Batea — Restaurant in Barcelona

What can we say about an unpleasant experience at all in a restaurant that is considered a high standard in Barcelona We are on a trip for a few days here in the city and read some reviews and saw recommendations for this restaurant and decided to try it We arrived at the restaurant at 8:00 PM We sat down after a few minutes they took our drink and food order We already received some of the first courses and still did not receive the cocktails we ordered We assumed it would take a little longer and waited patiently. After receiving the drinks, the first main course arrived, looking excellent. Three ravioli were placed on the plate. My sister and I took one and one for the other's plate. We took the first bite. I personally swallowed the base and my sister simply spat it onto the plate. It was noticeable that we simply did not connect with its taste. I don't know exactly why, but we drank it and gave up on it. We called the waiter, she picked up the dish and we waited patiently for the second course. A little worried that it might be as disappointing as the first. We received the second course (a dish of rice stew on a boiling pan with some shrimp and three pieces of pork breast). A very poor dish and we were surprised that it was so expensive. We finished the meal and asked for the bill. It is important to note that the waiter brought us a scoop of ice cream as compensation for the dish. We did not eat because our appetite had already gone and I went straight to the bill. When the bill came, I noticed that the ravioli dish was It remained on the bill and was not canceled I called the waiter to bring it to his attention and he said, "You ate the dish, so it was not canceled." Without arguing too much, I explained to him that we did not eat and that we did return the dish in full. He continued to argue and say that this is what he understood from the situation that happened to us with a completely different waitress. Here I wondered why the manager did not come to me to straighten things out with me. We argued and he said, "Okay, I will see what I can do." He went back and said, "I can compensate them with half a mashir because you ate half a dish and because I cannot take away something that you simply do not like as a customer, that is your problem." I emphasize your problem!!! I didn't like the answer or the way But I was already really tired and I just said okay, bring a new bill He went and came back and it was a revised bill with a 40 percent discount on the dish, not 50 like he said at the beginning It also really angered and disappointed me, you say one thing and do something completely different There was no respectful conversation between us and the waiter Bon No manager came, which in my opinion is embarrassing for a place with a...

I go to dip my spoon into the little round cylinder of food on my plate. I find the outer surface of this dessert is hard. I add pressure... "CRACK!" I break through a charred outer layer and my spoon crashes down onto the stone plate below, sounding throughout the bar. "Wow! That was a surprise!," I think. "I wonder if the taste of this is going to be equally as shocking?" And, oh my... yes, yes it was... What followed was one of the most complex, interesting, and delicious desserts of my life. Best described in a four part profile:

Intense peanut foward flavor. The actual nut, not a butter. Five seconds later, the peanut starts to wane (but never fully takes it's leave) and gives way to a sweet and acidic citrus; I honestly wonder for a second if this is some sort of ceviche dish and there was an order mixup due to our language barrier. The texture of the tatin is exactly similar to a ceviche as well. I can say this all with clear surety as I happened to have the ceviche as an appetizer! But no. There is no fish flavor at all! Just a little nod to this meal's very beginnings before the third act: A caramel, toffee flavor kicks in. Ahh this IS the dessert after all! My Spanish confidence remains. An uncommanded smile forces it's way onto my face as I begin to realize the impact of this moment - this is not just another meal. The peanut flavor is long gone, I don't even remember when it left. The caramel turns into a dark, charred flavor - that outer crust I first came in contact with, finally making it's appearance on the tongue, but only at the very end of the performance.

What a show..

Encore? No. I'm thinking, realistically, I will never have this dessert again in my life and that idea gets me close to tears. It reminds me of the fleeting nature of my travels. My desire to see the whole world leaves me seeing places at a glance and then leaving, on to the next adventure. I can not see it all if I linger too long. Barcelona is the last stop on my road trip through the Iberian peninsula and it's hitting me. Will I return in my lifetime? I don't know.. but the...

What an amazing find! We have had very mixed experiences in Barcelona and are wary of trying anywhere new for fear of landing in a place with 100% pretension and 0% culinary magic.

Happily we experienced the exact opposite. Yes the restaurant is very cool and fashionable, but pretentious, no.

The menu is not long, which is always a good sign. The reason we finally decided to take the plunge was the thought of peas from the Maresme (very Catalan and absolutely in season now) with sourdough pasta.

The dishes are made for sharing, a kind of sophisticated tapas experience. And the menus seem to be carefully curated for quality and seasonality.

We started with six Girardeau oysters, plump and delicious.

The peas did not disappoint. Sweet, juicy, fresh peas in a most sublime sauce with ham, soaked up by beautiful trofie pasta.

We then had the octopus, juicy and tender, with a lovely creamy and slightly piquant “espuma” and another, more meaty and robust sauce. Complex, balanced, fabulous.

The speculative dish was the scorpion (escorpora, a local coastal rock fish) fish. Cooked to perfection on the bone. Yum!

We don’t usually have dessert but we wanted to see what this magic chef would come up with…

We had a warm mousse with a beautiful (cheesy?) ice cream and Marie biscuit. And the strawberries in a beautiful sweet/sour creamy sauce.

A bottle of the Indomable Corpinat accompanied our meal. Beautiful.

You may notice the word “sauce” appearing quite a lot in this review. The chef(s) are clearly experts in getting the maximum taste from every ingredient and wasting nothing. The sauces were a triumph, the cuisine natural and not over cooked or over engineered. In short, an absolute triumph.

Oh, and as for the service. Spectacular. Warm and professional - not easy to achieve.

Thank you Marta and the team. We shall be back!

We...