Can Solé is a good sized place with two dining rooms downstairs and additional dining upstairs. I didn’t go up to see the size of the room upstairs but a lot of people headed up there. In fact the place was full; I overheard several walk-ins get turned away – so do get a reservation. This place dates back to 1903 and still has the feel of a family run operation-which a wall of photos attests to. Not all the staff were fluent in English but we had no trouble communicating and their enthusiasm for the dishes made it easy to make selections.
Tables are set with nice linens and a dish of tasty olives and garlic for you to munch on as you study the large menu.
We started with a classic dish of baked squid and tomato sauce. The sauce was outstanding and packed a sweet, intense and rich flavor into every bite of the tender pieces of squid. It was a real plate licker and luckily they supplied a nice house bread to mop up all that goodness.
We overheard the table next to us talking about artichokes and asked out waiter, who gave us a sly smile and said, “of course.” Wow describes this dish. Perfectly fried slices of artichoke were liberally covered with slices of foie gras. It doesn’t get any better than this. I could have gorged on either component but together they were out of this world. What a brilliant combination and taste treat.
Next was rice broth and seafood. Kind of like a paella but much juicier, it was piled with langoustine, clams, squid, fish and mussels – that I could pick out. The rice was perfectly cooked and so were all the shellfish and all were surrounded by an amazing broth. Honestly just the rice and broth could have made the dish. A bit of work to get the meat bits but they nicely brought a wet wipe for us to clean up afterwards.
For dessert I wanted to know what the waiter recommended and he picked the Crema Catalan custard with caramelized topping, which was excellent. A nice thick sugary topping and perfectly smooth custard underneath with strong tastes of vanilla. Wonderful! The other we tried was a Praline bisque ice cream with caramelized almonds. It was whippy, light and had a lovely nutty, creamy taste and texture. Another winner and perfect ending for a delightful meal.
