Food: innovative
Address: Carrer Nou 10, 08395 Sant Pol de Mar, Spain
Phone Number: +34 93 760 06 62
Website: https://www.ruscalleda.cat
Guide Michelin: 3 stars
What I paid: 250 € (tasting menu per person, including water and wine)
Visited: September 29, 2017

Sant Pau is a transformed seafront townhouse in Sant Pol de Mar, about 50 km north of Barcelona. Personally, I arrived by car, but it is supposedly a very enjoyable and beautiful train ride from Barcelona (the train stops just outside the restaurant).

Chef Carme Ruscadella is a well-known name in Spain, with several multi-starred Michelin restaurants to her credit, and the 3-stars Sant Pau is considered her top one.

There are two dining rooms and we were placed in the one closest to the garden, overlooking the Mediterranean (where we ended our dinner with petits fours and coffee). Our room was light and pleasant, with generously spaced, large tables.

Dishes and menus change with the seasons. On our visit, they had just changed the menu and this what we had:

THE WORLD OF SPICES

Snack (no real amuse-bouche was this dinner)

1. MUSTARD
   Tuna tartar, wakamé, vegetables and potato chips

MUSTARD

2. GOCHUTGARU
   Vegetable kimchi, pear, dewlap, bean sprouts

GOCHUTGARU

3. CLOVE
   Onion soup sauce, cheese bonbon, creamy air

CLOVE – onion soup

4. GINGER
   Marinated and fried squid, vegetable leche de tigre and pineapple

GINGER

5. CORIANDER SEEDS
   Labneh, black bread soup, aubergine, walnuts, pomegranate

CORIANDER SEEDS

Black bread soup

6. SAFFRON
   Gamba tails, tomalley sauce, celeriac

SAFFRON

7. NYORA
   Wagyu veal from Burgos, spinach, vegetable broth, romesco

NYORA

Wagyu veal from Burgos, spinach, vegetable broth, romesco

8. WHITE PEPPER
   Turbot, raw artichokes, mushrooms and vegetables

WHITE PEPPER

9. JUNIPER
   Retinto “a la royal “, sweet potato and turnip cream, cake crumbs, gin

JUNIPER

10. SHICHIMI TOGARASHI
    Maresme goat cheese crafted exclusively for Sant Pau, vegetables, roasted fig seasoning

SHICHIMI TOGARASHI

11. BLACK LEMON
    Orange, lime, lemon

BLACK LEMON

12. PINK PEPPER
    Pear ice cream, wine, red fruits

PINK PEPPER

13. RAS EL HANOUT​
    Spiced sponge, pistachio and grué cocoa ice cream

RAS EL HANOUT​

Stradivarius (bonus dessert)

Stradivarius

PETITS FOURS – THE WORLD OF SPICES

We opted for the garden on the topics of the final part of the dinner; Petits Fours.

Sant Pau garden

Sant Pau garden

We opted for the garden on the topics of the final part of the dinner; Petits Fours.

Petits Fours inside the box

The box contained the following Petit Fours:

CARDAMOM mini meringue

CINNAMON BERRY mini mimetic cut with almonds

CURRY mini bonbon

SANCHO PEPPER chocolate nougat cube

KAFFIR LIME  marshmallow

MASSIS mimetic bonbon

PÓLVORES DE DUC financier

STAR ANISE mimetic bonbon

In summary:

As mentioned, Sant Pau had just changed their tasting menu to a complete new one, when we had or dinner there. Unfortunately, this was not to our advantage, though many dishes (read: too many) were not “settled” or balanced. After my dinner, this evening, I had visited all 3-stars (Guide Michelin) restaurant in Spain and I consider Sant Pau the least favorable.

What I have read, Sant Pau can arguable perform much better than this. One proof of this, given the fact that the restaurant understood that we were not so happy with what we had; we were given a bonus dish from the previous menu. This (bonus) chocolate dessert (called “Stradivarius”) were probable the highlight of this dinner.