I’m sure you’ve heard about Matt Preston, one of our most international gastro critics. He is , and now he has become even more popular and controversial now that he is one of the main judges on TV’s Master Chef Australia.

A few weeks ago Preston decided to find out for himself whether the top five restaurants in the world were really worth the money. When I read about it, I was really amazed to find out that three of the top five restaurants in the world were Spanish!

El Bulli has been voted the best restaurant in the world four years in a row and despite Preston’s skepticism when it comes to elite chefs, he said that Ferran Adria, el Bulli’s chef could be “a sort of Mozart of the kitchen”. I think maybe he was really impressed with the food.

He also had wonderful things to say about the other two Spanish restaurants El Celler de Can Roca and Mugaritz. It’s wonderful to see them right alongside the famous Noma and the Fat Duck.

I was really curious about the food he tried. As a teaser and just to awaken your appetite, amongst the 39 snack-sized dishes he tried at el Bulli he had one that has “tall sheets of gossamer-thin pineapple wafer studded with black olive” and at Celler’s he had “five gel-like splotches of green olive, fennel, orange, bergamot and pine-nut purée” I’m sure they were as exciting and delicious as they sound.

We can all dream about having such creative dishes that use innovative ingredients and methods of preparation, but I am wondering, out of all the Spanish restaurants here in Australia, which one is your favorite?