This high traffic tapas restaurant was right around the corner from our hotel, so Jamie W and I knew it was just a matter of time before we tried it. Just too damn convenient and relatively popular. We stopped by just as they opened, and the hostess seemed quite perturbed we didn't have a reservation. She gave us a table in a high traffic area where people kept grazing us as they walked by.
There was a lot to consider on their menu, and we were unsurprisingly pretty famished. We started with the 8€ Amanida and Mozzarella, a nice salad starter with cherry tomatoes, walnuts, radicchio, and pesto (photo: https://yelp.to/tdL5BOfB6Q). The 3€ Coca Bread with Tomato and Virgin Olive Oil came soon after providing a nice complement to the salad, four toasted wedges with a roasted tomato spread (photo: https://yelp.to/uYWYbMfkZT).
Making more of a statement, the 8,50€ Roasted Meat Cannelloni consisted of one tubular piece of pasta overlaid heavily with melted cheese (photo: https://yelp.to/2oPIwMaN-y). The 6,50€ Grilled Green Asparagus with Romesco Sauce came as something of a relief after all that cheese (photo: https://yelp.to/t0ki4f4Mz0). Our last two plates were the most satisfying starting with the 10,50€ Grilled Squid ladled liberally with pesto (photo: https://yelp.to/Fv4PZXYV1d).
The 14,50€ Oxtail Stew was the richest dish of the night with a velvety sauce covering big, tender chunks of beef (photo: https://yelp.to/CYqCtEr213). By the time we finished our dinner, the place was packed, though it was primarily groups of what I presumed were work colleagues debriefing after their various meetings in local offices. Jamie and I were just tourists on our way to see the light show at Casa Mila.
FOOD - 4 stars...solid tapas as expected
AMBIANCE - 3 stars...bustling and somewhat overcrowded
SERVICE - 3.5 stars...efficient enough, not that personable
TOTAL - 4 stars...I'd make a reservation if I were you
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