Rafa Rules Roses

[Matthew Grant]

Rafa is the star restaurant in Roses, forget what you read elsewhere, 4 small tables in front of a glass display fridge with todays catch contained within. Strnagely enough, when it is closed, you cannot see inside and it has an air of magnificence about it with its carved wooden sign. Quite simply, you choose your fish, it gets put on the grill and then put on you plate unadorned apart form perhaps some olive oil and salt. No ships, no salad.

Amazing langoustines, plucked still snapping from the fridge and placed straight on a hot grill were superb, salty from the rock salt thrown on them and wonderfully sweet. Mr. Rafa (I don't know his name) came rushing from behind the grill to try and entice us to eat the heads.

Sole and small Monkfish were equally wonderful. Nothing more to say except that they were perfectly cooked, the monkfish taken off the bone except for the bottom half of the jaw which was left intact with the fish cheeks.

Mr Rafa is keen to point out the dangers of over fishing and fish farming (he doesn't use farmed fish and thinks that they should stop fishing for several months of the year), and clearly enjoys a cigarette. Mrs Rafa makes a mean pumpkin pie for dessert. Apparently the fish is bought daily and anything remaining thrown away (my guess is that it is sold to some other restaurant).

Wonderful!

[hanna07]

Hi, im new to the forum. Im due to go to El Bulli in two weeks and wanted to also try Rafa's but i cant seem to find an address for it. Could anyone please help me?

[marcus]

Rafa's is on Saint Sebastian Street, however that is written in Catalan. We had a 1 kg turbot, 60 euros, perfectly grilled to the point of being very slightly undercooked. They were a little perturbed and wanted to put it back, but we refused. The waitress, I assume Mrs. Rafa, claimed that all of the fish were caught off Roses, but there may have been a misunderstanding, as I believe that turbot is only caught in the Atlantic. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. Of particular interest was the negrito, a tuna like fish that Rafa stated that he only was able to obtain a few times a year and only in the late spring or summer. He sent a couple of complementery slices to the table it was very special. I didn't see the pumpkin pie, the day that we ate there all of the deserts were being brought in from a local cafe or restaurant. They were good regardless.

[Matthew Grant]

the full address is Caja Sant Sebastia, 56. and the phone number is 972.254003. I would advise booking if you can, it is very small (4 or 5 tables). Do not expect a culinary masterclass, just some of the best grilled fish you can imagine.

Marcus, when we were there there were Turbot no bigger than my hand Mr & Mrs Rafa(?) also told us the fish were fresh form the coast and moaned that other restaurants were buying farmed fish. he nidicated that there was one other restaurant in town serving wild fish but i can't remember which one.

I wish I was going back, if only for the Langoustines!

[marcus]

Rafa's langoustines are genuinely wonderful. The restaurant though is very bare bones, everything simply grilled the same way, no vegetables, so I would like to recommend some restaurants that provide some additional range.

Around our recent trip to El Bulli, we stayed for a week in Cadaques which is a very attractive, small resort town which has been protected from much of the urban sprawl covering the the Costa Brava of which Roses is a principal exemplar. Dali actually made his primary home in Port Llagat which is 1 km outside of Cadaques.

La Galiota which is located in the old town, apart from the port and the tourist areas, is owned by 2 sisters, one in the dining room and one in the kitchen who have been running this restaurant for 40 years. The night that we went, we were the only customers and were regaled with stories of visits by Dali and Pitxot, a little overbearing, but nothing that a few more customers wouldn't ameliorate. The menu was basic Catalan fish, with fish a la planxa (a la Rafa's), Zarzuala, wonderful lubina with a mushroom sauce. Although, I'm sure that Rafa's has the edge in raw materials, I believe the cooking here is as good or even a little better and the variety of preparation is much broader. As each dish came to the table, I was visceraly shocked at the excellent quality of the cooking, something that happens extraordinarily rarely in a restaurant that I go to without prior knowledgeable recommendations. In my personal dining experience, I am far more often underwhelmed than overwhelmed.

My other recommendation is the restaurant located in the funky hotel on Cap de Creus, which is seven kilometers beyond Cadaques and is the most easterly point in Spain. As one would expect, it is owned by an Englishman. He is fanatic about fresh fish, and goes to the fishing port at Roses every day to purchase the best that he can find. These fish will be presented to you on a platter and you can pick your own. The simple preparations with potato and vegetables are very good. The restaurant also offers some idiosyncratic Indian curries which are also well prepared. Most interesting is to select a Dorade and have them prepare it in a curry. It comes to the table still whole, but cooked in the curry and the entire dish is quite good. Whether this is actually better than the simpler preparation could be a subject for debate.

[robert brown]

Marcus, thanks for the information and your experiences at restaurants I have read nothing about until now and which I clearly have to visit in the coming year. But tell me: Did anyone outdo Rafa the man for color? It's a restaurant that wraps its arms around you. I find myself standing up half the time I'm there, watching him, looking at the fish, asking questions,and reading the labels on all the bottles of spirits. In his way, Rafa is as much a treasure as Adria.

[Saborosa]

My other recommendation is the restaurant located in the funky hotel on Cap de Creus, which is seven kilometers beyond Cadaques and is the most easterly point in Spain.  As one would expect, it is owned by an Englishman.  He is fanatic about fresh fish, and goes to the fishing port at Roses every day to purchase the best that he can find.  These fish will be presented to you on a platter and you can pick your own.  The simple preparations with potato and vegetables are very good.  The restaurant also offers some idiosyncratic Indian curries which are also well prepared.  Most interesting is to select a Dorade and have them prepare it in a curry.  It comes to the table still whole, but cooked in the curry and the entire dish is quite good.  Whether this is actually better than the simpler preparation could be a subject for debate.

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Hi

I know this was posted a fair while ago, but if you or anyone else reading knows the name of the hotel I'd be very grateful for it.

I've found two hotels on Cap de Creus (not sure if I'd describe either as 'funky' from the pics):

Hotel Restaurant Cal Mariner - www.cal-mariner.com

Hotel Porto Cristo  - www.hotelportocristo.com

Is it either of these?

Cheers

Kirsten