Roman F.
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Salou isn't the most obvious location for a Michelin-starred restaurant, particularly one as eccentric as Deliranto turned out to be. So, when we were booking our recent holiday to the Catalan resort and discovered that this restaurant existed we were delighted to be able to book a visit. In these Covid-infested times we had no idea how the experience would turn out. We need not have worried.
Upon our arrival it was clear that some things were a little bit different because of Covid. Our first stop was the hand sanitiser station for example. Though we didn't have to wear masks, all the serving staff did, and the tables were very well spaced out to allow social distancing. These were all small prices to pay however for the experience that awaited us.
Menus at Deliranto are based around a story, and during our visit it was the fable of Orpheus, and how he, Neo and Trinity freed humanity from The Matr....oh, sorry, Orpheus. Anyway, the whole menu was based around this theme, including some of the utensils (plates just doesn't do them justice) on which the various courses are served on.
There were two menus to choose from, of which we opted for the long. It's hard to say exactly how many courses this actually contained because there was so much food it all became a blur. There were also a choice of two wine flights, of which we plumped for the smaller, which contained five glasses. This differed from wine flights I've had before in a couple of ways: Firstly, if you finished your glass the waiter topped it up for you. Secondly, we were given the choice between red and white wines on a couple of occasions. Each of the wines were delicious, many of them local and with the aperitif before our meal and the sake served with one of the courses there was plenty enough to be going along with!
So, on to the food. There was a lot of food. It was very good food, ranging from good to great to exceptional. Starting with olives which weren't olives but were actually ricotta and jalapeno and tomato and balsamic spheres respectively. Ending with a refreshing lychee dessert and taking in all manners of wonders in between.
A book containing delicious soups. A treasure chest of the most perfect squid I've ever tasted. A cube of curried lamb. A 'carbonara' with ribbons of daikon instead of pasta. Wagyu beef with a coffee sphere served on a boat with a mini souffle. A quenelle of beef tartare designed to be split in two and made into DIY beef wellington and steak tartare. A cube of lamb with curry sauce. A dessert of rose and pistachio. On and on it went. I could barely manage the last slab of 'fish of the day' and forwent an after dinner coffee as I didn't think I could manage the petit fours. They served us them anyway. With the menu being in Spanish and Google Translate being of limited use (what, exactly is 'Pig and Pig of Pig?) it was often hard to know how far we'd actually got.
Service was excellent throughout. Our main waitress and sommelier both did a fantastic job explaining the food, wines and stories, in spite of the language barrier and wearing muffling face masks. At one point everyone ate the same dish, accompanied by a speech from one of the waiters and playing of the Can Can, which is from the Offenbach opera of Orpheus. Bonkers.
This wasn't just a meal, it was a story, a performance. It wasn't a cheap one but it was certainly memorable and I'd urge anyone who likes fine dining and is in Salou to give it a whirl. You won't regret it and you'll never, ever forget it.
