La Bendita — Restaurant in Barcelona

CATALAN DISAPPOINTMENT We thought we were lucky to get a last minute reservation but our whole dinner experience was a nightmare. Before ordering we wanted to make sure there was availability of a highly desired catalan cream. Luckily the waiter ensured us positively, so we start by ordering our paella. Suddenly hearing the words: “kitchen has collapsed” by the waiter wasn’t so exciting, but at that time we had already ordered. 45 minutes passed before we had to ask news about our paella. Then 15 more minutes to finally get a sad burnt vegetable paella. In the meantime chaos took over the whole super busy restaurant. Staff was overwhelmed and confused with the service. They didn’t only forget about us but apparently they even forgot how to make coffee for customers. We could see freshly ground coffee prepared and inserted into the coffee machine 10 minutes before starting the actual extraction. But the worst experience of the night was the catalan cream that we were craving all day. One of the guiltless waiters came from the kitchen holding this cold wiggly white soup in which 2 sad buscuits were floating and soaking. Confused and speechless, we wondered if this was an innovative recipe or the terrible result coming from the “collapsed kitchen”. After calling back the same waiter who had given us the wiggly soup, we asked if this consistency was normal. Terrified, she takes it back to the kitchen in order to double check with the chef. She comes back empty handed and with no explanation, offering us a chocolate dessert??? After refusing this and wanting to know what happened with the catalan cream, she tried her best to emphasize that the owner (not the chef?!?!?) had use the mixer in the wrong setting making the cream liquid and not hard… hangry and disappointed we refused both an oxidated coffee and a chupito kindly offered by the waitresses who run this crazy shift. We leave Barcelona without the...

Heyyyyyy now. This place was great. Not sure how much of the clientele is actually just tourists and it's definitely not a classically Spanish restaurant, but the food was great either way. We got the halibut tapas along with the roasted vegetables, which were artichoke and red bell pepper. Both had a nice crunchy element to them to break up the texture. The main courses were squid with blood sausage and a cod filet. The squid was amazing. Not gummy, just delicious. Extremely simple flavor to go with the intense taste of the blood sausage and vegetables and a sweet emulsion at the bottom to tie everything together. The cod filet was bursting with flavor from the salty egg on top (I have no idea how it was cooked but it had the texture of a cloud), the thick roasted tomato and pepper sauce it was sitting on top of, to the tender and flaky cod that was cooked to perfection. This may be a trendy Spanish-fusion restaurant right next to Sagrada Família, but it's hard for me to take anything away from it despite that. Lots of interesting menu options, extensive enough drink menu, and food was crack. Give it a shot if you have a few extra euros to spend than you normally do....

Perfect spot for solo paella in the heart of Barcelona! La Bendita is a cute little find tucked right in the Gothic Quarter-ideal for a relaxing meal while sitting back enjoying the energy of the city. The food is fantastic, especially the paella for one, which is a rare option in Barcelona where most places require a two-person minimum. It was flavorful, perfectly cooked, and just the right portion. I also really enjoyed the potatas bravas!

Seating options are available inside as well as outside in a covered courtyard. We chose the outside option, which was really nice. There were a few curious birds occasionally swooping in to see what was for lunch. They were more funny to watch rather than annoying. We waited awhile for our server to return, but he never did. It was another place to go in and pay, which seems to be more common in Europe-all part of the casual, relaxed vibe of the place.

This is a great place to hang out if you are waiting to do a tour at Sagrada Familia. It's within just a few short...