the end, to be honest). Not to mention six bottles of mineral water poured in that same small portion way. While five hours might sound like an age I can honestly say we never seemed to stop eating. At one point we even considered asking them to slow the service down. For our second bottle I asked them to recommend a local Sauvignon, and they chose one of the cheapest wines on the list rather than trying to price us up. Tasted great, too. Now, the food: In a way I must admit I was expecting it to be more way out and challenging. Less about food, more solely about taste. Now here I can't compare to previous years beyond looking in the El Bulli book, but it seems as though maybe Adria is trying harder to balance the weird and wonderful with more substantial elements. Not that it feels like a step back. Rather, I think he's maybe using his bags of tricks more as tools than toys. He's also clearly into Japanese ingredients right now, and seems to be favouring the clean tastes of seafood (plus a little Iberica ham). There were no offal dishes at all. I was also surprised by some of the portions. I had expected everything to be pretty much a single mouthful, yet around six of the middle courses were pretty substantial starter sizes. And contrary to expectation, we were absolutely stuffed by the end. First up were the introductory cocktails. There were two, but one was actually just a tiny solid green ball of concentrated tarragon flavour. The other, a hot honey drink infused with some local herb, came accompanied by crisped beetroot with a sweetness bizarrely offsetting the bitter. This was mirrored with a dish at the end featuring a sweetened beetroot cut into a flower shape - similar mixing of sweet and savoury and mirroring of dishes cropped up in other ways throughout the menu. Among the appetisers were a small bowl of what looked like foam packing chips (funny, I've often thought those things looked and smelled appetising), each with a piece of ginger attached. They also brought a white, square candle. Except the candle was actually a container filled with creamed coconut, to be spread on the foam chips. I can see why some might think this sort of thing pointless, but it tasted damn good, and it made us laugh. Another cocktail turned up a little later, 'Espuma de nitro Heston Blumenthal'. A ball of whisky sour frozen on the outside so as to collapse once in the mouth, we were told it had been donated by the English chef. Foams were pretty much absent except for an appearance as a dashi flavoured cloud on what I seem to recall was a spider crab dish, and - more comically - in a dish composed solely of a frozen 'air' of Gruyere, served in a fast food style container. Instead Adria seems more interested in using flowers as garnishes, mucking about with yoghurt (including a clear jelly that tasted of the stuff - how, I have no idea), scents (one dish was even served with spoons with slots for thyme leaves, while another consisted solely of a balloon filled with a refreshing smell - something some diners found plain daft), and nuts. The latter really worked well, especially in a gorgeous dish of pumpkin gnocchi with pistachio sauce and oil. Simple sounding, but perfectly flavoured. Another was based around almonds, but the bits that looked like almonds weren't, and the bits that didn't were. Oh,and nearly forgot about the popcorn soup, which consisted of a salted popcorn flavour liquid, melting butter, and a pile of popcorn dust. A predictable though great taste, though our laughter did occasionally spray the popcorn everywhere. There were one or two things from previous menus, including a two spoon combo of pea and mint in one and a pea gelatine ball in the other. Nothing earth shattering, but it worked well as a fresh flavour cleanser between more complex courses. The old parmesan spaghetti with lemon dish also made an appearance, and was really the only disappointment. It tasted fine, but was no doubt a lot of work for something that wasn't any better than a regular spaghetti. Actually, probably the most unadventurous thing of all taste-wise was a birthday cake they brought out for me. But it looked amazing, with a one foot high circular lattice tower of white chocolate around it. Not sure whether it was just because we were so obviously enjoying the meal or because of the occasion but they invited us into the kitchen after the meal to look around and meet the man himself, who gamely posed for the inevitable tourist photo. I just wish I hadn't been so drunk as to make it impossible to say much about the food beyond hurling superlatives at him. Maybe next time I'll ask him for that job :) Thinking about why we enjoyed it so much while others haven't, it occurs to me that the service might not always go so smoothly. With such long hours and so many courses, things are bound to slip occasionally. As for enjoying the food itself, I think if you go demanding a life changing experience you're going to lose. I get the impression Adria's ultimate aim is just to entertain. All the innovations, experiments, and visual/taste jokes are really just his way of searching for ways to deliver the best flavours in the most memorable ways. Which ultimately is exactly what I want from a place like El Bulli. Anyway, I've no doubt gone on far too long. Enough of my rambling. Mark

Another great choice for a more formal restaurant is Abac, which is dead easy to find (under the Park Hotel, near the Barceloneta metro). Just got back from a weekend in Barcelona and managed to get a table there on short notice. Had a really great time made all the more memorable by the surprisingly friendly and enthusiastic front of house team. Even changing one of the dishes in what was supposed to be a set tasting menu was no problem. And - the suckling pig, which I found a little too one-note meaty, aside - every single dish was superbly balanced. The food had just enough modern touches (basil ice cream and the like) while still relying on classical cooking and quality ingredients. One thing I would suggest, wherever you decide to go, is to book ahead for evenings. If I hadn't managed to get into Abac I'd have been stumped. I checked out several restaurant recommended on these boards, and all seemed to get booked well in advance.