This place is truly special. Got lucky and scored seats at the bar without a reservation on a Saturday. It was a bit hard to get a second drink order, because the place was packed and the bartender was serving many guests so we didn't mind but noticed it. We knew the place was great walking in and the food was above our expectations. Great wine selection also.

Ron C.

A few blocks off of the main road, La Rambla, we found our reservation for this wonderful restaurant. We loved everything from the wine recommendation, to the dishes and the desserts.

judy m.

Really enjoyed our lunch here. The place was unassuming and had a cool vibe to it. I liked that there was an open kitchen. We were seated at a table a bit further away from the chefs but I believe you can ask for seating at the chefs station. The waitress was great. She recommended that we get about 5-6 dishes for the 2 of us. We ordered the glazed eggplant/the cod Giralda (like a sashimi)/cold quail/snout and ear Nem/the mushroom "bikini" (crust less sandwich)/and the bread with tomatoes. It was all really tasty. The portions are small but filling.

This was our absolutely favorite restaurant when we visited Barcelona! Firstly, the wait staff was amazing and attentive. They knew we were traveling and took the time to explain everything to us. The food was absolutely amazing! Definitely a must!

Amy W.

Was excited for a delicious dining experience but the whole thing was meh. We have such good restaurants in Portland, OR, maybe I'm just spoiled. We had the small tasting menu. The opener appetizer was a puffed pastry with almost no taste. If you're doing a fixed menu, the opening should wow you. Dessert was the best part. In between the egg soufflé was pretty and tasty but not really anything to write home about. Ditto for the sardine and the fish. The prawns in curry were next best after dessert. Wine by the glass, selected by the wait staff was very good. Service was good.

Risa Y.

I wanted to try Gresca because it was mentioned in the places to try by Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel website. The first day we tried eating here, the restaurant was already booked... They told us to make a reservation for the next day so we did just that and I am glad we came back! Service was great~ we had 2 waitresses that took care of us that were both very attentive and they both spoke English~ We started off with a bottle of red wine. It was one of the pricey cab that was on the menu 28euros but it was definitely worth it. I ordered anchovies for my appetizer and Sweet bread for my main. The anchovies were raw but seasoned perfectly and the citrus flavor masked the raw smell/flavor very well. Sweet bread is actually one of my favorite dishes, and I must say this was one of the best I've had. Overall experience: 5 stars!

Jennifer K.

With so many good restaurants in Barcelona, it was not an easy task to pick just a few restaurants to go in our Weekend in Barcelona. When I asked my "foodie" friend to give me one recommendation for a unique dish to try out when in town, she said Gresca Tasting Menu or their Egg Souffle. Making the reservation was a little challenge as the only way to contact Gresca is by calling them the old fashion way. There is also no information on their website http://www.gresca.net/ aside from their name and phone number. Lunch Special for 19 Euro is an excellent value. We were presented with a menu in Catalan but our nice waiter was able to translate that to English for us. But it really didn't matter as we just going to order everything from the menu as there is 2 choices each for the 3 course meal. And of course the Egg Souffle on the side. Everything was delicious and of course the Egg Souffle is really interesting both in taste and texture. I even enjoyed my Mackerel and even the vegetarian appetizer of stuffed onion with nuts was interesting too. We spent 2 hours enjoying our food and shared a bottle of wine. I wish I can have such an leisure and enjoyable lunch more often. The restaurant has a really unpretentious vibe. Simple but just made me go wow. Gresca is one of the best example of the Bistronomia Movement of offering high-quality cuisine at an affordable price: a combination of bistro and gastronomia. That does sounded good to me!

Marianna G.

First, as an American with high expectations of customer service, this place had the kindest wait staff we experienced on our 2 week trip to Spain. The decor is white table cloth, proper place settings. If you wanted to dress up, ehis would be the place to do it. If you don't, we saw a locals in very casual clothing here and no one seemed to care. Many have already mentioned this restaurant was featured on Anthony Bourdain - well deserved. Many have also written about the wondrous egg souffle - I couldn't agree more. Not only is it beautiful and delicious, I think it defies physics. My husband and I had the 5 course tasting menu. The waitress asked if there was anything we do not like. I said that I do not like strong seafood. She said that she will substitute out the anchovies appetizer for a ham and artichoke salad, but leave in the cod with rice. Tasting menu orders had to be the same for all people at the table. First, the Iberian ham and artichoke salad was perfection. It was a delicios combination of flavors and delicate textures. Second, the egg souffle was divine. My meal could have been done at this point and I would have been perfectly satisfied. Third was the cod. I could tell that it was prepared exceptionally. very moist, but not greasy. The rice had green peas which added a delightful texture. My husband liked this dish a lot, but it turns out that cod is not a fish I like. Fourth, was the most adventurous dishes for me: pigeon. It looked beautiful and I bravely took a giant bite. I was also feeling a bit vengeful because a pigeon had just bombed my head earlier that day at Park Guell. It was good at first, but then a horrid aftertaste set in. I don't think it was in my head. It was gaminess laced with regret. If you don't think you'd like pigeon, don't do it. I am however confident that it was the best preparation possible and if I don't like it here, I will not like it anywhere. Last, but not least was dessert. Always the way to my heart. It wasn't able to compare to the egg souffle, but it was still delicious. Warm, chocolate fluffy goodness with cream and some sort of toasted grain that added a wonderful nutty and crunchy accent to the chocolate. If I went back, I'd order the ham salad and egg souffle, maybe the dessert too, and go home happy.

Michael C.

One of the best restaurants I tried in Barcelona. It was started by a former El Bulli chef about a decade ago and this guy clearly knows his stuff. Hard to describe the style and decor, I would call it a casual white tablecloth establishment. I came for lunch which was an outstanding deal. About $20 for a 3 course tasting menu. The wait staff also let me swap out an appetizer and dessert without an extra fee, although I would have gladly paid one. The dinner tasting menu also looked amazing, but the lunch deal was too good to pass up. The full menu is also available for lunch as well. On my visit there were people dressed to the 9's and people dressed very casually, so don't sweat a dress code although it does feel like a place you would wear a sport coat too. The food seemed like a mix of French and Spanish with a molecular gastronomic twist and the wine list is outstanding. Here is what I tried: Gnocchi with prosciutto gnocchi - outstanding! A highlight of the meal. Everything was cooked perfectly with amazing presentation. Egg soufflé - with potatoes in the form and texture of pasta topped with a gravity defying egg soufflé. Just for the presentation this is a must get item. Tasted great too. Pork Belly - I was worried that it would be overly fatty but it wasn't. The top and bottom had the perfect amount of crunch. While the middle was juicy and tender with the perfect blend of meat and fat Cod - The cod had a very slight fruit flavor to it that worked perfectly. Another perfectly executed dish. Tiramisu - Classic preparation of tiramisu that was executed perfectly. It was delicious. Chocolate & Olive Oil - This was a mix of a chocolate mousse and olive oil ice cream topped with an olive oil candy. Mixed in are hints of candied pistachios and ginger. One of the best desserts I have had in recent memory with a dynamic flavor profile

Tresna L.

Wow. One of my best eating experiences in Barcelona and a meal I will remember for a long time. I was lucky to be able to walk on in without a reservation and proceeded to have a decadent feast, served by friendly staff eager to explain the elements of each dish. The double egg souffle on a bed of potato "ribbons" was a textural delight, the flavours understated and perfectly balanced. The sardine and pork belly with a smear of peanut "paste" underneath was crazy good - all raw elements and served on a very hot plate, the fattiness of each started to melt and created an interesting experience in my mouth, everything sticking to my teeth as if I had eaten a spoon of peanut butter directly from the jar. I ate, I think, around nine courses and all were beautifully made. Each playful, yet restrained at the same time, showcasing textures and flavour in a clever way and demonstrating the mad skills that are in the kitchen. The wine list was incredible, if you were buying from the bottle. Unfortunately I was dining solo so I stuck to wine by the glass and was limited to just a few choices. I'd love to come with a few friends and demolish some of the full bottles with another fabulous meal. Why this place isn't packed I don't know! For the (very reasonable) price it is certainly a must do for any food lover who is visiting Barcelona.

Díana B.

UNDERWHELMING- I don't understand what all these yelpers are raving on about. Our hotel made our reservation for 9pm we got there & it was empty. Considering every other fantastic restaurant we've been to has been full, we were really shocked. We went for the 9 course classic tasting menu and whilst we have to commend the chef on presentation and the technical side of the cooking - the flavours were really lacking. A lot of the flavours simply didn't stand out or were too hidden, some things just didn't compliment each other. The piña colada was the biggest disappointment - it was pretty much tasteless. The chocolate and olive oil didn't work either, there was too much bitterness and barely any sweetness. The pigeon was cooked well but again there was just something lacking in flavour. Nothing really jumped out at us. Everything was just ok. If we would've paid €60 for our meal instead of €140 then maybe we wouldn't have such a negative opinion but in all honesty the food here is simply not worth this price. In addition - Whilst we were there the ambience was dead - two couples with reservations walked in and back out because the atmosphere was so awkward inside. And even by the end of the night with just another 4 tables seated it was still really dull. Considering Barcelona has so many other cool and delicious restaurants - I wouldn't recommend Gresca as one to come to.

Sam C.

Probably our best dining experience during our week-long trip to Spain, which is saying a lot. We came here upon recommendation of the guy who put together our tour of La Rioja wine country. He was born in and grew up in that region and now runs a travel agency, so we were happy he was able to recommend some things around Barcelona that other resources didn't mention. Gresca was described to us as "upscale Catalan fusion", and that seemed to be a pretty apt description, and it was our best restaurant experience, in spite of having also dined at the Michelin-rated restaurant inside the Marques de Riscal Winery hotel (building designed by Frank Gehry). The service was attentive and helpful, and I loved the fact that the restaurant was a smaller-scale place with only room enough for maybe 40 people, with only two waitstaff total on the night we visited. It resulted in a night that was intimate and focused on the wonderful food. We ended up trying the tasting menu, which was nice because we got a wide range of types of food in a cuisine that neither of us were familiar with beforehand. Unfortunately, that made it harder to remember exactly what we got, since there were several courses. The most impressive dish we had was the Egg Souffle, which was unlike any souffle I've ever seen. I included pictures of before and after so that you can see the mind-bending way in which the unbroken yolk was suspended within the fluffy, air-like white. It sat on top of a bed of "noodles" that were really thinly-shaved slices of potatoes that had been cooked just long enough to give them the texture of 'al dente' pasta noodles. I also really loved the anchovies, which were seared and covered in a super-thin layer of herbed butter and accompanied by a sort of almond brittle/bark. I would highly recommend a visit to Gresca for anyone who travels to Barcelona--it's a great way to sample the Catalan approach with a more upscale approach. It's a nice break from the more rustic local cuisine that you can find in any number of little cafes and tapas bars.

Tyler M.

Came to Gresca for lunch to try their tasting menu. We went with the small menu. The food here was absolutely incredible. One of the highlights of our trip for sure. Every single dish popped, the service was great, we were mind blown by the desserts. Gresca was recommended to us by a former chef of Noma in Denmark and we could see why.