Mesa Lobo — Restaurant in Barcelona

Pretty average experience for a place for which I had high expectations. Bad enough I actually took the time to write this I guess.

Pros: The tuna and piparras had a great texture and subtle flavor, the Corvina was well cooked and the cocido sauce was interesting, and the wine recommended was very nice.

Cons: Fire and smoke are common themes in restaurants these days, but our cauliflower literally tasted like lighter fluid. We could see 1 meter tall flames shooting up from the open kitchen and tasted them too. Also, why would key flavor ingredients of a dish not be mentioned on the menu? The cauliflower had surprise fish roe and the Sunchoke had surprise cured pork. These products have a distinct impact on a dish and should be listed. This would have influenced our choices.

I told the waiter that the cauliflower tasted like zippo fuel and he said “oh, we add butter and then it burns in the flames of the grill”…. Lovely. So it tastes like this on purpose? Anyone who has tasted acrid, burnt butter knows this isn’t a pleasant flavor. It tasted like when someone adds lighter fluid to a charcoal grilled and cooks the food right away before it burns off…Also, when I told him that dishes should be properly advertised and not everyone wants pork or caviar, he had a mock-shocked look on his face and went to the kitchen. I expected a follow up but nothing…didn’t see him again.

The sunchoke flavor and texture was nice but had a peanut sauce that was bit salty for a “praline”, as it was advertised. Don’t worry, we got to try it again because, surprise, it was also on the veal sweetbread dish. Sweetbreads had good flavor and cookery but the huge fat caps were a bit off putting. Could have been trimmed a bit more for my taste. Also would liked a bit more of the advertised pickled veg to balance such a fatty dish.

Let me continue…Awful table design. Way too small to be considered a 4-top. With 4 of us seated there was barely enough room for water glasses and wine glasses. Had to constantly move things like table Tetris. They actually had to bring smaller plates to fit. The tables also have a cross-hatched wood construction which allows food to fall through to the floor and made the wine glass feel unstable. Drop some sauce on the table from the serving spoon? Some crumbs from bread that was mostly crust? It’s now on your shoes. Their website says this is a place to “come, enjoy, and dirty your table cloth”…I just wish we had a table cloth or at least a glass table topper.

Terrible acoustics. Even though it was a small table had to fight to have a conversation.

Basically, this place looked cool on social media but maybe that’s the problem…I feel like I’ve been and reviewed this restaurant a dozen times already because so many concepts in the city are so similar visually….In the end execution and overall dining experience fell far short. Would not recommend when there are a multitude of options for this style of restaurant...

I have been wanting to go here forever as i’ve passed it many times. I went last night and ordered things that sounded delicious, but to be honest, they lacked something. we got the burrata and sweet potato and it didn’t have any flavor except charred/grill, the sea bream was delicious but something from what we ordered gave me insane food poisoning 😭😭😭, like immediately after finishing my meal, and even towards dessert, my stomach started acting crazy and i’ve been suffering ever since. the only reason i would go and recommend this place is for the lemon dessert which was the best ive ever had. the service wasn’t good either, took them 15 minutes to give us a menu and they barely acknowledged us throughout the night, making it hard to get their attention to ask for water etc. it was the first time in a while where my friend and i just were not finishing our dishes, they all lacked something or tasted really off.. idk

i’m so bummed, this place looked amazing but man i can’t believe that i didn’t like it and now im experiencing really bad food poisoning after paying a €140 bill too 😭😭😭😭

EDIT: Upon further review, I most likely got food poisoning from the bacteria in the WOODEN STICK that they put into the artichoke. I went to the doctor and they told me that it’s very difficult to fully disinfect a wooden stick unless you bleach it or use rubbing alcohol, which would be hard for them to do since the stick goes into the food, so they are not surprised that I got sick. Guys come on, why was there a stick in an artichoke??? It didn’t do anything except spread bacteria. I’ve attached the photo below for reference. Please reconsider putting a stick in a half an artichoke and...

I recently dined at Mesa Lobo in Barcelona and, regrettably, my experience was underwhelming. The ambiance, while pleasant, lacked originality and failed to leave a lasting impression.

The service was notably disappointing; the staff appeared distant and unwelcoming, which detracted from the overall dining experience. Additionally, the wine recommendation was the most expensive option on the menu, which felt more like an upsell than a thoughtful suggestion.

The portion sizes were another letdown. The Nordic sandwich as an appetizer, for instance, was served as a small cube—hardly sufficient for an adult’s appetite, especially considering the high price point.

On a positive note, the bread accompanied by toasted butter was delightful and stood out as a highlight of the meal.

In summary, despite its promising reputation, Mesa Lobo did not meet my expectations. The combination of indifferent service, overpriced recommendations, and inadequate portion sizes left me disappointed. I hope the establishment addresses these issues to enhance the dining experience for...