Ca Sento

[Rogelio]

Spending half of my life in Valencia, I had always delay to pay a visit to Ca Sento because it was so close that I could go anytime and in the end I was never finding the time to go. So last week we took the decission to have lunch there.

Since Raul Alexandre (Just awarded with the national gastronomy prize) has taken the place his mother in the kitchen the restaurant has turned from a local house specialized in seafood, rices and fideuas to a product devoted top modern cuisinne restaurant. The location is unasuming and the place is small with just nine tables and an open to the room kitchen where you can see Raul surrounded by his staff including a japanese chef, working between the pots.

The menu offers several settled menus to choose, two aperitive menus based on seafood, a tasting menu and a la carte where you can have the seafood by weight, rices and fideuas. We chose the tasting menu as we thought that this was the best way to sample Ca sento's style.

Sento, Raul's father is the maitre d' and acts like a captain in a boat, comanding the waiters and dealing with the costumers about what have arrived today, told us that we had to wait 20 minutes to be served because everybody seemd to have arrived at the same time. We had no hurry so didn't care and asked for a glass of cava, sadly there was no cava or champagne by the glass and offered vermouth or manzanilla that we had while we chose between a very good but overpriced wine list a Ribeiro Viña Mein 2002.

Maybe because we were easy going or whatever Sento told us that he had placed our table next in the line so we hadn't had to wait those 20 minutes and started the meal.

The tasting menu is composed of three aperitives, eight dishes and two desserts.

The aperitives started with a tasty buñuelo de bacalao (codfish fritter), a soft and tender ancohive with spring onion and a red Denia prawn boiled to a point that it looked rew but was cooked to perfection; really delicious. (This beauties where 90€ a kilo at the local market the same morning)

The main courses started with a scallop with vegetables and a sauce of it's male part, simple and delicious. followed by a deep fried foie grass flan presented on a spoon with maldon salt and cucumber, tasty and well realized but... why does all the spanish chefs have to include foie gras in all their menus?

The next dish was a potato creppe containing chopped lobster and served with a lobster broth that was both tasty and reconforting showing a great technique devoted to the best product. Like the pan fried tuna belly with soy sauce that followed, so simple, so well cooked, so delicious.

Next came the best dish of the meal, sea date mussels (Lithophaga lithophaga) with a jelly envelope made with their inner water and surrounded by a deliciously contrasting garlic soup. Really amazing, they didn't taste like the sea, thew were the sea. The only thing to regret is that I'm afraid that this is a protected specie.

Then came a sea bass with a vainilla foam that turned to be a disapointment, the sea bass was almost tasteless and the vainilla foam was overpowering the sutile flavour of the fish. Fortunately the next course, a baby squid and prawns imaginatively pan fried fideuá was another highlight with a deep seafood flavour and a soft burned taste.

The last main dish was a very good rumpsteak that seemed a bit out of place in that menu, it was a very good piece of meat cooked perfectly rare but strange in a seafood festival like that. I guess that all the menus need to include a meat dish.

The desserts were both delicious, a clementine soup with icecream was a refreshing wink to the local fruit followed by an original and delicious deconstructed tiramisu.

The overall impresion is of a very good and serious restaurant offering a cutting edge cuisine with a superb and almost impossible to find product at a severe prices (that I was very happy to pay), but next time I will chose one of those aperitive menus and a rice or a fideuá that I think that will show better the spirit of the restaurant.

[Bux]

That "the location is unasuming" is quite an understatment, though it is easily accessible even by public transportation, there is a bus stop just a couple of blocks away and it's within walkable distance of the Calatrava designed museum complex that's on every tourist's must see list. It's an unshaded walk however and could be brutal under the summer sun.

I supsect most people want to choose the tasting menu, if it's a first visit especially. I'd also agree that Sento runs that ship of his very tightly. Hardly a server passed by him without him making some comment to her. He seems stern, yet able to turn on the charm. Getting on his good side seems important. We seem to have managed that. As much as the tasting menu seems an obvious choice, there was a surfeit of choices on the a la carte menu that seemed to say "you can't leave Valencia without eating me." Sento sensed our interest in the food and our frustration with having to choose and came to our rescue making suggestions and in no time with translations for my approval, he and Esilda, with Esilda making translations for my approval, put together an excellent menu. Of course he went into the kitchen to consult with his son and came back with the report that our menu was not as well balanced as it should be. I thought the chef might have a suggestion for a change, but no, he wanted to add some dish. Perhaps it pushed the limits of how much we could eat, but we left later than afternoon feeling we had one of the most satisfying meals we'd ever had in Spain.

[Brett Emerson]

I had dinner at Ca' Sento in Valencia last Thursday, a meal which I would describe as the best of my life (so far, I'm only 39, so I hope there will be countless others!). I ordered the 14-course seafood tasting menu (if you count the aperitives as courses, too). A couple of the courses were the same as Rogelio's dinner in February.

There were three themes that stood out for me about this meal. First, being myself a chef and member of the Slow Food movement, the quality of the product that Ca' Sento's chef, Raúl Alexandre, procures is impeccable. Everything tasted like it had just been pulled out of the sea minutes before. Second, I was astonished over and over by the chef's verve of simply presenting the seafood (5 of the 14 courses) virtually unadorned, not letting anything detract from its freshness. Third, I also appreciated that the chef repeatedly juxtaposed these naked dishes with more ornately presented creative dishes (this is Spain, after all), but still only added enough elements (such as a small ammount of a foam) to enhance the flavors of the raw ingredients, rather than mask them.

Here's a quick description of my courses:

1. House-cured anchovy fillet with little bit of olive oil

2. Miniature corneta of txangurro crab and yuca and a salt cod (bacalao) buñuelo

3. Raw clam with a lemon and olive oil foam

4. Raw oyster with an apple-infused sauce

5. Langoustine (cigala) with its tomalley, served cold

6. Percebes (goose-necked barnacles), briefly cooked

7. Clochinas (local type of mussels), steamed

8. Shrimp and scallop with some kind of foam

9. Lobster (bogavante) with porcinis

10. Tuna belly with ginger and soy

11. Denia prawn (gamba), roasted in salt

12. Sea bass fillet, pan-roasted, with green asparagus and artichoke

13. Fideus, noodles cooked in fish stock and then pan-fried

14. Apple-themed dessert (many components)

The service was professional and the wine recommendation (Palaccio de Muruzabal chardonnay from Navarra) paired well with every course (and affordable!).

Click here for a slideshow of the prettier courses and here to go to a more detailed desription of this amazing meal.

If it weren't for its location in a somewhat sketchy neighborhood, I think it would be promoted from 2 to 3 stars by Michelin (Guia Campsa gives it the 3 solés it deserves).

In my opinion, what Chef Alexandre is doing at Ca' Sento is what fine dining should be about: procuring the best, locally available, seasonal ingredients and then letting their true flavors star. I believe it was one of the Troisgros brothers who said 75% of cooking is shopping. I also appreciate that almost all of the featured ingredients at Ca' sento were very local, or at least from Spanish waters. There is a sense of terroir about the food served there, so you know you could never have that same meal anywhere else.

I haven't eaten yet at El Bulli (email me if you're planning to cancel or need a dining companion any time soon ), so I may yet change my opinion, but I think that some of what's being presented in fine dining restaurants is more for show and novelty than to enhance the flavors of the food. After dining at WD-50 earlier this year and Commerç 24 (restaurant in Barcelona of a protegé of Ferran Adria's) last summer, I found my mind was more stimulated by the meals than my tastebuds and other senses were. I was frankly not very satisfied with either meal (although I loved the slow-poached egg at WD-50). I left both full, yet still oddly hungry. I will be possibly eating at Martín Berasategui this week, so I'll try to drop my biases (although I don't believe he is as agressively "creative" as his colleagues at Arzak and Mugaritz) and go with an open mind. I suppose there's room for both styles. I'll give my impressions soon!

[docsconz]

Brett, that looks like a fabulously wonderful menu. Your photos and descriptions do a great job of providing insight into the essence of the cuisine. while I haven't eaten there, now I would very much love to.

To address some of the discussion you started about comparing restaurant styles, I would say that there is a lot of room in this world for many different styles. I equally enjoy simple, well prepared stellar ingredients and complex dishes. I also enjoy the creative, intellectual aspects of cuisines such as Arzak, Dufresne and Achatz. I will be visiting El Bulli later this summer for the first time and am very excited by the prospect of visiting it and eating their creations. I am equally excited about the possibility of visiting Rafa's for relatively unadorned impeccable seafood. I say the more variety the better. My only requisite is quality.

[vserna]

If it weren't for its location in a somewhat sketchy neighborhood, I think it would be promoted from 2 to 3 stars by Michelin (Guia Campsa gives it the 3 solés it deserves).

←

Well, it seems you're getting a bit ahead of Michelin here, Brett. First it would have to promote Ca' Sento from one to two stars...

As we have already amply discussed on this board, Michelin's attitude to the Spanish food scene is thoroughly ridiculous in its stinginess, or call it unfairness. You'll find as many starred restaurants in little Switzerland as in Spain...

[Rogelio]

Last meal in Ca Sento has left me with a bittersweet aftertaste. This was the first time that I visit it since Sento left and Raul, his son, has taken the ride of it.

Product is still the same, but Raul is taking the restaurant into a more modern style of cooking and he doesn't always succed.

The decoration has also changed and even if it's comfortable I don't find it specially beautiful.

As I had phoned Raul previously to be sure they had some products when we arrived he informed us that he had made an special menu for us.

This is what we had:

Starters:

Anchoive over roasted vegetables (escalibada) aubergine, red pepper and zucchini. Delicious pairing of the smokiness of the aubergine and the saltiness of the anchovies.

Cod buñuelo, light and tastier deep fried puff cod.

Foie grass with pine nuts cookie, good quality foiegrass and surprisingly good pairing with the pine nuts.

Following came a whole plate of sea dates, this was one of the products that I had specially ordered as they're not easily found as their caught is forbidden. This were delicious with this taste between a razor clam and a mussel.

Then a perfectly fried little tiny chipirones (little squid) appear, plenty of flavours and with some terriffic onion rings with squid's ink. They told us that this squids were in the sea five hours ago.

One of the highlights of the dinner were this red prawns from Denia, amazing prawns just steamed to keep all the essences of this delicacies.

Then some cigalas (langoustines) over sea salt crust that I failed to picture as I was more concentrated in the stunning flavours than in capturing the meal in pictires.

This was the end of the starters and just-product based dishes.

Next was an oyster with dry seaweed and chicken soup. The overall tastes were good but the seaweed was a bit dry on the mouth even if it quickly dissapears on your mouth.

Following dish was a beautiful egg and Iranian caviar dish with jabugo jelly and a butter layer. The dish was beatiful and the flavours good, but somehow more pretty than delicious.

The meal took over again with this tuna belly over roasted aubergine and ginger sauce. Tuna and ginger are great and the smokiness of the aubergine puree was a nice contrast to the fatty tuna. Great.

The worst dish of the dinner then appeared and was this gorgonzola ravioli with truffles and crudities. Sadly the truffles were not very good and the dish was lacking of some balance.

The main course was this roasted Mediterranean turbot with an outstanding crustacean that they called "cigala de fuerza", the companion was a pine nuts puree and a spring onion pickle that was a very nice contrast.

They were on the verge to bring the desserts when we ordered a fideuá, a noodle paella that Raul ends on the plancha being the best version of this dish. Stunning.

Dessert were some strawberries a la plancha with pineapple ice cream, refreshing and well balanced to build a great dinner with some low points on the creative dishes.

My guess is that Raul is trying to fly from the traditional restaurant that his parents leave even though he was cooking there during their last years.

The wine list is good and there are out of the menu some really good choices like the 2001 Burklin Wolf Tonel 71 that was a perfect paring with the seafood.

Bill, ouch, is according with the quality of the product.

[docsconz]

Thanks, Rogelio for your report and photos. I will be dining at Ca Sento in May and looking forward to it. Any advice on how to order? I would be content to let Raul cook for us, but it sounds like I would very much want those fideu!

[Rogelio]

I'd go for the traditional and product based dishes. There are different options in the menu, so you can choose and always ask for an extra dish.

[docsconz]

My wife and I visited Ca Sento on May 2nd, the day after they had been closed for May Day. Though they lacked a few different mariscos (eg percebes from Galicia) they still had most of the things I had been hoping for. We ordered the degustation for lunch. A number of the dishes were the same as Rogelio had with a few different (none of the ones he didn't care for). All were exceptional and like Gerry Dawes this meal was a highlight not only of this trip, but perhaps one of the finest of my life. The seafood was pristine and expertly prepared and even the lone meat dish was superb. The service was absolutely perfect. Though room itself was comfortable, though I agree with Rogelio that it is not the finest in Spain . More to come with photos when I get the chance.

[docsconz]

Lunch May 2, 2007

This was probably the meal that my wife and I enjoyed the most during our week in Spain. It was essentially perfect and one of the finest meals that I have enjoyed in my life so far. It certainly didn't hurt that my wife and I were both relaxed, hungry and feeling entirely well (unlike my dinner at elBulli when I unfortunately was feeling less than perfect and our dinner at Can Roca, when we were tired and stressed having just driven up through foul weather from Alicante). Having spent the morning at The Turia Gardens, el Mercado Central, La Lonja and then watching the boats leave to race for the Louis Vuitton Cup as part of the Challenge for the Ameroca's Cup, we were ready for a top-notch meal and we got it.

The entrance to the restaurant.

The Menu - we opted for the degustation substituting fideuas for the rice dish.

The floral centerpiece.

Bread - crusty and delicious.

The wine for the first 2/3 of our meal was the crisp and delicious 2005 Rueda from Belondrade y Lurton.

Boquerones with Tomato. This was a wonderful starter with the best boquerones - vinegar-cured anchovies- that I ever had. They were in perfect balance with the tomatoes, the olive oil and the little toast. Deceptively simple, this was utterly delicious.

Foie Gras Puree with Calvados gelee. This was a delicious, classic combination very well done, but I have to laugh having read Rogelio's question below asking why just about every Spanish restaurant feels the need to serve foie gras. I am certainly not complaining and this was a particularly fine example, but it is a good question. If any restaurant can get away without serving it it would be Ca Sento.

Galician oyster with apple and lemon foam. This dish just simply worked.

Simple, perfect Denia prawns.

caviar with a base of butter and egg surrounded by a gelled consomme of ham. This was by far the most vanguardist dish of the afternoon. Served hot, I thought it was excellent and a good way to mix in some modern amongst the mostly traditional cooking on the menu.

Cigalas a la Plancha with a Salt Crust. This was an extra that I asked for and I am glad that I did as this was probably the single most delicious thing that I ate on this trip and one of the most perfect things i have ever eaten. The langoustine was perfectly tender, moist and sweet. I will take a moment to acknowledge our waiter, Giacomo (yes, he is Italian from Milano), who was simply outstanding. He was helpful, friendly, informative and above-all attentive without being obsequious or overbearing. I have never received better service from an individual.

Bluefin Tuna Belly with Eggplant Puree and Ginger. Very similar to dishes mentioned upthread, this was stunningly good. When it was brought to the table, my wife and I both thought it was pork when we first looked at it. Instead it was about as excellent as a cooked piece of tuna can be. The crust was perfectly seared and crisped with the juicy, silken meat nestled within. The flavors from the eggplant and ginger were good contributors without overwhelming the flavorful tuna.

Lubina (sea bass) with Tender Onion, Escabeche, Pine Nuts and a Shrimp. Once again the fish was cooked perfectly as was the skin. The contrasting tectures of crisp skin and melt-in-your mouth fish were sublime. Again the surrounding flavors complemented without overwhelming.

Fidueas with a Shellfish (primarily crab and shrimp) Stock. Simply marvelous, this dish competed with the cigala for dish of the trip. Though every dish on the menu was excellent without a single disappointment, the two favorite dishes of the meal were either an addition or a replacement from the menu. Though I am a big fan of degustations, especially at restaurants that I am unlikely to be able to return to for an extended period, these dishes support those who argue in favor of the "informed diner" carefully selecting dishes a la carte. That being said, in this instance i was able to have my cake and eat it too.

At this point we moved on to the 2004 Finca Terrerazzo from Mustiguillo.

Lamb with Polenta and Pancreas in its own Juice. The lamb had a covering of bread and fines herbs. The pancreas was reminiscent of sweetbreads. While this may have been an obligatory meat course, it was quite delicious and a great match with the wine.

Strawberries with Coconut Ice Cream. This was very good, but the most mundane dish of the meal.

We were now each served a glass of a dry 30y/o Amontillado de Jerez.

Torrija (French Toast) with cafe con Leche Ice Cream and plum sauce. This was simple and delicious.

A photo of a nearby table at the end of our meal.

[BryanZ]

It's hardly worth saying, but those are beautiful picture of a delicious-looking meal. I especially love the plating of the fidueas.

As I've been reading your Spain posts, it's been somewhat difficult to me to follow along the exact route you took. What brought you Valencia, anything besides Ca' Sento? Do you mind me asking what the degustation at the restaurant cost so I may put it in context with other restaurants in Spain?

[docsconz]

It's hardly worth saying, but those are beautiful picture of a delicious-looking meal.  I especially love the plating of the fidueas.

As I've been reading your Spain posts, it's been somewhat difficult to me to follow along the exact route you took.  What brought you Valencia, anything besides Ca' Sento?  Do you mind me asking what the degustation at the restaurant cost so I may put it in context with other restaurants in Spain?

←

Thanks Bryan. The degustation at Ca Sento was 110 Euros per person.

We arrived at Barcelona airport on Saturday morning where we were met by our friends who took us back to their home for a brief rest. We had a lovely lunch at Aligue in Manresa that afternoon and a delicious light dinner at their home that night. Sunday we had our lunch at L'Esguard and another light dinner at our friends home. Monday we rented a car at Barcelona airport and drove south to Valencia, having a delightful paella lunch at Levante. Later that evening we met Rogelio and his lovely wife in Valencia and had a great light dinner at Casa Montaña. Tuesday we drove to Denia for lunch at El Poblet. We skipped dinner that night. Wednesday we had breakfast at the Mercado Central, lunch at Ca Sento then drove to Alicante, where we met up with Kathleen Berger at the excellent Monastrell. Thursday we drove back to Catalunya stopping for a light lunch along the way. Dinner was at Can Roca. Friday we drove intp Barcelona to visit the Boqueria and had a light lunch at Kiosk Universal, after which we drove to Roses for dinner at elBulli. The next morning we drove back to Barcelona airport for our flight home. Phew. That pales compared to some of our heartier culinary diners, but then I am not as young as I used to be!

[molto e]

Doc,

Stunning shots...the prawns and the cigalas especially. To contrast this meal with a couple of your modern ones is very interesting. Though the meal was tradional, there was definitely a flair to it. That meal looked delicious and a must try in Spain.

Well Done,

Molto E

[Mar Calpena]

I have to attend a Congress in Valencia at the end of november, and I'm thinking having lunch at Ca' Sento. There seems to be a debate on this thread on choosing the degustation menu or making some informed choices... I will be traveling alone, so if I book I won't be able to pick and taste from someone else's plates.

This obviously points me in the degustation menu direction, but considering I am not on a expense account and that, frankly, I'm making a bit of an effort to go there (and I DO want to drink wine), is a la carte a better idea for me?

Excuse me for asking so bluntly...

[docsconz]

You could always do the degustation and add a dish or two depending on what is on the degustation that day. Either way, I don't think you can go wrong.

[Rogelio]

There is always a chance to compose a half portions menu with the dishes that you want.

My advise is to keep close to the traditional and product focused dishes.

And the wine list is worth a drink.

[juniorworm]

My wife and I were in Spain in late September and early October. On the recommendations from egullet, we chose to have our one splurge meal at Ca Sento. It was one of the best meals I've ever had, with the caveat that the farther your stray from seafood, the less spectacular the results. Here's the meal:

We began with a caprese salad - of sorts. Mostly it was an ethereal mozzarella mouse with some kind of salty cured tomato on the bottom and a basil oil on top. I'd never had anything like this and the tomatoes were spectacular

The bread was also terrific - a rarity in Spain, it seems

Then moving on to two different clams and the most surprising element of the meal - a mild liquid lemon drop encased in some kind of membrane.

The Denia prawns, as others have noted, are so simple yet of a truly astonishing quality. I had no idea they were going to taste so good.

This next course did not photograph well but if they have it you should get it. Some kind of deep fried foie gras pudding. You wait about 30 seconds and then pop the whole thing in your mouth - an explosion of liquid foie gras. The bit on top was a bit of tomato jelly - I think.

Oh my goodness this was tasty - squid stock, perfectly scored and grilled squid, a potato puree and a very tiny poached egg. I greedily swabbed up every speck of the sauce. I'm drooling on my keyboard.

Seared monkfish (or possibly sea bass - can't recall) with more clams. Skin was perfectly crisp, slightly rare in the middle. Really perfect. I even got to finish half of my wife's portion as she was filling up by now. Yes!

This looks similar to other Ca Sento photos, although here with rice not vermicelli (as an aside I had cuttlefish & vermicelli paella at Monastrell in Alicante and I didn't care for it at all - really overseasoned, and I like salt, and just not well conceived or executed. bummer). They get a shatteringly crisp crust on the rice.

The pigeon with pumpkin puree was merely good. Cooked rare, with an excellent sauce, but the pigeon we had at Hisop (www.hisop.com) was far better. As another aside, while not at the same heights as Ca Sento, Hisop is also far, far cheaper. And they'll do a wine pairing with the tasting menu for a measly 12 euro.

Deserts at Ca Sento - at least the ones we had - are merely so so. This pear & puff pastry dish was underbaked and contained some slightly gummy layers. Not at all flaky and a bit chewy.

This little cake looked terrific and had three different chocolate flavors but it didn't come together in terms of taste of texture.

We spent about $375 for two. My wife drank cava the whole time and I had several different wines, all of which were excellent. I would say that it was a good value, despite the jaw dropping cost (at least for me).

If I go back, I will not get the tasting menu. The non-fish item (pigeon for us) and the desserts are not world class - but every one of the fish items was the best I'd ever had. I would look for the prawns, a rice based fish dish, and anything to do with squid.

The service is quite professional but also very reserved. Decor is great - especially the brown shag carpet on the ceiling.

Also photos of other meals and the rest of our trip are available at http://picasaweb.google.com/unagrua/Spain0...key=cyKCoypnRVo

We saw a lot of Santiago Calatrava buildings. Other short notes:

Cal Pep - very good, expensive, overrun by tourists

Quimet et Quiment - great, go for the sardine items

Edited November 6, 2007 by juniorworm (log)

[docsconz]

Somehow I missed juniorworm's report until now. Great job! I fully agree about the seafood. In addition to seeking out the Denia prawns, I would suggest the langoustines as unmissable.