El Portalón — Restaurant in Barcelona

Came here with the wifey when we first got into Barcelona and were looking for somewhere good to eat. The jamon and manchego plates were amazing. The croquetas de jamon were amazing, creamy with big chunks of delicious jamon. We also had the paella, which was fantastic. Finally, we got the oxtail, which was unbelievably good and we are big oxtail fans. It was so tender and flavorful and they were actually really meaty.

We had such a good experience that we decided to come back a few night later. On our return, we had some of the same faves and also tried the lamb shank, which was amazing also. They served it with some stewed carrots that were mindblowingly flavorful! I liked the pamplona sausages and wifey LOVED the grilled prawns. Unfortunately, they were out of the octopus. We also ordered the paella again and the rice was undercooked to the point that we had to send it back, which we very rarely do.

The service was hit or miss. One of the servers seemed new and unsure of herself. She didn't speak English much, but even when I spoke to her in Spanish she seemed confused. Overall, the return visit soured our overall experience, but the food is...

I really wanted to love this place. It has great ambiance, music and decor. I am a party of one finishing up my business trip. They sat me and then left me there for over 20 min before they served me. I ordered some different tapas and 2 things never came. I had to ask for my pan con tomate for my cheese dish. Also my Russian salad was nothing more than my own tuna fish done with mayo. I have had excellent Russian salad with chunks of potato and light mayo, and this one was quite disappointing. When I checked out they charged me for a bottle of wine instead of a glass. I caught it right away. I want to think it was an off night for them. They get nice ratings. But this is one of the very few times I felt that being a tourist affected the food and service. There are tons of places to eat in Barcelona as you can imagine. So I would not put this location on my list. This was also my last meal in Barcelona before my trip back, making even more...

This one came well recommended to us. It was certainly full of atmosphere. The slightly standoffish staff warmed up through the evening and were attentive but not too clingy. We enjoyed white anchovies, sharp Cava and an (in)famous Black Paella complimented by a heavier Rioja. I say infamous as although we think El Portalon is a lovely restaurant, I contracted bad food poisoning within a couple of hours of finishing said paella. Whilst this is sometimes just bad luck (and a bad mussel - my partner who shared the food with me was fine), it was a fairly violent end to what should have been a delightful experience. I guess this comes down to care on the part of the chefs. Can these things be avoided with greater attention to detail on seafood and shellfish? Maybe. I would recommend El Portalon but perhaps advise the more delicious looking dishes we saw heading our neighbouring diners way, rather than the...