Lomo Alto — Restaurant in Barcelona

Food was delicious. Service was tragic.

The lead attendant was acerbic, withdrawn, uncommunicative and unhelpful. It was a stark contrast to the food which was delightful. The waiter in charge of our table had to be asked about everything and avoided conversation and interaction. It soured what could have been a remarkable evening. There were 3 bottles of EVOO on the table and we had to specifically inquire in order to determine was available. When I asked about cocktails, I was handed a list of liquors and told, “this is what we have.” When I asked about the wine list there was no inquiry about our food choices, wine preferences (other than “white or red?”) and certainly no suggestion that there is a sommelier available. I would have been inclined towards a nice bottle for our celebratory occasion but the attitude and obvious lack of interest deterred me from making any effort and I picked the easy path of wine by the glass. Initially, I assumed the dismissive attitude was because we had our children along with us or that our order did not meet the expectations for an appropriately sized purchase, but my wife observed that he treated the other tables with a similar attitude. The method of steak sizing, table sharing, pricing and weight minimums that the restaurant has adopted are rarely used in the US but rather than educating me or using my lack of knowledge as a way to tell the story of their impressive products and preparations, the waiter chose to volunteer nothing, answer my direct questions tersely with no elaboration and chose a tone of superiority bordering on rude when I failed to understand how the system worked.

We received no description or explanation about the menu, the meats, the preparation style. I had to ask what the chef’s recommended temperature would be for each of the steaks. The bread service was impressively slow and the service team could only be considered inattentive if I was being charitable.

The style of the restaurant and its design is impressive. We found the layout to be intriguing and the upstairs/downstairs division between the co-located concepts interesting and engaging.

The table layout felt impressive and as we were seated we could feel the anticipation of a lovely meal that we had been looking forward to for weeks!

The food was exquisite. The hot appetizers were plated nicely and the flavors did not disappoint. We ended up with far too much food but I still wish we had ordered more just to sample it!

The amuse bouche was a creative spiral cut fried potato strung out along a skewer and fried to a crispy state of deliciousness.

We opened by selecting both bread service and the Catalan tomato bread.

We chose 2 hot appetizers of vegetables and both were flavorful, attractive, and well seasoned with herbs, spices and some char from the grill.

The meat was legendary as hoped. 180 day aged ox…s a nutty, fatty, umami laden treasure trove with hints of dank, forest floor and a lingering finish of oaky mushroom. If only my capacity to consume was equal to my desire to savor. I could have remained at the table for another 2 hours…at least!

The accompanying salad, roasted peppers and truffled mashed potatoes will not receive sufficient attention because they were more impressive than I have time to note. Skip the fries, they only serve as filler. Eat everything else.

I believe the meal could have been enhanced with a well paired wine of appropriate age. The girth and power of a youthful Rioja did not do the exquisite apotheosis of beef justice. Alas, the wine list is limited and largely unmarked with vintages. Additionally, the server was, as previously noted, disinterested and disengaged.

We would have purchased more food, perhaps dessert and certainly a nice bottle of wine but the poor performance from the human catalysts for the meal undermined what could have been complete brilliance.

It is sad that the restaurant has either chosen or is stuck with their current approach to service. The meal could have been...

The waiter was not really helpful nor smiley despite having only two tables to attend to on a Tuesday afternoon. We shared a tomato and tuna salad as a starter — tomatoes were very bland. As a main we had a hamburger and a beef tenderloin. The meat was absolutely perfect and so was the red wine we had to accompany it. When we got the bill, we were very displeased to see that we had been charged 10 EUR for the bread that they had put on the table as we sat down. Not only had we not asked for it, but we had also left it untouched. When I complained about such a practice, which I would not expect from a somewhat "higher end" establishment, I was first told that this is common practice. Then I was told that they would reimburse the 10 EUR since the bread was not eaten (how odd), then finally that they could not reimburse it, as it was part of the whole bill and they could not pick and choose items to reimburse. It is worth noting that the hostess remained calm and lovely as I complained about the situation.

All in all, even though the meat was excellent, my experience at this restaurant was cheapened because of this - shall I say vulgar practice consisting of trying to make the most profit possible by surreptitiously charging for crumbs, literally. I guess August is a slow month....

We came here from the USA for our 20th anniversary. We needed to pick a place close to our Airbnb and I wanted steak. I found this place. The reviews said 3.8 stars and I was a little hesitant to book but I liked the pictures. It was such a FANTASTIC experience with DELICIOUS and UNIQUE dishes! I have eaten at some pretty high end steak houses and thought it was funny when the business card w was “temple of meat”. It definitely lived up to its name. Ashu was our waiter and what a fun interactive- professional experience. The steak tartare was made table side, so good! The flat bread was unique and delicious. The 3 steaks we ordered were done perfectly. Sliced table side and served to us! the flavors were exquisite!!!! Dessert was a white chocolate apple with filling. Everything was beyond our expectations!!! Such a great way to celebrate 20 years and honestly the bill wasn’t too unreasonable for the amount of delicious food we ate!! My kids were begging to have us take them when we showed them the pictures....