La Flauta | Aribau — Restaurant in Barcelona

Overall Rating: 10/10. Stumbled upon this restaurant while walking past. An amazing find. Came in at around 8:05 pm. The place was already packed (since it opens for dinner at 7pm on a Friday) and a large party was already waiting to be seated. However, they had an open table for two ready and we were very-luckily seated right away. We left at around 9:30pm and there was a line from the host(ess) spot to out the door. Very popular place and after eating here, I can see why! .

1. "Bravas" Potatoes with Spicy Sauce - tapa - 4.50 Euro - excellent and would recommend! The sauce on top seemed to be mayo with a dusting of paprika. The spicy sauce is in the cup which tasted like tomato marina sauce with a lingering aftertaste of "spicyness" - it was only a kick of spicy and not overwhelming at all. Potatoes were soft and pillowy on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Overall rating: (9/10).
2. Small Squid "Andaluz Style" - tapa - 7.50 Euro - a little disappointed since it came out to be calamari but still tasted fresh without that rubbery, chewy texture. Also liked how they breaded the squid lightly (vs. heavily) and a good lemon squeeze really helped with the flavor. Good but a little pricey. Overall Rating: (8/10).
3. Cod Fish with Honey and "All I Oli" Sauce - tapa - 9.95 Euro - WOW! Definitely Recommend! I would come back to this restaurant again JUST for this dish. The cod fish just melted in your mouth, the thinly layered sauce covered the fish on top (but under what I believe is the fish's skin..?) Went EXCELLENTLY with the fish, the red sauce on the side plus the honey just brought the fish on to a whole new level. All elements tasted wonderfully together. Amazing. Even my friend who does not like seafood tried it and thought it was really good. Overall Rating: (11/10).
4. Duck Breast: Brie, Rucula and Mushroom Sauce - tapa - 4.65 Euro - very good but reminded me of an American cheese and steak sub. Duck was SLIGHTLY tough but the pieces of fat that were included helped the meat melt in the mouth. The Brie was a satisfyingly thick, long slice that brought the flavour to the next level. There was also a few leaves of arugula. Bread / baguette was slightly too hard. Overall Rating: (8/10).
5. Bierzo "Chorizo" with Grilled Red Peppers - tapa - 4.50 Euro - chorizo wasn't spicy but had a lingering smokey aftertaste that kind of reminded me of American beef jerky. Tasty but didn't melt in your mouth. The red peppers were a nice touch. The sauce that it was covered in was spicy and gave the sandwich a good kick. Bread / baguette had a good level of crunchiness which brought all elements together nicely. Overall Rating: (8/10).
6. Bottle of water - 2.15 Euro - normal price around Barcelona. They had a very good list of red, white, rose, and cava. All glasses were above 10 Euros - on average, approximately 13 Euros.
7. Service was good, fast, and polite. Since it was a Friday night, LOTS of people were out for dinner before going out to drink so it was very busy. Waiters were fast pace but still attentive. 👌
8. No wifi. Clean...

Almost Perfect Not the movie from Decades ago but the Experience of Fine Dining. So I wanted the Best tapas in Barcelona and after endless possibilities I Chose this establishment. And as I walked up The Buzz was in the Air. Folks wandering and waiting whilst others are seated sparsely Outside because Inside Is where You want to be. The Maitre d sat me at the perfect table. Corner Back wall with full view and Service Abound. The ‘Don’ spot in case I need to exit through The Kitchen, ) I Sit and Menus are Placed A$ap (as in Rocky) along with Drink Service. I ordered a White wine of the Month and Mineral Water w/lemon. I didn’t expect much From the Wine Selection, Until the first drop hit My Pallet and I realized Someone has a Sommelier. Refreshing and Subtle. Yes I should have ordered a Red since I was having an entrecôte but, I’m a White Guy….. strictly. Occasionally Rose (shout to Tricky Rubio) and Kobe. As soon as the patata bravas and fried hot green Peppers were ordered they Arrived like teleportation Fast. First problem I don’t Eat aioli so I had to send them back. Second issue Upon return there was no Finishing Salt sprinkled and No cracked pepper or salt Available at the table. I should be asked if I Would like pepper and Salt should be readily Available. It’s a bit Arrogant Not to think others might want to add to there tastes. Third issue the peppers are advertised as hot Fried peppers. They were not hot and we’re not Fried to order: they Arrived somewhat cold and once again no Finishing Salt. Which is a must. So then the entrecôte Arrived I ordered medium and was served Rare. So rare the grill marks where non existent and the meat fully uncooked in the middle. Blood Red. And once Again No Finishing Salt and No Cracked Pepper. A Must. Plus it ‘Rested’ too long and came a bit cold: What confused me is The Speed of the service Yet nothing was piping Hot? And this is an issue For Myself. Honestly I Would prefer for the Meat to Rest in front of Me so I can put it to Sleep. With a Prayer Blessing it’s journey. All That Aside. I Still Loved the Late Night Laughter and Banter and the constant Buzz Surrounding You as This is a Place Everyone Is Welcome from All Walks and Lifestyles. The Eclectic Crowd was almost Electric. And the Staff Sensational. Gracias. Like Arnold...

I’ve never ever posted before in Google in a negative light but I’ve been compelled to do so by this place.

On a visit to Barcelona form the Uk we’d done some research looking for good tapas restaurants. The high rating enticed us and the setting is nice and we were shown to our seat upstairs by a friendly front of house but from there it went down hill fast.

Our order was wrong, the waiter was extremely unhappy to correct it, no problem (he was sweating through his shirt and just unhappy to be there anyway) as we all have bad days.

We ordered 4 dishes and were recommended a 5th by the waiter who took our order. First came the tomato bread, it was stone cold and tasted of soggy slightly tomatoey bread. I’ve added a photo of the tomato bread you can get 30 seconds around the corner (that’s how it should look and taste).

Then patatas bravas. I’ve had this dish 10 times on our trip and 100 times in Spain and this is by far the worst. No taste and the “tomato” sauce was stone cold and tasteless.

The cod, honey and alioli appeared to be baked in cheese was rock hard.

The only semi saving grace was the iberico ham, chips and eggs. Even then however the eggs were jelly like and the chips were just string fries.

The nail in the coffin was when we were leaving we heard a couple order a bottle of white wine into to see the waiter pour one bottle of white into another and smack the cork back in to pass it off as a new bottle of white.

I just couldn’t recommend avoiding this place more. I’m all for giving independents a chance but I’m just trying to add some balance to the argument here as this place seems massively...