El Celler de Can Roca (the cellar of the Roca family) opened in 1986 in Girona and moved a short distance to its current location in 2007.  The former location is now a casual eatery run by the Roca family mother of the three brothers who govern the now 3 Michelin starred institution today – Jordy Roca leads the pastry section; Juan Roca is the Executive chef and Jessep Roca the sommelier in charge of all wines and drinks.

An impressive array of canapés arrived firstly. A welcome Catalonian soup with vegetable and truffle made with vegetable stock; brioche with liquid truffle centre (veery good); crispy bacon on radish; a meringue with truffle ice cream (which was a little gloopy); ‘Timeline’ was a series of bites on a long stone outlining the milestone dates of the restaurant including parmesan cheese, fish brandade, pigs trotter with sea cucumber and kale.  The breads were beautifully done tomato brioche, plain sourdoughs and wine and rasin sourdoughs. The level of effort that had clearly gone in to all of these canards was not lost on me and was a wonderful start, albeit, none actually making me melt with pleasure as I have done at say, Victors’ Dining.

The first course was Xarel-lo (teardop) steamed peas with pistachio pesto, citrus gel, Montseny wasabi sprouts, pea sprouts, and Montseny wasabi oil.  These were truly delightful peas and very hard to gain and prepare perfectly as they were here.  The delicate steamed peas complemented the tempered taste of the wasabi and pistachio pesto perfectly. It was a wonderful start to the meal.

Next up was the cauliflower dish with lychee, laminated cauliflower, cauliflower puree with ragweed seeds, bergamot and verjuice, cauliflower puree with butter, fried cauliflower puree, cauliflower couscous, fried broccoli flower, lychee sauce and fermented grape. The combination of textures and flavors was very good, although not hugely memorable. The lychee added a sweet and tangy touch to the dish, while the cauliflower puree and couscous brought a nutty and earthy flavor to the plate.

The langoustine with sagebrush, vanilla oil and toasted butter was cooked perfectly. The flavours were subtle, with the vanilla oil adding a gentle sweetness to this very small bite-size dish.  Ultimately the foam did not add too much value but the langoustines were as one would expect, very good quality.

The fish of the day “suquet” with hazelnut foam, semi-dried tomato with capers and black olives, grilled lemon purée with anise liqueur reduction, rosemary, mint and fennel oil and fried bread with freeze-dried garum was a highlight of the meal. The fish was cooked to perfection, and the tomato, capers, and black olives added a tangy flavor, while the lemon purée brought a zesty freshness to the plate. It was a pleasant dish but somehow, not earth-shattering

The poularde (rich chicken fattened by the diet of the chicken) brioche with truffle and fresh herbs sauce was superbly executed. The brioche was utterly soft and buttery, with as absolutely perfect outer shell and the truffle and herbs sauce was rich and savory. The chicken itself was very good quality, but I simply did not gel with the overall flavour of this dish.  Foie gras is always a joy, but the combination of these produced a stodgy dish overall I thought and whilst I appreciated the skill of the cooking completely, it juts simply was not a huge pleasure in density and flavour.

For dessert, the candy apple which was a caramelized apple sphere with calvados, green apple, butter biscuit, caramelized apple foam, and Catalan cream ice cream was a masterpiece. The flavors were perfectly balanced, with the caramelized apple sphere being the pinnacle of dessert cooking skill (akin to the fabled dessert at Schwarzwaldstube) providing a sweet and sticky texture, and the Catalan cream ice cream adding a creamy and refreshing touch to the dish. Superb and enjoyable in every way.

Finally, the milk dessert was very nice. The milk caramel, sheep’s milk ice cream, sheep’s milk curd-cheese foam, sheep’s milk yoghurt, and milk cloud were all perfectly balanced. The flavors were subtle and creamy, with the sheep’s milk ice cream and yoghurt bringing a refreshing and tangy touch to the dish and had the visual and textural fun of the candy floss. An impressive petit fours trolley arrived for selecting whichever ones appealed for coffee in the garden.

There was a bit of a tussle between tables reserving coffee tables in the small garden space outside and not-knowing this, the restaurant kindly produced another table for myself and guests in order to gain some sun.  The sommelier of the three Roca Brothers (Jesse) greeted all tables outside but my impression was that all tables other than ours were local diners (also in large groups) and so FaceTime was perhaps easier with other guests of the same language.  Service throughout inside the restaurant was hospitable, but also sincere to the point of creating a very quiet environment – I felt the staff could afford to take the service a little less seriously and relax a little more as a genuine feeling.

Overall, El Celler de Can Roca is a high end dining establishment, no question. I praise the sheer efforts and skill of the kitchen, noting as above, that less of the dishes actually hit the love valves than expected.  This was hard to grade overall for a final grade, but if I break down the actual criteria of the Michelin guide, I would say that the restaurant’s quality of ingredients were at the 2-3 star level; the mastery of flavour at the 2 star level and and cooking techniques at the 3 star level; personality of the chef in the cuisine at the 2 star level; value for money extremely good and worthy of 3 stars and consistency of food the 2 star level.  Therefore, I believe it sits more in the mid 2-3 star band, with reasonable flavours but it is absolutely a class act to enjoy (if it does not take your whole calendar year to arrange gaining a seat).

Clearly the meal needed to begin with the croquettes (or croquetas in Spanish) which were two kinds: prawn and piquillo pepper.  Both were pleasant as fried bechemel in breadcrumbs always is, but fairly ordinary at the same time.  The price tag of £6 is quite hefty considering, so I am reliably informed, that ingredients wise, these cost a matter of pence to make, depending on the filling.

One of the things I was most looking forward to was the goat’s cheese and truffle pieces of toast and whilst this may have pleased most diners for its elegant look I was actually startled by how bland this was.  There was almost a non-existent level of truffle aroma from the gratings provided (truffle is mainly used for the aroma rather than the actual flavour of chewing into it) and the goat’s cheese was very flat in itself as well.  Sorry to say that this was a huge disappointment.

Iberica ham came from Cinco Jotas and was the top grade of Iberica ham one can have whereby the pigs are fed acorns and allowed to roam in free environments and gorge as opposed to being kept in cages on a conveyer belt of wheat and grain.  Salmonette (actually red mullet) came with rice whose main forte was the sauce or stock that it was served with and the pig’s trotters were an indulgent fried snack but both were agreed they were far too peppery.  Langoustines were treated with respect and just a drizzle of citrus but I have had significantly better quality specimens in my time (one example is at a nearby Japanese restaurant in Mayfair called Umu).

The oxtail was cooked well with a deep enough sauce but was overall a bit heavy on the starch with such a large amount of mash.  For a more refined quantity example, you can always look at the quail and truffled mash dish at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon).  Unusually, it was the dessert that was probably the most pleasing dish with excellent pastry and rhubarb that was toned down in acidity and actually pleasing to have in itself.  This was joined by honey and saffron ice cream which was an original ice cream flavour for me and worked well.

Overall, this was a very mixed series of dishes that and whilst it was good to be at the counter with so many chefs in front of you, the space to get around people at the bar to your seat or if you need to go to the loo is actually ridiculous.  I do not need to be carted around by four chair-bearers, but it is such a squeeze at the side of the counter that you are literally pressing shoulders with the diners to your left and right – communal and may even be what some people like, but discomfort whilst eating? Nah, sorry, not a fan.  I may pop into Sabor again in a year or two to see if anything has changed, but something tells me this may be wishful thinking.

I adore croquettes and having scoured the Basque region in Spain for their variants in their pintxos and I have to say that these ones at Paco Tapas had lovely flavour, were carefully done and the light breadcrumb coating was broken easily for the soft and gooey centre that made for extremely happy eating.  In fact, as they were that good, I had to have another portion of 2 croquettes – an absolute no brainer when they are £3.25 for the pair of beauties that they are.

I had mixed feelings on the tortilla Espanola though.  It was made with duck eggs which was nice to have a more luxurious feel and the confit onion was nicely done, but the bleeding of the egg in the centre was a surprise.  I don’t think there are any specific rules for this not exist, but the runnyness seemed to be out of place compared with the tortillas Espanolas I experienced in San Sebastian.

The Manchengo cheese and honey had to be done for only £5.50 and the honey combination was satisfying.  Quail coated in paprika, stuffed with pork and dates had a lovely char grilled and earthy exterior and was beautifully sweet inside.  The meat was succulent, juicy and of good sock.  The key here was the well done seasoning & crisp skin which made for a very pleasant experience.

Dessert came in the form in chocolate mousse with olive oil.  I am seeing this combination more and more these days as an alternative pairing to salted caramel or salt with chocolate.  It’s an interesting mix and can be done but I felt the quantity of oil on this serving was too much and became the main component which can almost be overbearing.  If I have again, I will ask the oil to be toned down, but the biscuits had a very nice crunch on the outside.

All in all, this was a lovely and relaxed place to visit and I have no doubt the other options will be very good to try.  Those of a larger and less manoeuvrable disposition may struggle a little with the high rise and small stools, but I love the easy going concept, just as per the tapas venues in Spain.  I would recommend going in just for a beer and nibbles if there are any spaces and think it very unlikely you won’t be attempted to try something else, such is the easiness of tapas.

A flight of steps to a staging bar leads another grand spiral staircase down to a large and open dining room.  Thankfully it was actually quiet on our visit as we could only do a Monday lunch but actually this sometimes works out quite nicely as the staff are around in abundance as opposed to being a struggle to track down. What was also nice to see were the bespoke touches such as the herbed butter being mixed in a pestle and mortar in front of us at the beginning of the meal for our freshly baked bread and wine from Eneko’s own vineyard which is not available anywhere else – this turned out to being rather refreshing.

All the dishes here are Basque inspired tapas dishes and there was a sense of fun in the design and notion of sharing as many as possible which adds to the casual nature of it all.  All the dishes were generally pleasing from the grilled langoustine with bacon sauce to the wonderful Talo (traditional Basque dish like a taco but rolled flat and decorated with heritage tomatoes and fresh herbs) and the absolutely explosive mushroom and cauliflower cream with egg yolk.  It was fun breaking the mushroom crisp on top to get to the bowl of ‘goodies’ and this really was knock out.  The signature hake dish was lovely to see again and was definitely pleasing but it is simply is a notch upwards when delivered from his 3 star kitchen / arsenal in terms of utter delicacy of batter crispness and sweetness of the pepper sauce in comparison.

The dessert trolly was a show in itself and all came with a pleasant and creamy ice cream (similar to an Italian gelato) but the absolute star was probably the simplest of all dishes which was the traditional Torrija.  This was a sponge soaked in vanilla cream for 48 hours and then warmed prior to serving.  I would deliberately pop back in to Eneko for this alone if I am walking anywhere near.

All in all this was a lovely, new venture to try with noticeable effort gone in to everything.  The tapas style dishes are fun with some genuine gold moments and as a whole, it came across as shy of Michelin starred level comparatively.   Eneko at One Aldwych is not trying to be a 3 Michelin starred venue and did a good job of making dining social, accessible and enjoyable to numerous different palates.

Press review.

To begin, the booth table we were placed at had virtually nowhere to put one’s legs as a strange thing to experience and this was noticed by all four diners.  Not a great deal the restaurant can do about this now, but I would say it is noteworthy if you are tall otherwise you really will not be comfortable. There is also the surprising aspect that if you wish paella, it seemed from the waitress last night that you need to order in advance of getting to the restaurant – quite an unusual approach from the restaurant as I’m not sure how any diner would be able to anticipate this and it does not appear to say so on the online menu.

The service in general did not include smiles at anytime and appeared quite stretched and out of comfort. Language barriers can always be broken through eventually but there didn’t seem to be any desire from the staff to want to break through this barrier.  It was also a little strange that the we were asked if we would like to try the wine, indicated yes and full glasses of wine were poured.  There was general sincerity in the service so the full 12.5% optional service charge was given but there was general thoughts as to whether this should be given based on the general lack of warmth, difficulty in communication and the long waiting times between courses (approx 20 minutes to gain desserts at the end).

Such was the level of strain that the staff appeared to be in for a half full evening I actually assumed this was a new opening, but on asking, it was revealed that they had been going for 4 years, so I’m not sure why there was obvious stretch in the service and hospitality on this visit. Ultimately, I believe the strength of Iberica here may be the ability to have ham and cheese outside in the Summer by the fountains with some good wine; I feel the restaurant could up its game in terms of providing the experience.

The dishes themselves were great – the ham (and cheese) croquettes being so good another round was needed and the olives having a lovely, spiced oil glazed over them.  The duck egg with breadcrumbs, artichoke and truffle was recommended and it did not dissapoint.  I was immediately taken as to how similar some dishes were to those done by Nathan Green at 22 Ships (where I think the latter had the edge) – the head chef who was present on our visit (Frankie Van Loo) was extremely busy so I didn’t ask to have a quick chat but on next visit will try and ask him on the link, but the bottom line is that it was absolutely wonderful to see the ham and cheese slices with quail egg again.

The sommelier couldn’t have been more charming and entertaining and the choices brought were a couple of highly pleasing reds.  The desserts were also very well done and they rounded off what I thought was just a wonderful way to spend a lunchtime catching up with a friend of old in such a nice way.  I thought overall the prices were reasonable – my only concern being what will happen to them when this establishment becomes less of a secret and hard to get in to so my advice is get in here whilst the prices are where they are for maximum return.

Social Tapas is a mere 5 minute walk from Bond St tube station so you are also on the door step to the splendour of Oxford St shops and I would  say this restaurant is absolutely perfect for those who need a break from Selfridges or want an elegant and almost little known ‘secret’ or gem to show a friend and catch up with them – you will not be displeased you did(!).  I have now logged this restaurant as a permanent lovely fixture venue to have up the sleeve when needed.  A cracking little place, ideal for casual yet stylish catch ups.