I chose the wrong category for food and value for money. A 6 is more accurate than a 5. Can you choose 6, or only 5 and 7?
Not what it could have been…
SERVICIO DEL VINO:
8.5
7.4
COMIDA:
5
ENTORNO:
10
CALIDAD-PRECIO:
5
I was a bit disappointed by the food at El Celler de Can Roca. Although there were some strange things about the food (see below), in general there was nothing wrong with it, but it just lacked flavour. I've said in other reviews that I believe this to be a general thing in Spain, and people in Spain seem to prefer mild food (where else do you see people put soda into beer to make the beer more mild?), so of course Spanish restaurants make food for Spanish tastes. The sommelier told me that he almost cried out of happiness when he first tried the olive soup that I had. Although the "black olive fritter" was really, really nice, to me the rest of that dish was just a soup in different colours that only tasted like olives + an olive ice cream that was too salty. But the restaurant can of course only serve the food that THEY like.
However, I was a lot more impressed by Sant Pau in Sant Pol de Mar (my review is also on this site), as the food there had flavour.
Okay, the details:
First the good things:
* Absolutely beautiful restaurant.
* The sheer amount of appetizers (six servings, three consisting of two elements, and one consisting of five elements)
* Great service, which deserved my big tip, but not perfect. When I was seated at my table, I waited a long time to get a menu. The couple next to me had a menu on their table within one minute. Between dishes, I sometimes waited maybe one or two minutes or even less – other times I waited a lot longer. After asking for the bill, I also waited a really long time. All in all, eating the "festival menu" (11 courses) + appetizers and petit fours took me four and a half hours (they told me three hours, but nothing in Spain is precise ;-)). At Sant Pau, it took me slightly less than three hours, and there they pulled out the chair for me when I returned to my seat, but not at Can Roca. Nevertheless, the service was attentive, friendly and professional.
* Head chef came out to speak to all the guests, and when I asked to see their wine cellar (very impressive) afterwards, he showed me around.
* Some dishes, like the "flower bomb" was beautifully presented. Others, not so (see below).
* The breads were really, really good – my favourite being the one with olive. Red wine, apricot and walnut, and the Catalonian one were also wonderful. The thin stick was the only one that was nothing special.
* Some dishes were really nice, although maybe not the most interesting dishes I've eaten. For example the cod soup with really nice onions, the lamb and the pork were very nice, although quite simple and not exactly spectacularly good. Some of the appetizers, like the "Korean" one, the cep brioche and the cep bonbon were all wonderful. Other appetizers were forgettable though.
* The foie gras dish was quite possibly the best foie gras I've ever had. I've never really liked foie gras, but I've had it three times where I liked it. I didn't think foie gras could be any better than the dish I had at Sangonereta in Valencia, but the one here was probably a little bit better. It could still be improved, though, by adding more elements to the dish. It was simply a timbale and a caramel sauce around it. The menu said with vanilla oil, but I didn't notice any vanilla. What made the one at Sangonereta so great was not just the mille-feuille of foie gras, mango and goat cheese, but also that there was caramelised sesame, a caramelised fig and pickled ginger on the plate.
On to the less successful things:
* The presentation was not always as good as it could have been. For instance the lamb, the pork, and the coffee didn't look bad at all, but it just looked like dishes I have had in restaurants where I pay €40-€50 for a meal.
* Infusion of elder: The cherries, sardines and ice cream in this starter were really nice (and the dish looked beautiful), but the infusion itself was like water with a bit of olive oil in it. The almonds should have been toasted to bring out the flavour. When I mentioned that the infusion lacked flavour, the waitress said "yes, I know". Maybe she just didn't know what to say, but if she really agreed with me, why do they serve this?
* Sea bream: To me, bream, just like sea bass, is a terribly overrated fish that is usually dry and boring. Why serve this when you can have turbot, Dover sole or zander? The fish itself was very nice though (but still a little bit naturally dry), flavoured with a bit of lemon, and it was definitely one of the best breams I've ever had (the best one being at Gordon Ramsay in Chelsea, London). What bothered me about this dish were the citrus elements on there. Usually, I'm a sucker for citrus, but, unless I misunderstood the sommelier, they had deliberately made these elements from the white pith of the fruits (along with the zest), making it extremely bitter and almost inedible. To me that made no sense at all. Using only the zest, or taking an entire slice, with pith, of lemon and letting it simmer a few minutes in sugar syrup avoids the bitterness.
* Lobster with potato mash and sauce of black trumpets: The presentation was the worst of the night (see picture). The lobster was put on top of the mash and the sauce poured all over it, making it look like they had whisked all the elements together in a bowl. Eating it was the same experience. To me, the lobster seemed a bit undercooked, but that's my personal preference.
* Red mullet with a soup from its bones. I had a similar soup/sauce at Sant Pau (with sepia), and that one was really pleasant. The flavour of the one at Can Roca was really, really fish, like eating pure fish stock. Maybe that's just my preference, 'cause I know some Spanish people like that particular flavour (some of my friends eat it almost daily).
* Watermelon sorbet: I've always found watermelon to be the dullest melon type, but again that's a preference. The sorbet was crystallised, and the entire dish was quite forgettable.
* Flower bomb. The presentation was beautiful, and the flavour of rose water was definitely better balanced than at Riff in Valencia, but the violet candy floss around it was sticky and impossible to eat. A somewhat successful dish that I did, however, quickly forget.
* Coffee dessert: The waitress told me it had vanilla ice cream, whereas the menu said anis ice cream. Nevertheless, they could have told me any flavour and I would have believed them, because the coffee they had poured onto the bottom of the plate drowned out all other flavours. Very unbalanced.
* Petit fours: I didn't find a single one of these more than mildly interesting. Most barely had any flavour, and the passion fruit ice cream was sour.
Overall, a bit disappointing, although there were definitely some good dishes here. However, it's not a place I would go back to – at least not for the food, as in general it simply lacked the "wow factor". Salt and pepper makes everything better, but putting seasoning in a bowl of water doesn't make it wonderful (e.g. the elder infusion).
I really don't feel that I'm being too critical. When I go to a restaurant that has three Michelin stars and is considered to be the second best restaurant in the world, I expect nothing but the best.
I've been to restaurants with only one star (Herman, AOC, and Kokkeriet – all in Copenhagen, and Ca' Sento in Valencia) or even a restaurant that didn't have a single star (Sangonereta in Valencia) that were better than El Celler de Can Roca.
* One note: I've always found the category "servicio del vino" very strange. Does this mean how they serve the wine? For this review, my rating go for the service itself, not how they serve the wine.
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_logo.JPG?1433215060 "Flower bomb")
Flower bomb
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_logo.JPG?1433215059 "Any guesses what this is? It was apparently potato mash, lobster and sauce of black trumpets")
Any guesses what this is? It was apparently potato mash, lobster and sauce of black trumpets
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_logo.JPG?1433215057 "Elder infusion (or was it just water?), cherries and ice cream")
Elder infusion (or was it just water?), cherries and ice cream
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2 usuarios
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en respuesta a Anders.Pedersen Ver mensaje de Anders.Pedersen Mmm, unfortunately the Likert scale does not contain this option.. so you have to chose between 'correct' (5) and 'good' (7).... or compensate with the marks of the other sections... Let us know if you want to change your rating...
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Let's just keep my ratings the way they are now. It's not a big deal.
Maybe I'm a tough nut to crack, but I did give Sant Pau a perfect 10 all way around :-) -
Agurrak, bere estimua bezalako bazkaria asko dut iritzi subjektiboa rock eta hori da, errespetua, ordea zer Espainian gauza ez dakit, ez dakit nola gurina, edo sardinzar, asko dakitegauzak Espainiako produktuak dira onak, ez du esan hobe, munduko, erabilera, baratxuri, piper eta gatza, eta hori ez torlojua espezie askoren gehiago bazkaria edozein baino, baina agian beste jaki ohituta palates ona,ez zaporetsua da, eta esan zuen eztia atzetik ahoa ez dela egin dira, guztiak errespetatuz, asto egiteko, janaria eta dirua balio puntuazio aldean, ez bakarrik ez share, baina uzten dugarbituko hobeto jaten duzu, bada, Sangonereta da dezakezu rock, arazoren bat duzula zure ahosabaia, bada errespetagarria, zuk oraindik uste badu Espainiako janaria, tasteless, saiatu induced bat jan edomexikarraren, beraz zaporea dute izango duzu ahoa, ez ez jakin non from dira duzun, baina Espainiako elikagai hori ez zaporea du esan nahi, den handiena zentzugabekeria foro honetan zait I entzun eta ikusi zenbat pertsona gas on hartu dagaragardoa, ondo orokortu, saludo bat eta beti plazer handia gourmet iritzia ezagutzeko eta I offended baduzu Barkamena eskatu nahi dut
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Greetings, I very much like his appreciation for the meal can rock as subjective opinion and that is, the respect, however what that things in Spain do not know, do not know how to butter, or herring, they know a great many things Spanish products are so good, I will not say better, than any in the world, use, garlic, pepper and salt, which is do not screw up the meal with many more species, but perhaps good for palates accustomed to other delicacies, not tasty, and it is said that honey is not made for the mouth of the ass, with all due respect, for the donkey, with respect to the punctuation of food and value for money, not only do not share, but leaves clear that if you eat better in the Sangonereta, that can rock, you have a problem in your palate, that if at all respectable, if you still think Spanish food, tasteless, try to eat at a induced or in a Mexican, so you will have taste in your mouth, do not know where you are from, but to say that Spanish food has no taste, is the biggest nonsense I've heard in this forum and you seen how much people's take on gas beer, to generalize well, a greeting and always a pleasure to know the opinion of a great gourmet and if I have offended you I apologize in advance, another thing is I think what I say.
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Saludos , me parece muy bien su apreciacion sobre la comida del can roca , como opinion y subjetiva , que es , la respeto ,sin embargo lo de que las cosas en españa no saben , no saben a mantequilla , ni a arenques , saben a muchisimas cosas , los productos españoles , son tan buenos , no dire mejores , que cualquiera del mundo , usamos , ajo , pimienta y sal , lo que no hacemos es joder la comida con muchas mas especies , pero bueno quizas para paladares acostumbrados a otros manjares , no sea sabrosa , ya se dice que no esta hecha la miel , para la boca del asno , con todos mis respetos , para el asno , respecto a la puntuacion de comida y relacion calidad-precio , no solo no la comparto , sino que deja claro , que si usted a comido mejor en el Sangonereta , que en can roca , usted tiene un problema , en su paladar , eso si del todo respetable , si le sigue pareciendo la comida española , sin sabor , pruebe a comer en un indu o en un mejicano , asi usted , tendra sabor en su paladar , no se de donde viene usted , pero decir que la comida española no tiene sabor , es la mayor bobada que he oido en este foro , y a cuanta gente a visto usted hechar gaseosa en la cerveza , para generalizar asi , un saludo y siempre un placer conocer la opinion de un gran gourmet y si en algo le he ofendido me disculpo por adelantado , otra cosa es que pienso lo que digo.
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en respuesta a Jeronimo Ver mensaje de Jeronimo Lo de distintos criterios para un mismo sitio , vale , pero que la comida española no tiene sabor , que le echamos gaseosa a la cerveza (el que quiera se la toma , como le da la gana) , váyase usted a freír espárragos , eso si écheles bien de especies para que le sepan a algo , de toda la vida de dios , se sabe que lo de las especies , empezó como una manera de esconder ciertos sabores a pasado y productos en mal estado , que no tiene sabor un bacalao al pil-pil , una paella valenciana , un cocido montañés , un salmorejo , un chuleton de vaca vieja , cualquier pescado de nuestras costas , hecho donde sea ,unas fabes ,una centolla de ria gallega ,una cecina ,unos chorizos ,una sobrasada , unos garbanzos de vigilia ,unos espetos ,unas romesco , unos calcots , etc,etc,etc,etc,etc,etc, mira al final lo que menos me empieza a importa es la nota del can roca , que por supuesto no comparto , ni de lejos , y que lo compare con sangoreneta , a este señor había que banearle , sino se retracta de la atrocidad que ha dicho , cuando uno ofende y gravemente a alguien en este foro , se le pega un toque , doy fe , y ademas se le da una oportunidad o mas , también doy fe ,pues yo me siento ultrajado por el comentario de este señor , un saludo.
Por cierto le da un 10 al entorno , y un 5 a la comida y al precio.Bueno lo del baneo , me he pasado , no soy nadie para decirlo ,lo retiro, y si todo esto del sabor , es cosa de una mala traducción , me disculpo , pero si no , mantengo todo lo dicho.
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en respuesta a ramico Ver mensaje de ramico Lo de tratarle de usted , no es cosa del traductor , es que no sabia como dirigirme , a semejante guru gastronómico y opte por ser educado .
Por cierto estoy harto del traductor, desde aquí le pido a este señor , que si sabe me lo diga en castellano , y sino sabe que aprenda , ademas de a comer a escribir en español. -
en respuesta a Farmonton Ver mensaje de Farmonton Te digo que no digo lo que pienso del todo , ahí que ser tan educados como los extranjeros , que llegan a las costas españolas arrasando y creyéndose los reyes del mambo , eso lo he visto yo en málaga la semana pasada , sin embargo doy , fe , que en sus países , son la mar de educados , de verdad , igual es que como la comida española es sosa , les cambia el carácter aquí , si se matan , por unas bravas y una paella , anda ya , un saludo.
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As you can see reading other critics, in verema.com it's customary to mention the wines that accompany a meal. After all, verema (harvest in Catalan) is a portal devoted primarily to wine, and to food had with wine. Could you say something about the wine(s) you had with the menu?
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en respuesta a oscar4435 Ver mensaje de oscar4435 Como se ha comentado en varias ocasiones, aquí cada uno es libre de expresar sus buenas o malas sensaciones sobre un restaurante, siempre y cuando estas sean mínimamente objetivas (ya se sabe eso de que entre gustos no hay disputas) y creo que las de este señor lo son.
También se ha comentado en repetidas ocasiones que tras varios comentarios vamos conociendo los gustos de cada uno de nosotros, eso hace que confiemos más en algunos foreros que en otros, simplemente porque sus gustos son más afines a los nuestros.
El Sr. Pedersen hace muy bien en contarnos sus sensaciones, cualquier comentario que no tenga visos de Spam debe de ser bien recibido y seguramente algunos foreros estarán de acurdo con sus valoraciones y compartirán sus gustos.
Desafortunadamente ese no es mi caso, después de leer varios de sus comentario y especialmente el de “La Salita”, vi claramente que sus gustos no coincidían con los míos y que leer sus comentarios no me aportaba absolutamente nada, así que me limito a leer los de otros foreros que si me aportan algo. -
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en respuesta a oscar4435 Ver mensaje de oscar4435 No te preocupes, por el nombre y apellidos de este señor, debe de provenir de un país con amplia cultura gastronómica, y ya se sabe que nosotros los latinos hace cuatro días que hemos descubierto la gastronomía.
Aunque no sé porque extraño motivo, a este arte le han puesto un nombre griego. -
Mi español is muy malo. No escribo in Español, porque Español is muy deficil para me y uso mucho tiempo para escribir en Español (y me Español es muy malo). Yo tengo que aprender Español? Quizas. Tu tienes que aprender Ingles? Quizas.
No soy turista. He vivido en Valencia durante seis meses.As my Spanish is extremly poor, most of these messages I didn't understand. The ones translated by Google Translator or whatever didn't make much sense to me either.
Anyway, I stand by absolutely everything I said in my review.
Before reading these comments I did, however, consider that maybe I should have given a 7 for "value for money", as it was quite a lot of food. I gave a 5 as less than half the courses really pleased me.
Yes, I liked Sangonereta better than El Celler de Can Roca. If you are offended by that, so be it. If you don't like my other reviews, so be it. If you think I have a problem with my palate for liking Sangonereta better than El Celler de Can Roca, then you're the one making it into a problem.And yes, I do believe that Spanish people tend to prefer milder food than me. Not saying that NO Spanish food has any flavour, but in general I see much less flavour in the food in Spain than I did in Denmark (where I'm from) or England (Where I lived for a year and a half), France or Italy. I don't like spicy food at all, and if I get a bit of chili I start crying, but I do want food to contain salt and pepper, and I don't want it to taste like water. Except for Sangonereta and Sant Pau, the lack of flavour was a problem for me in most other top restaurants I've been to in Spain: Victor Gutierrez (Salamanca), La Sucursal (Valencia), La Salita (Valencia), and to a smaller extent in Riff (Valencia) + small restaurants as well + when my friends cook.
I went to Pierre Gagnaire's restaurant in Paris, and here the food was quite mild as well, which was a bit of a surprise, as I had expected it to be super modern and "crazy" (like The Fat Duck).As mentioned earlier, I was very impressed by Sant Pau (my review is also here on Verema). It was one of the best meals of my life.
With regards to the wine, I'm not a big wine drinker at all. I did, however, have a couple of glasses of wine at El Celler de Can Roca, and although I could taste they were nices wines (in particular one of the white wines), they still didn't make a great impression on me. It was like that in Sant Pau as well (except for the dessert wine, which was wonderful). Hence, I didn't mention the wine, as I simply felt that I wasn't able to give a proper review of it. If someone with a great knowledge and appreciation of wine went to El Celler de Can Roca, I'm sure they would greatly appreciate the wine there. The wine celler was very, very impressive.