El Celler de Can Roca

Menu · Prices · How to Book

⁎⁎⁎

THREE MICHELIN STARS

Address: C/ de Can Sunyer, 48, 17007 Girona, Catalonia, Spain

Cost: €€€€€

Opening times: 

Mon & Sun; Closed

Tue – Sat; 12:30pm-2:30pm, 7:30pm-9:30pm

Must try dish: Feast Menu

Website: El Celler de Can Roca

This ever evolving restaurant from the three Roca brothers has twice been voted the world’s number 1. We’ll take you through the 2022 menu, prices, and how to actually make a reservation.

El Celler de Can Roca - Menu
Patio | ©EatingOutorIn

Need to know

It's finally time to visit the World Famous Restaurant

El Celler de Can Roca - Best restaurant in World
El Celler De Can Roca | ©EatingOutorIn

Almost a year after making our reservation, it was finally time to see what all the fuss was about. At the time of booking there was excitement. That fades through out the year as you forget about it. But it picked up again drastically as we got out of our taxi, walked passed the famous sign outside, through an almost pitch black alleyway that leads into a beautiful patio seating area, in front of the old brick building, and with views into the modern dining area through its glass walls.

El Celler de Can Roca - Catalonia
Xarel · lo steamed peas | ©EatingOutorIn

The restaurant is a collaboration between brothers Joan Roca (Chef), Josep Roca (Sommelier) and Jordi Roca (Pastry Chef). First opened in 1986 next to their parents restaurant in Girona, they later moved to the current location, a short distance away, in 2007.

World's 50 Best Restaurants Hall of Fame

El Celler de Can Roca has won numerous awards over the years, picking up 3 MICHELIN stars along the way. Among those awards are the World’s Best Restaurant in 2013 and 2015. And they now permanently hold a place in the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants ‘Best of the Best’. An award set up for all the previous winners that are therefore no longer entered into the competition.
El Celler de Can Roca - Menu
Terrace | ©EatingOutorIn
Our reservation was for a Wednesday evening. If I was to choose, I probably would have gone for a lunch sitting. However, to get any sitting is a success.

Feast menu or Tasting menu?

El Celler de Can Roca - Menu - Price
Feast Menu | ©EatingOutorIn
We decided to go all out, food wise, and chose the Feast menu. There’s not a huge difference in price, and it’s not every day that you’re going to be dining here. The evening starts with a complementary glass of Catalan sparkling wine.

YouTube Videos

See videos of my experience at El Celler de Can Roca and more...

El Celler de Can Roca - Menu
Welcome | ©EatingOutorIn

The menu starts by NOT starting. In which I mean, before any of the items from the Feast menu arrive, 17, yes 17, appetizers are slowly brought to your table. I’m going to show you every one of those dishes, and I’ll give you my opinion on each. So, let’s get started.

El Celler de Can Roca - Feast Menu
Escudella / truffle brioche / veal and truffle consommé | ©EatingOutorIn

The first 4 appetizers arrive together, and we’re told the order in which to consume them in. They include an “escudella” in clay oven, vegetable aspic and pickles with an escudella broth, a truffle brioche, and sitting on the spoon is Bruna cow’s fresh milk cream from Formatgeria le Xiquella with veal and truffle consommé.

El Celler de Can Roca - Feast Menu
Truffle brioche | ©EatingOutorIn

“more flavour than any I’ve had before” 

El Celler de Can Roca - Tasting Menu
Poularde cannellone | ©EatingOutorIn

The second set to arrive includes 5 food items, sitting on a piece of wood, that also tells a story of the restaurant’s history with dates.  The first date is 1986, the year the restaurant was founded. And the food is a Poularde cannellone.

El Celler de Can Roca - Feast Menu
Pork trotters carpaccio | ©EatingOutorIn
1997 is a pork trotters carpaccio, and the year they developed new cooking techniques.
El Celler de Can Roca - Feast Menu
Caesar's mushroom tartalette | ©EatingOutorIn

The Caesar’s mushroom tartalette next. 1998 – The year younger brother, and award winning pastry chef, joined the kitchen team.

El Celler de Can Roca - Feast Menu
Truffle cream, egg yolk and bacon | ©EatingOutorIn

2007 – The year the restaurant moved to it’s current location. And this time we have a truffle cream, egg yolk and bacon

El Celler de Can Roca - Tasting Menu
Truffle cream, egg yolk and bacon | ©EatingOutorIn

The final item on this board is the blue crab fritter. We were advised to eat it all in one go, as it contains liquid. The year is 2020, a time in which the menu went though an extensive change of direction.

El Celler de Can Roca - Tasting Menu
Prawn / Olivada / Spring Pickles | ©EatingOutorIn

“a surprise on the tongue, and so refreshing” 

El Celler de Can Roca - Tasting Menu
Olivada - aloreña, cordobesa, corncabra, Kalamata & verdial with piparra | ©EatingOutorIn

Three completely different spoons arrive next, containing the next 3 items. From bottom to top (the order in which they should be consumed) is a prawn marinated with rice vinegar, head juice & crispy prawn legs seaweed velouté on the wooden spoon, an Olivada, including aloreña, cordobesa, cornicabra, Kalamata & Verdial with piparra, and finally on the top spoon is spring pickles with walnut “romesco” sauce

El Celler de Can Roca - Tasting Menu
Kale with anchovy and truffle | ©EatingOutorIn

The first dish not accompanied by any others is the kale with anchovy and truffle.

El Celler de Can Roca - Catalonia
Razor clams with calçot | ©EatingOutorIn

I’ve never had the famous Catalan calçots looking this elegant before. Razor clams with calçot is up next. If you want to see what calçots usually look like then check out my article on the best calçots in Barcelona here.

El Celler de Can Roca - Catalonia
Crustacean velouté with caviar | ©EatingOutorIn

Crustacean velouté with caviar now. And, we’ve still got another 2 dishes after this one before we even start the actual Feast menu.

El Celler de Can Roca - Catalonia
Oyster with game / Foie nouget | ©EatingOutorIn

The last two before the menu for real starts arrive together. Oyster with game, Palo Cortado and truffle in an attractive white bowl, and a Foie nougat with hazelnuts and cocoa. You start with the oyster and then onto the foie. 

Bread to accompany the main courses

El Celler de Can Roca - Catalonia
Tomato bread / farmhouse bread / puffy pastry bread | ©EatingOutorIn

We’re now brought 3 different types of homemade bread before the main dishes arrive. A tomato bread with sultanas, a farmhouse brown bread and a crispy puff pastry type of bread.

The start of the Feast menu Vegetable dishes

El Celler de Can Roca - Catalonia
Vegetable surf and turf | ©EatingOutorIn

So now it’s time for the Feast menu to begin. And it opens with a vegetable surf and turf, consisting of different seaweeds, herbs and flowers.

El Celler de Can Roca - Catalonia
Xarel · lo steamed peas | ©EatingOutorIn
A real piece of theatre now. The dish steamed in front of you using a Catalan white wine. The dish in question is Xarel · lo steamed peas with pistachio pesto, citrus gel, Montseny wasabi sprouts, pea sprouts and Montseny wasabi oil.

“the flavour is enticing” 

El Celler de Can Roca - Catalonia
Swiss chard with Iberian fat emulsion | ©EatingOutorIn

Beautifully presented is the Swiss chard with Iberian fat emulsion.  Swiss chard is a leafy green vegetable. Here they’ve compressed them into three cubes and created a pickle and a sauce for each. Amontillado sherry, candied garlic and l’Escala anchovy. 

El Celler de Can Roca - Catalonia
Grinfola frondosa with chesnut | ©EatingOutorIn

Grinfola frondosa, known as the dancing mushroom in Japan, is a type of fungi that grows at the bottom of trees. Here it is accompanied with chestnut, onion and clove consommé, yuzu puree, pine vinegar gel, orange, grapefruit and lime wedges, grilled chestnut, soy sauce and more mushrooms. 

El Celler de Can Roca - Catalonia
Celeriac and pear | ©EatingOutorIn

Next up is the celeriac and pear, with a smoked celeriac purée, caramelized cream, roasted celeriac broth, crunchy celeriac sprouts, tarragon, coffee, pickled celery, pickled rhubarb, candied anise and some sherry vinegar. What is celeriac? It comes from the same plant as celery, grown for the edible root.

El Celler de Can Roca - Catalonia
Beetroot tartare | ©EatingOutorIn

Beetroot tartare, prepared in 5 different ways. Including a smoked tartare, with walnut milk, a stalk tarte and a chutney (the yellow one).

El Celler de Can Roca - Girona
Candied atichoke heart | ©EatingOutorIn

A revered vegetable in Catalonia, here we have the candied artichoke heart, with artichoke vermouth sauce, mustard sauce, beurre noisette sauce, oloroso emulsion and artichoke petals. 

The start of the Feast menu Seafood dishes

El Celler de Can Roca - Girona
Pickeld sea urchin | ©EatingOutorIn

We enter a seafood journey starting with Pickled sea urchin. It’s joined by potato and ‘tan’ purée, pickled egg plant seeds, charcoal-grilled sweet potato, bottarga, Ibarra chilli pepper seeds, coriander purée, saffron “allioli”, red seaweed, sea grape seaweed, vinegar jelly, lemon zest and nasturtium flowers. 

El Celler de Can Roca - Girona
Langoustine with sagebrush, vanilla oil and toasted butter | ©EatingOutorIn

We continue the main course seafood journey with a langoustine with sagebrush plant, vanilla oil and toasted butter. The langoustine, also known as the Norway lobster or large prawn is one of the most important crustaceans in Europe. 

“decent size, meaty and succulent” 

El Celler de Can Roca - Girona
Turbot 3 ways | ©EatingOutorIn

We conclude the seafood dishes with turbot prepared in three different ways.  Top right in the photo above is the charcoal-grilled turbot fins with a pilpil of oxalis flower. Bottom centre is the turbot carpaccio with grapefruit and black olive tartar. And finally top left is the turbot supreme confit with garlic oil.

The start of the Feast menu Meat dishes

El Celler de Can Roca - Girona
Lamb 5 ways | ©EatingOutorIn

We start the meats with lamb cooked 5 different ways.  Each comes with it’s own mini side dish. From top to bottom we have Suckling lamb stew with couscous of celery, basil and cardamom. Next is the suckling lamb sweetbreads with capers in sherry vinegar and couscous of celeriac, mint and liquorice. Third is pickled suckling lamb trotters and brains with couscous cauliflower and aniseed. Then suckling lamb belly in its juice with couscous of apple, tarragon and cinnamon. Finally, sautéed lamb loin in it’s juice and couscous of cucumber, fennel and pink pepper

El Celler de Can Roca - Girona
Poularde Pithivier | ©EatingOutorIn

The last main course of the evening is this delightful poularde pithivier with truffle and fresh herb sauceA poularde is a type of chicken over 120 days old which has never laid eggs. This creates a softer and more refined and rich taste. And the pithivier is a French method of creating a round type of pastry pie, with fillings such as meat or vegetables. 

The start of the Feast menu Desserts

El Celler de Can Roca - Dessert
Rainforest | ©EatingOutorIn
El Celler de Can Roca - Dessert
Rainforest | ©EatingOutorIn

To start the desserts we have the Rain forest. A cloud is created from distilled mushrooms and positioned over the dish, resulting in droplets to fall on the black trumpet ice-cream with pine honey, black trumpet, dust and pine dust and crunchy leaves of cocoa and pine dust below. Creating an atmosphere similar to a damp forest in the morning. Jordi Roca, the pastry chef, was inspired by his morning walks with his dog. 

El Celler de Can Roca - Menu
Ball Pool | ©EatingOutorIn
El Celler de Can Roca - Menu
Ball Pool | ©EatingOutorIn

More fun now with this ball pool dessert from the younger brother Jordi Roca. Crack open the ball of hand-blown sugar to get to the multicoloured ice-cream balls inside. The filling includes cream of roses, lychee, caramel sphere with caramelized apple and 11 types of ice-cream. The ice-cream balls are mint, basil, fennel, passion fruit, raspberry, coconut, blueberries, apricot, guava, lime and blackberry.

El Celler de Can Roca - Menu
Vanilla cream with creamy walnut praline | ©EatingOutorIn

To end the Feast menu we are served a vanilla cream with walnut praline. The other ingredients include tobacco gelée, green orange, caramelized walnuts with spices & spiced sponge cake, and toasted butter ice-cream.

El Celler de Can Roca - Menu
Dessert trolley | ©EatingOutorIn
El Celler de Can Roca - Menu
Petit Fours | ©EatingOutorIn

The menu may be over, but there’s more to come. The famous Can Roca dessert trolley, with all it’s Petit Fours, is wheeled to every table at the end of the meal. We were given 10 different petit fours to enjoy with our coffee. They included mini oreo cookies, chocolate cookies pineapple squares with coconut, chocolate nuts and the Ferrero Rocher style hazelnut chocolate gold balls.

Summary

In conclusion, the whole experience was well worth the almost 1 year wait. The food is creative and innovative. I also loved the venue itself, the way every table is spaced out from the others, creating your own little environment to enjoy the whole culinary adventure. We learnt there are 60 members of staff in the kitchen, 30 per shift. The service is outstanding, both friendly and formal. You’re made to feel very welcome. We saw two of the brothers during the evening. Josep Roca visited each table at the start to say hello and posed for photos with some customers. Pastry chef Jordi Roca was at reception as we left. A great end to a truly enjoyable evening. 

More from the Roca Brothers

Rocambolesc - Girona - Roca Brothers
Rocambolesc Gelateria - Girona | ©EatingOutorIn
Eiffel Bridge - Girona | ©EatingOutorIn

As well as one of the best fine dining restaurants in the world, the Roca brothers also have other establishments in Girona, Barcelona and as far a field as Madrid. 

Rocabolesc Girona
Rocambolesc Gelateria - Girona | ©EatingOutorIn

Very close to the famous Eiffel Bridge in Girona is the location for their first and fun ice-cream shop Rocambolesc. You’ll find a wonderful variety of creative ice creams and chocolates.

Casa Cacao - Girona - Roca Brothers
Casa Cacao - Girona | ©EatingOutorIn

A short walk away form Rocambolesc is Casa Cacao. An upmarket boutique hotel opposite the river with a beautiful roof terrace and chocolate workshop on the ground floor.

Bar Cacao - Girona - Roca Brothers
Bar Cacao - Girona | ©EatingOutorIn
Bar Cacoa
Bar Cacao - Girona | ©EatingOutorIn

Next door to Casa Cacao is Bar Cacao. A cafe and coffee shop that serves savoury and sweet delights and great coffee.

Las Ramblas | Barcelona

Rocambolesc - Las Ramblas - Barcelona
Rocabolesc - Las Ramblas - Barcelona | ©EatingOutorIn

If you want to try one of their famous desserts, but can’t make it out to Girona, don’t fret. There is a Rocabolesc ice-cream shop on Las Ramblas in the centre of Barcelona. They have the same creative confectionaries as in the Girona store, like the ice lolly nose and the golden hand. As well as boxes of chocolates, chocolate bars, and something called a panet. A panet is ice-cream and toppings in a brioche style pastry, which is then compressed and heated in a special machine. It’s hot, cold, and absolutely delicious.

Sant Miguel Market | Madrid

Rocambolesc - Madrid
Rocabolesc - Madrid | ©EatingOutorIn
Rocambolesc - Madrid
Panet | ©EatingOutorIn
Rocambolesc - Madrid
Rocambolesc - Madrid | ©EatingOutorIn

And if you’re in Madrid, the Roca brothers also have you covered. In the famous foodie market San Miguel, in the centre of the city is where you’ll find this Rocabolesc outpost. It’s actually at this location that I tried my first panet

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