Cinc Sentits, Barcelona – figs, tomatoes & nou

Hola! desde Barcelona! meaning hello from Barcelona (google translate for the win!) Ha! Ha! I see the eye roll! It is my first time here and your girl is hella excited!  We have only been here for 24 hours and I am loving it! The weather is fantastic- sunny but not too hot and the hotel? Ohhh it is freaking gorgeous. We have spent the last 24 hours taking in our immediate surroundings, having gin and tonics (served in very large glasses) and enjoyed a very traditional paella dinner. Oh yeah, Tim was also murdered by Neal. Who? What? Why? Let me start from the beginning yes? Tim is my sister’s colleague at work who happens to be leaving and moving on to another job.  As part of the leaving gift, my sister and her work mates are creating a collage of Tim’s life – all the shenanigans Tim has been up to. My sister offered to take Tim (a cut-out picture of him) on holiday and I somehow got roped into taking him on my mini city break. But, Tim is dead. Murdered by Neal. How did this happen? Clearly, Neal is the jealous type and Tim didn’t stand a chance.  They seemed to get on fine during cock tail hour but by dinner, Tim had what Neal claims to be an ‘accident’? Tim had a fall, slipped between the floorboards of the restaurant, his now final resting place.  So yeah, we have had an interesting 24 hours!

Neal was very secretive about where we were having lunch. All he said was “reservation at 1:30pm, don’t have too much at breakfast”. We hop into a cab and arrived at our destination. Nothing on the outside of the building gives an indication of how amazing an experience it is to eat here! The restaurant had less than 10 tables, with white crisp linen table cloths and spotlights. It was all clean lines, earthy wood textures, no fuss and effortlessly stylish which I loved! Everything else was darkly lit, so walking in, you immediately focus on the table. Let’s just say, if intimacy and focus was aim, they got that down in spades!  Our table for 2 could have easily fit 4, the menus were rolled up and placed on a stand that lit up. Beneath was a welcome note from both the Head chef Jordi and Amelia Artal, who is the Maitre d’. The food course menu consisted of taster menus – 4, 6 or 12 (there is no option for a la carte), the wine list offered a variety of wines (classic and rare). It was such a genius way to present a menu as well as the optimal use of table space

We tried the 12-course taster menu and Oh My Days!!!! like Dayummm… Our welcome course was a shot (in a shot glass) of maple syrup, cream, cava sabayon and sea salt! And Salud aka cheers!!! Pica Pica was our second course and it was an ode to a pre-lunch ritual in Barcelona where a variety of snack-like dishes are served. We had baby clams, grilled cocoa bread with Iberian jamon, potato chips with brava sauce and allioli, rosemary smoked anchovy with roasted pepper and marinated olives in olive gel. A fine way to start the meal, if I may say so myself.

The tomato course was the most surprising, unpretentious, and yet simple thing I have eaten. It literally was tomatoes but pimped out, you know? These were chunky tomato pieces, served with fried caper, pickled onion and basil. Yep, that is it! it was paired with cava, specifically, castellroig brut xarel-lo vermell, d.o cava! see pimped up! This cava on its own tasted slightly bitter but when had with the tomatoes, turned into a frizzy delight! The peach undertones of the wine reduced the bitterness; tomatoes and cava? Who knew? The foie gras came with caramelised sugar shell, braised leeks and chives. I don’t know about you, usually foie gras is pan fried or a pate! The wine that accompanied it though? the most delicious wine called NOU, their house wine. I am at a loss on how to accurately describe the taste. It was not only sweet, but it was sweetly delicious and perfect with the foie gras. Chef Jordie’s spin on what line-caught Mediterranean fish was superb; it was smoked fish broth, potato, onion & atsina that tasted so fresh! Pairing this with Reto 2015, d.o. manchuela really intensified the ‘fresh’ flavour. Equally refreshing was our shrimp course – shrimps in citrus and sherry (yes, sherry!) butter sauce served with muscat! I was like yasss! my 2 favourite things – sea food and muscat! I didn’t (and still don’t) really know much about the common fig, or shall I say fig – which is a flowering plant. I somehow associate it to be ‘autumnal’ or ‘festive’ and that’s about it. However, if figs are made like they do it here – fresh ice, compote, fresh goat cheese? BRING IT ON! might sound simple enough, trust me there was nothing simple about the sensation of texture and flavour on your palate.

Deserts started with Peach, which was honey ice cream, spiced crumbs and warm chocolate; insert *sigh*, what can I say, Chef Jordi gets me!  The wine interestingly, was not the typical desert (sweet) wine, instead, it was more like white wine-sauvignon blanc; and it worked just fine! Just when we thought we could not possibly have any more, we were presented with ‘final temptations’, a selection of savories and yep, I don’t need to say more. It was LUSH! You know we had to also try the cheese selection cos we extra!

Every dish was executed to perfection, the wine(s) pairing was the perfect accompaniment. Massive S/O to Amelia, you lady, are a sommelier of incredible taste. Head Chef Jordie and his team create food that not only excites but ignites all your five senses, like, LITERALLY! The attention to detail from the moment you walk in, the staff and then the food, let’s you know you are in for a meal of a life time! As an FYI, chef Jordi is self-taught, yes, people, SELF-TAUGHT! HE is a BOSS!

Salud

Ndidi

p.s. The NOU house wine made exclusively for the restaurant, meaning, it can’t not be found anywhere in the world. You know we had to cheekily ask for a bottle be sold and I was pleasantly surprised when they obliged! I literally did a happy dance. This bottle of deliciousness is coming home with me! Yay!