El Chigre 1769 — Restaurant in Barcelona

So first of all it is a very cute and ambient place. It’s not very spacious but there are quite some seats. Although I didn’t have a reservation I was lucky enough to catch a seat at the bar. Which I enjoyed as well because it could see what the kitchen was doing and i find that to always be very interesting.

The service was very fast but not pressuring fast, wich is always good because sometimes I do need to take my time to choose what I want. So after ordering my drink (that was served within a minute) and two sips of it I was ready to order my meal. I ordered black rice with Gambas and aioli with blanched garlic. The food came very beautifully arranged in a hot cast iron pan on wood. Now when I tell you the portion didn’t look too big I was proven wrong in the end. After the first bite I was surprised because I thought it was good but not as good as it looks. Turns out I was just too impatient and the food was just too hot. So after giving it a minute I dove in. It was so well executed!! The rice slightly salted with pieces of squid giving it a deep sea flavor. Then the droplets of aioli on top which was really creamy and rich. I couldn’t get enough of the burnt garlic flavor!! The slight bitterness that was then balanced out with the fatty aioli base was just chefs kiss ✨ And of course the main character of the show were the perfectly cooked gambas that just toped off the whole flavor pallet of the dish!!! 😩 Especially after beheading them and letting all the salty goodness of the crustaceans drip onto the rice!!! IT WAS AMAZING! I really enjoyed every single single bite of it, I literally scraped the plate clean. Oh and not to forget the rice had this somehow subtle but strong note of olive Oil that also just made sense. But as I wrote earlier, since all of those rich ingredients where in it the portion was more then enough and I was overly satisfied. I can really recommend the dish I ordered, although as I peaked over to what other guests were having, their food also...

El Chigre 1769 buzzes as though you are a dinner party, and while it’s definitely their casa, each time we went (three visits over the course of a week) we felt as though it was less a reservation we made and more of an invitation we accepted.

Thanks to Mateo, Max, Angel, Francesco and Fabio who were all incredibly present: this is essential to the experience on offer. They constantly hustle yet they do it with grace and humor; they pause to check-in, to tease you, to explain something that may interest you to know. It’s clearly a team that has been assembled deliberately and it’s an international squad from Italy, Spain and elsewhere whose experience in fine dining is obvious. They are serious about their art but keep things casual, which makes anyone feel welcome to eat with them.

Top things to eat: Dates with chorizo, minced meat, bacon and Roxmouth vermouth, (dátil 5€) Spicy Bombetes with octopus and burnt aioli ( bombetes picantonas 4€) Croquettes with Spanish ham (croquetas caseras de jamón Joselito 3€) Anchovies in vinegar (tapa de boquerones en vinaigre 6€) Grilled octopus and potato with marine chimichurri (pulpo a la parrilla con mil hojas de patata y chimichurri marino 32€)

Fish caught daily ranges in price but sits somewhere between 60-90€ and while that’s not cheap, it shouldn’t be. You can choose your fish right off the bar where they rest on ice, and any one of the staff will tell you about where it came from and the name of the fisherman who caught it. We had the sea bass, which was buttery perfect. Back on land, the entrecote is a steak prepared to your liking but which can be further cooked using the heated stone they provide and was very good due to the quality of the cut. Seasoned only with salt, while not the most quintessential of Spanish or Catalan of dishes, it further emphasized the skill of the team.

Despite the high standard and crowded space that is dining in Barcelona, El Chigre is a must. You will eat memorably, both for the food and...

We LOVED our experience at El Chigre 1769. Angel was our waiter and was awesome - we kind of knew what we wanted but he went through the whole menu with us and explained what was best to get! We ordered anchovies, the stuffed dates, garlic prawns, the turbot with chimichurri and the cider to share. The anchovies were salty and very good. I actually put them on another plate to remove some of the oils/vinegar as it was a bit salty but so good! Definitely order but let those anchovies drip a bit! The stuffed dates.. let me just say that our three week trip is over and I am now back home but that date is something I will probably ALWAYS remember. If the chefs are reading this and want to link me a recipe - I would forever be grateful. I can't even explain what it was. It was unlike anything I had ever eaten before. The flavours, the taste - brilliant. The garlic prawns... I get why people enjoy this dish but it’s not for me! I tried them all around Spain and it just doesn't do it for me but my husband enjoyed them! Angel suggested we get the turbot with chimichurri and I am so happy he did. It was so delicious and light. Cooked beautifully and dissected with precision thanks to Angel because we had no idea what we were doing haha. We also had the octopus from the grill. Not chewy and grilled beautifully! We ordered... the cider to drink. It came in a larger bottle and we were told to drink it in shots. We had to fizz it up with a machine - It was so fun to have!

Honestly, this was one of our favourite restaurants in our three week Spain and South of France vacation. I truly think it is a MUST visit. I'd get everything we got and MORE. Kind of upset we didn't go back for a second time before we left but c'est la...