Gloria Osteria Barcelona — Restaurant in Barcelona

We recently celebrated my friend’s birthday here with a group of 10 women. I had high expectations due to the social media presence and overall image of the place, but the experience was honestly disappointing.

First of all, we weren’t allowed to order individually and were required to take a €65 set menu. The strange part? We didn’t even get to choose our own second course , everything was served to share. That might sound nice in theory, but in practice, it didn’t work. Some girls don’t eat seafood, so their only option was to wait for carbonara or meat and the meat was brought at the very end of the dinner. So while some were eating, others were just waiting. If you’re going to impose a fixed menu, at least let each guest choose their own main dish.

Second, water turned into a whole issue. It wasn’t included, and we had to constantly ask it and this tiny bottles disappeared in minutes. Instead of enjoying the evening, we were chasing down the waitress for water, new cutlery, etc. Honestly, either include water in the menu or train your staff to offer it properly to groups (5 big bottles for 10). It felt absurd to keep asking for basic things like water, in most European restaurants, it’s offered by default.

Service overall lacked professionalism. The waitress smiled, yes, but didn’t communicate well. When we finally got to try some wine, (and btw no menu with drinks I asked several times) no one told us the price and only by chance we asked before the bottle was opened, and it turned out to be €20 per glass. Also, during the pasta course, when we asked for knives, because they took culture after first dishes, we were met kind of sarcasm: “Do you eat pasta with knives?” That’s just not acceptable service…

Some advice to administrators - floor was extremely slippery. Everyone in heels felt unsafe walking to the restroom.

Now, to be fair, the vibe is cool. The place is stylish, trendy, and beautifully decorated. The atmosphere is lovely, and I can imagine really enjoying it if I came back on a date night, chose my own food and drinks and had a more relaxed experience. In that case, I’d probably rate better.

But for now, as result we spent €90 per person, (900€ bill) and unfortunately, it felt like money poorly spent. This place might work better for small tables I...

It's a very big place on two floors, but laid out so smartly, with some corners here and some separées there, that the feel of a certain intimacy is never lost. Add to that perfect lighting (never too bright, never too dark, focused on the table, never in your face) and a matching musical background, plus attentive service, the stage could be set for a perfect experience.

But of course it wasn't, and it didn't come as a surprise, considering the clientele that Gloria intends to attract. I neither mind nor care for the over-the-top-ness the decoration exudes here and there, but I'm sure it has the desired wow effect on most guests. What I care for, though, is first and foremost food, and bullshittery that might impress other people annoys me.

And especially annoying is bullshittery that is unnecessary. I understand the reference to the 1970s and 1980s when mixing the carbonara in a pecorino cheese wheel (although for the sake of balanced saltiness levels it would be better without it). But why would you add truffle over carbonara? Makes little sense, unless your peppercorns aren't roasted freshly, or you want to hide poorly cooked guanciale. But okay, you have decided to shave truffle over carbonara because it sounds fancy. Then go ahead and shave truffle over carbonara. But shaving truffle over pasta that already suffers from pre-added excessive amounts of truffle oil/paste is disturbing. You want to show off? Fine, shave enough truffle. Is the truffle flavor too subtle, too ephemeral, due to storage or seasonality issues? Remove it from the menu, until better product arrives. But under no circumstances in this universe or any parallel one, try to enhance truffle flavor by adding truffle oil or truffle paste. This is absurd.

Equally absurd is the bling-bling pizza with pistacchio and gamberi rossi, where the subtle marine gamberi rossi flavor is easily overpowered.

What a pity, because there are some very well-executed dishes, like the gamberi rossi by themselves, or the steak, or even the...

In short, the food is just above average for someone who cares the quality of the food most. We had a reservation and were brought to our seat fairly quickly. The restaurant is quite dark and could be difficult to read the menu given the dim light and the narrow text spacing on the menu. The waitress was really friendly and asked whether we speaking Spanish or English (because we only speak English). Soon after we got the menu, she took our order. The dishes arrived pretty quickly. However, they all tasted pretty average. The beef carpaccio was average. I can see some truffles on top but there is no truffle scent at all. The wild rocket gave a kick to the flavour but didn’t taste really fresh. The burrata with tomatoes was alright. All taste as what and how they should be. It’s good but it’s just that.

For pasta, we ordered ravioli. The lobsters bisque was lovely (which might be the only thing that deserves 5 star in taste) though the ravioli was a bit disappointing. To me, the fillings were smudgy and lost the texture of lobster. The shrimp tartare on top didn’t contribute any thing in terms of flavour. They were just there. The ossobuco ravioli were alright. The filling was tender but the sauce was a bit too strong in a way that I feel like it was made by stock cube. I would be super disappointed if they use stock cube because they have restaurants all over Europe. It might worth visiting if you’d like to celebrate maybe a birthday or some thing but I shouldn’t have high expectations on the food quality given the high ratings, prices and the hype of...