We flew into Barcelona for our
El Bulli reservation which we had secured back in Dec 2008. We stayed at an old school Spanish villa,
Hotel Vistabella @ Roses, a small quiet coastal town.
We arrived a little past 7.30pm having battled through traffic and twisty roads on the mountain side. Taking a right turn down the driveway, we were greeted by a house perched right on the water in the middle of nowhere. As soon as we set foot into the restaurant, we were warmly welcomed by at least 10 waitstaff that made us feel as if we were the only diners in the restaurant. This was followed by an offer to tour the kitchen where we met Ferran and had a sticky beak at 45 chefs preparing for the journey ahead. We met with the head chef and I saw a few smiles when I whipped out my big lens! We were seated by the window in the formal dining room overlooking the lake. As the sun was setting, it was the beginning of our El Bulli journey...
Starting with (left to right, top to bottom): Cane: mojito & caipirinha, Crystal of parmegiano, Coniferous, Spherical olives, Mimetics peanuts, sesame crackers.
Moving onto: Vanilla chips, Cherry Umeboshi, Coconut sponge, Flower nectar, Black sesame sponge cake with miso (softest sponge cake EVER!), Oyster leaf with dew of vinegar (a natural leaf from Holland that resembles oyster but without the slimey texture)
And then: Ham & Ginger canape, Truffle surprise, Osmanthus accompanied by prune on cracker(to me, it looked like thread worms, but tasted like noodles in snot), Fried shanghai, Mimetic almond
Followed by: Kimchee raspberries, Mushroom-CRU with hazelnut (did not know cactus was edible), Pumpkin and almond sandwich (it was totally layered with fresh white truffles), Sea anemone with te, Pinenut shabu shabu, Trout roe risotto.
On to the mains: Abalone (very chinese way), Parmesan ravioli, Cartilage (kinda reminded me of Pho Dac Biet), Rabbit canape with your giblets (this dish consist of fried rabbits brain, thyroid, tongue and kidney + snail eggs!) Suckling pig tail accompanied with ham soup, Pond (palette cleanser)
For desserts: Cherry with kirsch, Coco (it came out looking like an ostrich egg, then it was cracked with a spoon with added curry powder, turned out it was coconut icecream to be eaten with our fingers..MMmmm), Puff pastry of pineapple, Roots (looked like dirt, but made with choco cake & mousse, mando sorbet and black sesame rocks), Shellfish and last but not least the Morphings. This came in its own box that had at least over 50 piece of chocolate that we could devour between ourselves! Unfortunately we were both so stuffed that we could barely manage 10 pieces. Best petit four EVER!
It was about 12.30am as we made our way out of the restaurant when the wait staff stopped me and handed us a gift. El Bulli's Spanish version of 'A day in El Bulli'. We were very grateful and we do hope to visit again soon. A very memorable experience.
