Author: No Expert

Cuines Santa Caterina – cleaning up.

I would love to find a market restaurant like this in London (Roast is the closest, but the food there just does not do it for me), so we have to go to Barcelona to indulge. On this trip we started with a shared plate of dips – very fresh ingredients, lovely fluffy pita bread.

I followed this with Tuna Tartare and my companion had his usual Catalan sausage with baby beans and fois gras. For dessert I had a quite stunning Crema Catalana, washed down with some fresh fruit juice. We left our plates so clean that the waiter commented rather amusingly that the “cleaner would be pleased”.

Marks out of 10 for this visit

Food 7

Service 7

Ambience 7

 

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Bar Lobo – slow and moody

Went to Bar Lobo (part of the Grupo Tragaluz) for drinks. It is a pleasant enough venue (although the drains do smell a bit when sitting outside). The service is the main problem here, staff did not seem very friendly and the service was slow and inconsistent, i.e., later arrivals getting their food and drink before we got our rather simple drinks order.

We returned again a few evenings later for Tapas (to give it a second chance!). It was quite lively but not packed, and we got a table more or less straight away, but after that it went down hill, it took ages to get our order taken. Bar Lobo could take a few lessons from Inopia on what it means to provide good service.

Marks out of 10

Food 4

Service 4

Ambience 5

 

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Traguluz – the return

Traguluz was the first quality restaurant we found in Barcelona many years ago, and thought it might be interesting to see if our tastes had changed much in the intervening years.  While not off Michelin Star level, it did impress us with good quality food and wine, served in a lovely location.

I had forgotten how nice the dining area is. Very bright and modern looking with large mirrors and creative flower displays. The service was not exactly top notch though.  For example, while being asked to taste the wine the waitress proceeded to fill up my companions glass – classic. The portions are much larger than a fine dining restaurant but then its not going for that market anyway. The food was tasty and satisfying so I would definately still recommend this venue for a meal.

Marks out of 10

Food 6.5

Service 6

Ambience 7

 

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Rex Whistler @ The Tate

Had afternoon tea in Tate Britain’s Rex Whistler Restaurant. It is actually a real bargain at £6.50 – just work out what the equivalent cost would be in the cafeteria next door to see what I mean.

The afternoon tea is not grand in the way it would be in a top hotel, but it’s a pleasant way to spend a hour or so.

The sandwiches were presented on individual cake stands, which also held a tiny but rather delicious piece of chocolate cake. While good value it was not something to go out of your way for.

They also have a breakfast menu. We made a return visit for the Full English breakfast, which is substantial but pricey.

Marks out of 10

Food 5

Service 5

Ambience 5.5

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Cinc Sentits – roller coaster!

This was our 4th visit to Cinc Sentits over a 5 year period, and I can only compare it to a roller coaster as far as consistancy is concerned, it really has been up and down.

This restaurant based on earlier experiences was almost a tie with Comerc 24 as our favourite Barcelona Restaurant. Not so this time as Comerc 24 was streets ahead. Tram Tram another old favorite pulled out the stops and easily beat Cinc Sentits to second place.

Some of the usual courses were excellent (the foie gras) but a few too many had slipped to just ordinary so that the whole meal felt a bit hit and miss. The individual courses had shrunk so that a dimple in the plate seemed to hold them.  The cheese course in particular looked really tiny, (one small piece of cheese, a minuscule tomato and a couple of leaves of rocket), but I have to say it came as a bit of a surprise as it was very tasty indeed.

One of the more substantial dishes was the fish course served in glass paper, a presentation style I have so far only seen at Launceston Place in London.

Maybe we’ll do a return next year, but with so much competition who knows.

Marks out of 10

Food 7

Service 7

Ambience 7

 

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Comerç 24 – we want you to be happy!

Comerç 24 will never win awards for its service I suspect, based on our experience (the exception being the sommelier, who is one of the best). I know it must be boring to repeat the same menu options and descriptions of food all day long but most good restaurants manage it. It was bewildering to watch the waiter describe in detail the food on our plates for every course while gazing out the window.

On the food front however its exceptional. It began as before with a selection of olive oils of varying strengths and bread, an olive stuffed with anchovy, golden macadamia nuts and a Parmesan cheese straw. If anything these were the weaker elements in the meal before it really got started.

The Cod ice-cream and Tuna tartare being real standouts.

We had just finished commenting on Comerc 24 food – stating that it was never just good, it was always either “very good” or “sublime”, then came a course I did not enjoy (the steak and strawberries). I left most of it, and got a reaction that really showed just how much Comerc 24 do care about the customer experience.  When the waiter saw I had not finished the course he asked if there was any problems, when I said I had not really enjoyed it, he immediately insisted that I have a replacement, as quote “we want you to be happy”. The replacement course was delicious and delivered with apologies from the waiter, the sommelier and the restaurant manager!

For all its small flaws this is one restaurant we hope to return to.

Marks out of 10

Food 8.7

Service 7.5

Ambience 7

 

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