El Pintor — Restaurant in Barcelona

My husband and I had been once before to El Pintor last year. Our experience was alright. Because of the interesting location and decor we decided to entertain two business guests for an early dinner before the conference in the morning. We arrived early for our reservation at 7:30. Our hostess greeted us and we were seated in the upstairs dining area. We were brought something to drink but nothing else for 30 minutes. No one came to take our order or check on us. We were the only customers in the restaurant. Finally, a guy who had passed our table walking to a back hallway with a motorcycle helmet under his arm reappeared in waiter's garb and took our order. Another long wait, while I sat uncomfortably enduring the stare of the hostess while moped guy gossiped, it appeared, about me. The food was overall of very amateurish quality. Both ladies ordered paella. Instead of tasting like the rich marriage of saucy rice, seafood, chicken and chorizo it was chalky and bland. The small amount of seafood was rubbery and tasteless. Both servings seemed to be taken from a container that had spent many days in the refrigerator. Our husband's steaks with cepes were tough and tasteless. The paella went back to the kitchen hardly eaten. The men being men almost finished their beef. I ordered chocolate lava cake for desert. I only remember overly sweet, not much chocolate flavor after one bite. I couldn't eat it. Our evening at El Pintor was basically a wash. I wonder why our service, our food, our entire experience was so forgetful. The kitchen and wait staff were not busy. To cap the night off, just before putting on our coats a very colorful procession of people carrying flags, beating drums and leading a horse passed through the narrow medieval alley just steps from the restaurant. We asked the manager what this was about, expecting a little local color story. He looked irritated and said, " just some stupid people". Please don't waste your time at this...

Awesome catalan authentic restaurant. After visiting Barcelona several years ago, my wife remembered this little restaurant and that she at that time didn’t make it to eat there. So we did it this time and were not disappointed. It’s best to make a reservation, since every time we passed by, the house was full. So we reserved a table for two and enjoyed very tasty carpaccio (we had veal and salmon, the latter being the better, the former a bit too thick and served frozen), fish (the cod with honey and the cod with ratatouille, both of them were awesome, and finally a chocolate cake with chocolate cream covered in chocolate (yes, triple chocolate, so to say). Based on the recommendation a fantastic spanish red wine. The staff was fantastic, relaxed and attentive, humorous and friendly at all times. Not only did we eat very good, we also felt very comfortable and in good hands. Thanks for a...

In all honesty we were a little nervous when we first walked in. We had reservations for dinner at 8pm, and arrived to find the restaurant empty (and it would remain so for the rest of our time there). Despite our initial trepidations we ended up having a fantastic meal! The iberico ham was delicious, and the croquettes and papas bravas made for great appetizers to share with the table. The main courses, however, were a delight. Our group got the cod, lamb, Catalan sausage and beans, and duck confit, which were all delicious (the duck confit was especially tasty, don’t shy away from it just because it’s a French dish in a Spanish restaurant). In the end, despite first impressions, the great food and delightful service from the staff (which admittedly may have been due to the fact that we were the only customers there)...