El Celler De Can Roca, Girona

First off, we just want to apologise for the lack of blog posts this year! It’s been a crazy few months coupled with a hint of laziness as its easier to upload food pictures to Instagram. To make up for the lack of activity the post to kick start the blog is non other than the San Pellogrino number 1 restaurant in the world..... El Celler de Can Roca, from the picturesque town Girona and holder of 3 Michelin stars.

Having come all this way we chose the longer feast menu over the short classics menu along with a wine pairing to share. We had done our research before hand and noted the build up of glasses on other reviews where people couldn't keep up with the wine pairings!

The world

Thailand - chicken, coriander, coconut, curry and lime

Japan - miso cream and nyinyonyaki

China - pickled vegetables with plum cream

Peru - Causa limena

Korea - panco fried bread, bacon with soya sauce, kimchi and sesame oil

Memories of a bar in the suburbs of Girona - breaded squid, kidneys with sherry, escabeche mussels, salt cod with spinach and pinenuts, Campari bonbon

Green olive ice cream and calcot lyo

Coral - ying yang oyster and sea bream ceviche

 Truffled bon bon and St George mushroom brioche

Pumpkin consommé with green tea - hazelnut tofu, parsnip, liquefied pumpkin, liquefied spinach, passion fruit, pumpkin seed, turnip and charcoal grilled chestnut

Red mullet with kimbu - prickly pear foam, sea anemone, salicomia and Katsuobushi vinegar, charcoal grilled red pine mushroom

Langoustine with cocoa bean sauce - black mole with mantis shrimp cream with cocoa and boletus edulis

Partridge and fermented cabbage salad - smoked broth and tarragon foam

Pigeon with fermented rice - rice skin sauce, koji sauce, rice bread and pigeon parfait

Prawn marinated with rice vinegar - prawn's head sauce, crispy prawn legs, seaweed veloute and phytoplankton

Sole with olive oil, fennel, bergamot, orange, pine nuts and green olives. The restaurant changed this course to the signature sole dish for Mrs Nom as she is not a fan of skate which is what was listed on the taster menu. I'm glad she did and its no wonder this is on the classics menu and I would go as far as to class the sole as the dish of the meal. Each flavour complimented the fish perfectly and took it to new heights when eaten in sequence as advised by the staff. I did note that the pieces Mrs Nom gave me were very small as she wanted it all to herself!

Confit skate with mustard oil, beurre noisette, honey, chardonnay vinegar, bergamot, aromatic mustard and smoked hazelnuts

Blackspot sea bream with samfaina

Iberian suckling pig with salad of green papaya, thai grapefruit, apple, coriander, chili pepper, lime and cashew

Lamb with eggplant and chickpea puree, lamb's trotters and spicy tomato

Veal oyster blade and marrow, tendons and avocado

Suspiro limeno - milk, lime, coriander, milk caramel, pisco

Turkish perfume - rose, peach, saffron, cumin, cinnamon and pistachio

 Orange colourology

 

Stuffed to the brim we ordered peppermint tea to end the marathon four hour meal and to call it a night. A trolley full of delectable petit fours accompanied the tea and we ordered a selection of the servers favourites to share.

The visit has been a long time coming and it certainly lived up to our expectations and then some. All three Roca brothers were in attendance on the night of our visit and the signed menus and quick snap with Joan and Jordi Roca was the icing on the cake.

Signed menu in full with wine pairings

The total cost was 500 Euro for a very long tasting menu and one wine pairing. The wine pairing was the most exceptional we have tried anywhere thus far, well recommended.

Rijks, Amsterdam

On a recent weekend trip to Amsterdam we visited Rijks restaurant for lunch after a whistlestop tour around the Van Gogh museum. We didn't anticipate the large queues at ten in the morning but ended up on time for our reservation. As we trawled through the menu we were presented with some stunning amuse bouches. A cream of oyster, radish and champagne foam which packed bags of flavour and a deep fried leaf. We noted that there were deep fried leaves on every vacant table and were tempted to eat them as well! The menu features a small plate concept with a few larger plates.

Roasted langoustine tail, curry cream, trout eggs, linseed, quinoa - a food bloggers / instagrammars heaven, each dish was very photogenic and the curry cream on the bed of quinoa worked very well with the langoustine.

Gasconne veal shank, crème of foie, apricot, crispy buckwheat

Bbq sweet corn, chickenparfait, crispy chicken wing, dried onion - this was Mrs Noms favourite dish as she is a big fan of corn

Roasted beef tenderloin tartare, chopped egg, tarragon, spinach - the title baffled us as the beef found in the onion cups were three quarters cooked. Not sure if thats how it was supposed to be served but the tartare name was a bit odd and resulted in it being the least successful dish of the meal.

Duck, germule, lingonberry, Dutch plum sauce - this dish would have been exceptional if the duck was cooked less, it proved to be tough and not in the slightest pink.

We enjoyed lunch at Rijks, on the main the food was at a high level. It was noted that as lunch service picked up we began to find flaws in the dishes as well as in the speed of service, this meant we skipped dessert in order to make use of the last of our time in Amsterdam. 

Gaggan, Bangkok

Before we booked our plane tickets to Bangkok I made sure I secured tables at both Nahm and Gaggan. Nahm being the former number 1 restaurant in the San Pellogrino Asia's Top 50 restaurants list before being toppled by Gaggan in the current list. Luckily for us I had reserved a table at Gaggan before the 2015 list was announced.

My first awareness of chef-proprietor Gaggan Anand was during Obsession 2015 at Northcote where he was a featured chef during one of the nights of the illustrious parade of worldwide chefs. The style of Gaggan exudes influences of chefs time at el Bulli with molecular gastronomy playing a heavy part in the menu along with more traditional Indian cooking methods. It was this mix of modern and old school take on Indian fine dining or progressive Indian as termed by Chef which peaked our interest as our experience of Indian food involved hearty, homely large sharing dishes. Perfect for families and satisfying meals but we wanted to explore the other end of the spectrum and to experience how humble Indian food could be elevated to another level.

At the time of our visit a choice of three set menus were available with varying lengths. We were allowed to pick different menus which we found refreshing as we have different appetites and could experience more dishes. A multitude of influences from Japan, Portugal, Spain and France amongst others play a part in the menu, the presentation of the dishes was exquisite and certainly opened our eyes as to how beautiful Indian food could be presented given a little imagination. The meal began with a fast and furious selection of street eat bites before leading into the main dishes. 

Burnt mango panna

Yoghurt explosion

Edible plastic spiced nuts

Chocolate panu puri

Potato a-some-crispy and liquid

Bengali mustard and noori pakoda

Papadam and tomato chutney

Keema pao

Explosion - Golgappa: herb injection, cumin potato and yoghurt

Alchemist cake - Dhokla: lentil flour cake with curry leaves, mustard, chutney and coconut ice cream

Say cheese - hot souffle of 4 cheeses and crispy rice cereals, green chilly oil

Sandwich - foiegras mousse, onion water baguette, onion chutney and hazelnut candy

Down to Earth - summer vegetables, asparagus, morels, mushrooms, artichokes with a 62C egg yolk and truffle chili air

Charcoal - no description was given when the dome was lifted to reveal the charcoal. We were left to guest the ingredients and were later informed that it contained dehydrated vegetables for the black crust and stuffed with spiced sea bass paste.

Treasure shells - Norwegian diver scallop, coriander herb oil gel, young coconut curry

Portuguese connection - Joselito Iberian pork belly stir-fired with vindaloo curry and sweet potato. This was one of the standout dishes of the night.

Fusion called confusion - white asparagus, yuzu chutney, chili miso curry, false green beans, sesame miso chips

Best memory - lamb chops sous-vide, grilled and finihsed with almond saffron oil

Land of Lungi - Atlantic lobster cooked in chameen style, malabari coconut curry

River king - fresh water prawns grilled in tandoor with a curry leaf infusion and mango chutney

Angry bird - slow cooked country Thai chicken in a spiced Chettinad style curry

Made in Japan - matcha tea cake, mascarpone cream, vanilla salt and fresh wasabi

Poor mans porridge - firni-jasmine ice cream, pistachio crisps, rose room freshener

Magnum - inspired by the famous ice cream

Petit fours - Turkish delight, lemon sour gel and crispy chocolate

www.eatatgaggan.com