Glug — Restaurant in Barcelona

Good food, let down by the service.

We spotted that Glug was recently added to the Michelin guide so thought it was worth a try.

We were initially welcomed by the male owner. He was friendly and showed us to the table, but that's pretty much where the friendliness ended.

The first waitress, came to take our order - no explanation of how the menu works, no “have you been here before”, no indication of how many dishes to order, or any mention of the extensive wine list, despite this being one of the selling points of the restaurant. We were confused, and so asked her how many dishes would be suitable to order and asked her to return in a few minutes. She didn’t come back but the female owner took our order instead. We asked to try the wine of the day (an orange wine) but ended up settling on a riesling. As an establishment which prides itself on the wine list, I would have expected an explanation of the wine list, or at the very least a recommendation of a wine based on our dish choices.

We decided to go for 6 dishes -

White prawn & fig - very delicious, lots of flavours but very balanced, one of our favourite dishes Macaroni croquettes - nothing special, the crust was a nice consistency but the inside was average Mushroom, almond, tuna - I really liked this one but my husband has a strong aversion to bitter almond so I ate this one to myself! Onion soup with comte "buttons" “ravioli” - this was amazing and a real highlight of the evening Ray - quite tasty but not super memorable Monkfish with celeriac noodles - also quite tasty but not mind blowing

All these dishes were served to us by different members of staff; sometimes it was the female owner who unfortunately seemed very sad the whole evening and as if she didn't want to be there, sometimes it was a black waitress with glasses who also didn't seem very happy, and once it was a black haired woman who happened to be the only one to actually describe the dishes with any remote enthusiasm. At one point we asked the female owner the story behind the cat logo - she answered that it was their cat but she seemed very sad and as if she didn’t want to be talking to us at all.

To us, it really felt that we were not valued customers, that our experience was not important to them, and that is a shame.

It also didn't seem a particularly vibrant or fun place for the staff to be working. It seemed like they were quite often bumping into each other behind the tables and that they hadn't quite nailed a good system.

Despite the poor service, we decided to try two desserts - Fig cake (special for the day) - nothing special at all and not very flavoursome - seemed like this was an afterthought and just because they had too many figs which they needed to use up Peaches with pistachio ganache - this was another story, absolutely delicious, one of my favourite desserts I have ever had, unique & very memorable

The style of Glug is cool, the decor is fun and it is a nice concept to have the tables facing the kitchen and service but sadly it is not executed well. Even when the food is above average, it really goes to show just how crucial good service is too. With some work I think this place could be great, but for now the service lets it down, in a big way. The acoustics could also do with some work, there was quite a lot of echoing which created unnecessary noise throughout the restaurant.

If it wasn't for the service, I would be returning for the white prawn & fig, the onion soup, and the...

Fantastic experience. You can tell the chefs have worked at some impressive places and no doubt this place will continue to grow it's reputation.

Too many highlights to mention, but trying to start with the food:

The pea with stracciatella finished on a flame

Stingray with pickled calcots (fantastic) - who knew what stingray tasted like. We didn't know Raya meant, so the waiter explained it as "the fish that takes the kids to school in finding Nemo" - perfect!

Olives Anchovies Quail (cooked perfectly) gnocchi Onion soup with comte ravioli (wow) Glug dessert - kinda like a cheesecake biscuit with a berry coulis/jam All fantastic.

That said, the gambas bravas felt overly salty, but that could be me. It was an interesting twist on a classic and we ordered them last. The bread was quite plain and lacked butter but...no issue.

Wine list is extensive, but i'm not qualified to pass judgement here. We found something we liked and I'm sure any guests would too. Small touches like leaving the bottle's cork on a small coaster show the staff/owner's class and training.

The main thing is, you can tell every member of staff here has worked at elite restaurants. Small things like the way the wine is presented, the way the tables are set, (the cutlery & how it's elevated off the table) how they explain dishes and the semi-open kitchen really elevate this place above other similarly priced/regarded spots like Mesa Lobo. The interior is well designed, too, the casings for the menus are super cool

My only worry is that by calling itself a wine bar, the juke box, etc. they may sell themselves a little short. They don't turn tables to not hurry guests (we stayed 2 hours) but it's only a small place, so I guess it may be hard to match money with the places overall quality - at €120 in total, it felt great value.

I've had worse service, food and price/value meals at Michelin starred...

Hospitality is of course after great food the most important thing for a restaurant. Not even a “hola” did we get. An ordered glass of “cava” was a “nature”wine, which I don’t like as all these wines are oxidated. Not my taste. Looking at the bottle I told I liked another cava. The boy ran away. Not saying anything. Stayed away long and came back with the same bottle with the great idea to let me taste it. I did as I didn’t want to be snobbish. But I didn’t like the cava so then the boy ran away again. A girl( entering the restaurant she already tried to avoid any eye contact) came with a bottle of Champagne and I could just stop her from pouring. One: it is not the same and two it is much more expensive so I would like to be informed about that before pouring my glass. Ordering two glasses of wine she then poured an Italian wine without asking what kind we wanted ( even the simplest bar asks if you want sec or fruity wine) and without pouring a bit to have it tasted. Maybe not common with ordering a glass. In this case it would have been logic. The other waiters were clumsy and unpolite as well. The food ( 2 dishes of the very small menu) were ok but really nothing more than that. The restaurant looks modern stylish. The lounge music a bit outdated. But the atmosphere kills it all....