OMA Bistró — Restaurant in Barcelona

** following a constructive response from the owners, I think it is worth clarifying that but for the staffing issues raised below, this is really is a beautiful cafe with good coffee and is the sort of place that would be good to lounge about in a grab brunch. I do hope the resolve the time it takes to get things done but bear that in mind if you have something lined up to see immediately after.

This place came recommended on good blog spots and obviously has many recommendations! But the experience was sooo frustrating that we avoided going back the next day even though it was so close. I hate nitpicking things but this really irked me all day.

The vibe is lovely! Good decor, open windows with breeze, lots of tables, accommodating of English speakers as well as Spanish. Good food presentation.

BUT....

The staff's sense of time is catastrophically bad. Like even chilling on holiday with no plans bad.

QR codes are used for the menus but you have to be served at your table in person (which kicks off the problem). Unnecessary tasks are performed first and chatter continues. Every time you ask you are told off that they are coming and they will be a second. They (2 or 3 of them) then continue to do unnecessary tasks and chatter for 20 mins. They are not rushed off their feet as you can see this not the case. It is not because they are busy. Not every society will share the same concept of time and efficiency but there has to be a limit.

Getting the bill was such an ordeal (we were of course told off for daring to ask after 15 minutes of waiting and watching glasses be rearranged into slightly neater stacks). We rustled together cash and just left it on the table. They didn't even notice us walk out even though nothing was going on nor were people ordering or overwhelming them as they were chattering again!

Pros:

good vibe when you're not ordering good decor presentation of food is done really well The staff are friendly and helpful when they are actually interacting with you -you get the sense this could be a 5 star place with small tweaks

Cons:

truly awful respect for people's time lack of self-awareness from staff that some people eventually want to be somewhere else food...

My wife and I are Korean living in the United States. For the past 10 years, we have been spending one month each year on vacation in Barcelona. Since its opening in 2014, OMA has been one of our favorite brunch spots, and we have visited it without fail every year.

However, during this visit, we had a truly terrible experience of "discrimination." We still wonder why we had to receive such treatment, but one staff member almost threw down water and cups on our table when serving us, and when bringing food, she forcefully slammed the plates down as if throwing them. No other table in the restaurant was served in this manner, yet it happened only to us.

Despite expressing gratitude to her for the service, she loudly replied, "You're welcome!" leaving us utterly bewildered and embarrassed.

We found her behavior extremely uncomfortable and couldn't help but think that it was because we were the only Asians in the restaurant.

We were simply there to dine at our favorite place and had not said or done anything to warrant such treatment. We were deeply disappointed to have received such treatment for no apparent reason.

Initially, we contemplated letting it go, but throughout our trip, we felt uneasy, realizing that such unfounded "discrimination" should not be overlooked. Therefore, we plan to report this matter to the Barcelona Human Rights Commission.

If given the opportunity, we also intend to share this dreadful experience through various media outlets. It is truly regrettable, and it pains us to lose a place we once enjoyed.

To the staff member with a mole on the right cheek and wearing glasses: imagine if someone treated you the way you treated us when you visited another country with joy in your heart. How would you feel if the reason for such treatment was because your skin color or race was different? Reflection is necessary. We hope you realizes that no one should be discriminated against for such reasons, and we are all simply...

The place is located in Eixample, near Hospital Clinic Metro Station. The food is super well prepared in its kitchen, but what we wanted to elucidate here, is the great service they have. Both times we had been there, people were super kind and always had a smile on their face, and for a great coffee experience this makes the whole difference. In this second time we ordered 2 plates of the brunch menu, and 2 tipes of coffee. Fried Bacon eggs, half juicy, half crunchy bacon, sunny side eggs for the first plate, and Scrambled Eggs with mushrooms for the second choice, also veeeeery creamy eggs. For coffee we went with a espresso doble and a flat white. They work with several roasters of Barcelona and Spain, this time we had EL MAGNIFICO. Perfectly balanced acidity and sweetness for the expresso, and the great latte art and ratio of the milk on the flat white. To end up our review, OMA has a great space to work as well if you want, and the decoration inside is super nice. Worth the go!

For more info about specialty coffee bcncoffeeguide.com Follow us on Instagram for daily updates...