July 24 (Bloomberg) -- It's difficult to decide which of the 40 courses at El Bulli was strangest, though the gin-fizz aperitif surely set the tone. The froth on the icy drink was hot and thick.

Then there's the hare dish, where the meat doesn't show up on your plate in familiar form. It exists solely in gravy. And the Gold Egg, whose shell crunches convincingly when you pop it in your mouth, but it's caramel. Beetroot is a sweet macaroon, pine-nut shell an iced concoction that dissolves in your fingers.

El Bulli doesn't just play with your expectations. It turns them upside down and gives them a kick, then caresses them, so you're not entirely sure if you are having a great meal or being used in psychological experiments. If bunny rabbits ate at El Bulli, animal-rights demonstrators would picket the place.

This establishment, on the coast two hours from Barcelona, is the world's best restaurant, according to Restaurant magazine. It's only open for 26 weeks a year and doesn't serve lunch. Fifty chefs labor all day to feed 50 customers. For the rest of the year, chef- owner Ferran Adria and his team labor in a laboratory devising new concoctions. The entire menu changes every year.

Each of the 15 tables is served a unique menu. As many as half a million people pursue fewer than 8,000 places. The 2007 season was sold out months ago. I got a table because I was interviewing Adria, 45, and that took months to arrange.

I spent an entire afternoon at El Bulli, and was unable to dine anonymously as I usually do, so I can't be sure my experiences will be yours if you ever get there. The level of service was outstanding, and the restaurant, with its sea views, beamed ceilings and white stucco walls, is as pretty as they come.

Year Zero

The attention to detail in the preparation and presentation of the food is staggering. The plates -- many of them undulating steel -- are as eye-catching as the food. The waiting staff -- good- looking to the man and woman -- is dressed in black, Khmer-style trouser suits. At El Bulli, it's Year Zero for fine dining.

My guest and I arrived at 8:15 p.m. and were seated side by side, where we could observe the staff and our fellow customers: a French couple to our left, four Spanish men ahead and two smartly dressed women across the room. Mobile phones were much in evidence as diners snapped everything that was placed before them.

After the gin fizz -- all of these terms really deserve inverted commas -- we had olives whose skins dissolved and released an olive juice. Then there was the most fragile of candied mango leaves. Corn bread came wafer-thin with a dusting of banana powder. Edible paper, studded with brightly colored flowers, was like space dust and chili, popping hotly in the mouth.

Parmesan Air Bag

Still hungry? A polystyrene box you might get in-flight comes with an El Bulliair sticker and contains parmesan air, a cheesy froth. There's muesli on the side. Padron ravioli is pimientos de Padron disguised as Italian. Gnocchi of polenta with toffee melts in your mouth. Many of the dishes are frozen or frothed or so delicate you are advised to consume them whole, without a bite.

After 35 courses or so of this, we moved to an outside table overlooking the sea to enjoy desserts such as a kind of cotton candy; raspberries that dissolve on contact with a spoon; and various tuiles. If I'm sounding a little vague, it's because the meal lasted almost five hours and the brief descriptions of each dish on the menu -- for example, tiger nut milk flours; virgin oil olive spring -- don't help when there is so much to remember.

Prices are reasonable for this three-Michelin-star venue. The menu is 185 euros ($256) a person and the 150-page wine list is a joy. There are six pages devoted just to champagne and the prices are low. Of course, you can go for top-end options such as Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1982 (at 1,200 euros) but there are many pages of wines costing less than 50 euros a bottle. The sommelier was as charming as everyone else and said a lot of customers just stick to champagne for the whole meal.

Adria's Art

I am a huge admirer of Adria, possibly the most influential living chef. You can go to eateries in almost any part of the world and spot his ideas on the plate. He's like a contemporary artist whose works tell you more about art than about the world. When Damien Hirst cuts a cow in half, his focus is art not cows; when Adria turns ham into a mousse, it's about the nature of food and the experience of eating, not pigs.

The cooking at El Bulli is pioneering. It combines vision with technical brilliance, trickery with integrity, challenge with charm. Would I want this sort of food every day? Certainly not. Forty dishes were more than enough. If Adria is a culinary magician, simplicity can also be magic.

El Bulli is a fabulous experience, but not one to repeat in a hurry.

El Bulli, Cala Montjoi, Ap. 30 17480, Roses, Girona, Spain. Tel. +34-972-150457 or click on http://www.elbulli.com/.

The Bloomberg Questions

Cost? The tasting menu is 185 euros.

Sound level? Reverential.

Private room? No.

Inside tip? If you've got a booking, you don't need my tip.

Special feature? Where to start?

Date place? Oh yes.

Will I be back? I'm 500,001 on the list.

(Richard Vines is London food critic for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer of this review: Richard Vines in London at rvines@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 24, 2007 01:45 EDT