Le point fort – et pas des moindres – de ce restaurant qui marche du tonnerre, toujours bondé de la crème de la société d’Alicante et de gourmets venus savourer l’endroit, a toujours été les fruits de mer et les riz. Gambas, langoustines, langoustes, pouces-pieds, murex, palourdes, huîtres, étrilles, araignées de mer… tous sont excellents. N’hésitez pas à admirer la somptueuse exposition située à l’entrée du restaurant ! Inutile de dire que La Sirena est l’une des meilleures maisons de fruits de mer espagnoles.

As we have been saying recently, “Pepe Solla is bettering himself day by day”. The meals he serves are more and more splendid, and this opinion is shared by the great majority of gourmets who come along. This increasing quality confirms the professional and personal maturity of the chef, whose confidence appears through the dishes. Intelligent en sensitive proposals that attempt to make the guest happy, quite simply. Compositions that are seasoned with the right sensory and intellectual incentives in order to be distinctively original and, above all, especially exquisite. The results are frankly fantastic. The satisfaction and, let’s repeat it, the reflexive imagination of the dishes create a real admiration. None of the proposals from the menu could be considered as eccentricities, even by the most traditionalist guest. Sensibility and solidity. And a lot of personality. This is what you can find in this clearly distinct evolutionary style. Every recipe hides a good deal of substance and splendour.
The generosity of efforts is palpable the whole way through, from appetizers to chocolates. The stream of little bites was delicious: olive oil “butter”, cappuccino, gin tonic, bread with anchovies pâté, octopus with potato and paprika cream … invite gluttony. In this atmosphere appears an immaculate delight brimming with subtle nuances: an outstanding scallop, macerated for 12 hours in oil together with citrus peels and ginger, that seemed to be half raw, lain on lettuce juice with minced macadamia nut and sprouts; tremendous. Purity and complexity could not be combined any better. This balance between naturality and diversity is also present in the baby squid tagliatelle served with seaweed, sesame oil and some spicy touch. The prawn croquette is all inspiration: a tail marinated in curry oil is hidden in an ethereal and delicate béchamel foam that is garnished with golden bread powder. 10/10 products, 10/10 doneness and 10/10 accompaniments: this is the way to describe the grouper, proposed on a black olives sauce with millet couscous and young garlic. The lamprey with red wine is another demonstration of the chef’s potential and nobility: exquisite fish, utterly fat and gelatinous, served with a velvety and excellent sauce that deserves a golden spoon. And so go joyful scenes on and on, until getting to the carnival cacheira (pork’s head), lain on chickpea broth with chickpeas, spinach and Basmati rice; its majesty the fat.
His style, very clearly defined, also appears through other appetizers and constructions. The Bloody Mary, the olive with anchovies and the chestnut cappuccino with Ras el Hanout –three appetizers inspired by Ferran Adrià’s concepts and techniques– are really fascinating, anthological. He alternates the prawn croquette with a mussel croquette: different seafood, but identical format. The marinated scallop, almost raw, with sesame and creamy and crunchy rice vermicelli, is another version of the previous proposal, but with some oriental hints that also characterize other recipes. The sauces are usually translucent broths, such as the fish soup infused in lemon grass and ginger, exuberantly perfumed, served with small pieces of lobster swimming in the liquid that are heated by the temperature of the consommé. If you want passion for soft doneness, for liquid sauces and for absolute cleanliness, taste the (horse) mackerel in citric stew. The sea bass served on the bottom of the sea (seaweed and salicornia) is another example of the unswerving way set out by Pepe and of the exquisite taste that distinguishes him. In short, Solla’s constructions have got more added value than ever.

Jean Chauvel est un jeune enthousiaste qui élabore des plats amusants regorgeant de passion. Chaque construction recèle un effort de titan, tant sur le plan de l’intellect que de l’exécution, à en juger par l’infinité d’éléments qu’il étale sur l’assiette. Des recettes surchargées, voire excessives, qui requièrent la complicité du convive, condamné à de pénibles efforts pour s’y retrouver parmi tout le contenu proposé.

Due to his multiple activities, including television programmes, among others, Carlo Cracco decided to hand the daily management of the restaurant to Matteo Baronetto, a young and acclaimed chef he also shares the creative tasks with, which remains as infinite as usual. Fantasy abounds, although three coexisting trends are reflected through the three tasting menus: tradition, innovation and historical classics of the house. The latter is our favourite, as it is composed of about ten famous dishes that have been consecrated by time and customers and that are still in after reaching a milestone. In fact, everything is evolutionary or avant-garde, here, because the traditional recipes are originally reinvented, but respecting the spirit they were created with. We are before a new era of Cracco’s restaurant.
In what way have the constructions changed? They all reflect a distinctive personal identity as well as Matteo’s pertinent and original ideas. Like the minimalist appetizer which consists of rose petals with sugar, tuna roe and mustard leaves; delicacy, freshness, sweetness, florality, contrasts and, of course, genius. Then comes another essential and as moving bite, full of remote flavours: caviar served in two slices of green tea. Like the utterly natural –like no others, really– pieces of sea bream, 7-millimeter thick, raw and lukewarm, lain over a biscuit of sugar and toasted almonds that transmits its heat to the inferior side of the fish and gives a taste of dried fruit oil, of nocciole (hazelnuts) from the Piedmont region –Carlo Cracco and Matteo Baronetto’s homeland–, and is garnished with some anise flowers. Who gives more with less? Like the marinière mussels, steamed, filled with tomato and served on their shells; a real taste of sea, seaweed and ink. Like the immaculate raw scallops, seasoned with some drops of anchovy oil, and served on their shell, covered with green asparagus foam. Like the young almonds with almonds curd and capers; another great and very pure demonstration of boldness, which definitively marks the chef’s style. Like the clairvoyant composition of cod tripe and juice with rabbit threads and salmon roe; a display of exquisiteness, sapid and tactile counterpoints. Like this combination of wood aromas and show which requires the guest’s complicity: grilled red prawns brought on the table so that the guest can cook them the way he/she wants and add his/her favourite touch of yoghurt or coriander sauce. Like the new risotto. Regarding risottos, Cracco is the unquestionable boss, because he is able to keep the identity of the rice, to cook it uniformly, al dente but not raw at all, with a consistency that perfectly matches with the creaminess of the sauce, always full of contrasts, which softens the rice and which, in this case, is sprinkled with some black powder of cuttlefish and marrow. If you sit at a table in this restaurant, you frankly must taste one or two risottos (see below). Like the insolent version of the cotoletta a la milanesa 2012, with raw meat and the breadcrumbs served as an accompaniment; a play that might still need some improvement.
Only a dozen of brilliant dishes that have been consecrated through the years remain on the menu: the very perfect risotto alla milanese, with saffron and grilled marrow; the even more provocative and clairvoyant risotto with electrifying hints of anchovies, lemon and cocoa; the contrasted spaghetti with sea urchins and coffee; the amazing and magical burnt cream with olive oil and murex; the magical egg yolk marinated with some light Parmesan cream; the delicious spit-roasted pigeon breast with cabbage and assortment of fruit and vegetables; and the colossal filleted veal kidneys with sea urchins and white foam.
In short, fertile creativity expressed at its highest.