We heard about this restaurant with 3 young chefs who were looking to make a mark in the Barcelona culinary landscape . It was off the beaten path but we were always willing to cross streams and dodge falling boulders to find a hidden gem.
After dining there we concluded that they had good concepts but the execution was lacking.
There were 3 oysters on the menu
* au natural with lemon and pepper 4,9
* with piparra gazpacho and herbs 5,5
* en escabèche of roasted chicken juice 5,9
I tried all 3 and besides the *au natural... I didn't care for the other 2. They were swimming in a thin broth, ate very soupy and the star ingredient of the oysters got lost. Also I thought "roasted chicken juice" by itself was an awkward pairing to the briny oyster.
* Brioche bun, steak tartare, iberian pork jowl and smoked egg yolk 5,5 - The ingredients themselves were fantastic but the sum of the parts did not equal to a whole successful dish. Under seasoned and with so many rich ingredients, the dish could've used some acidity like capers which would've also added salt flavor and maybe a splash of champagne vinegar.
Creamy Potato "Ensaladilla" with fried egg, Artichokes, red Shrimp and suquet from their heads 23,5 - The creamy potato, fried egg, artichokes and shrimp suquet were delicious but the shrimps were half raw and I'm allergic to raw crustaceans. If it were done by design then they really should've disclosed upfront in the menu description.
"Paolo Petrilli" tomato tartare, flame-grilled marinated mackerel, stracciatella of burrata and pesto 18,5 - The flame-grilled marinated mackerel were delicious but the tomato tartare was off the charts salty.
Good solid service. One thing I noticed about the service in Barcelona is that it's not customary for the server to check in on you but when you flag them over, they are quick to fill your request.
Pro Tip - The restaurant was off the beaten path and in Barcelona, you cannot call a taxi to the restaurant but instead have to walk out to the streets to hail one. If you're not familiar with the area as we were, be sure to ask someone in the restaurant to point you in the right direction of the main road. Otherwise you could easily wonder off through back streets. We finished dinner at 10:30 and it was a bit sketchy walking through a dark neighborhood. But luckily we found the main road and were able to hail a taxi.
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