Assalto Restaurant & Tapas — Restaurant in Barcelona

Absolutely fabulous restaurant - not to be missed if you're in Barcelona. I have never tasted such inventive, thoughtful, and thought-provoking food before. I went for lunch on a quiet Friday afternoon, having discovered the restaurant while walking by the night before. I had 1) fried oyster in a prawn cracker; 2) green beans with almonds and miso paste atop smoked stracciatella (Wow! This was truly phenomenal -- Alex, the chef, said people are often surprised when he recommends this dish as one of the standouts on the menu - "Vegetables, really?!", and indeed I was!); 3) Octopus with Szechuan pepper gnocchi; 4) Ras al hanout crème chantilly over corn custard with caramelized popcorn, salt, and lime zest; 5) egg custard with truffle reduction and more lime zest, and a side of crème fraîche. All of the food was just jaw-droppingly phenomenal. Alex, the chef, took the time to explain all the dishes to me and recommend things based on my preferences. He also recommended a wonderful champagne, which I enjoyed with my meal. (And, he went above and beyond by recommending a food festival in Barcelona, which I checked out the next day - Gràcies!

The combination of flavors and textures was simply out of this world. I've eaten at a few Michelin star restaurants during my several trips to Spain, and this is up there...

Assalto is a stellar wine bar in Raval. The restaurant was bigger than anticipated, yet still feels quite cozy and neat. There’s some jazz tunes playing in the background. Staff is quick, knowledgeable and eager to tell you more.

We ordered quite a bit from the menu and were easily impressed by the tomato salad. Simple, yet delicious, especially paired with the excellent balsamic vinegar (a tip from our server). We quickly devoured the warm sourdough bread and marveled at the meatballs with squid. The bomba was great as well. The only dish that fell flat was the tortilla - compared to the other strong flavors, this one was a bit dull. The complimentary truffle is nice, but did not do enough to lift the tortilla up.

It did, however, add a nice, nutty flavor to the cheesecake. The cheesecake is also excellent without truffle -...

I visited Assalto last night and really enjoyed my time. The staff are all friendly and keen to explain their offerings, both in terms of wine and food. The food was all tasty and the eggplants with kimchi was outstanding in particular. This wine bar has an extensive array of wines on offer. They range from classic to funky and natural wines, so different tastes can easily be satisfied. They also have some really interesting other drinks . They had a liqueur made with shitake mushrooms that was quite good with clear mushroom flavors coming through. They had a scallop vermut that had some seaside salinity on the nose. I really love the experimentation and creativity they’re bringing to this new spot. They’re still very new and I look forward to seeing where things go. I already told a friend who lives nearby that...