Ostaia - Osteria Genovese | Eixample — Restaurant in Barcelona

We visited Ostaia in Eixample as a group of five on a Thursday afternoon and were pleasantly surprised. Service was prompt and the overall ambiance of the restaurant was calm, clean, and tastefully decorated—an inviting space that immediately makes a good impression.

The menu is refreshingly simple, which we appreciated. It focuses on high-quality ingredients and well-executed dishes rather than overwhelming you with options. We ordered several portions of both plain and onion focaccia, the Mezza Manica alla Carbonara with guanciale, egg, parmesan, and pecorino, and the Ravioli di carne e borragine “Au-Tuccu” with boletus and veal ragù. Every pasta dish was excellent—flavorful and well-balanced. That said, considering the price point (around €15 per dish), slightly more generous portions would be welcome.

For dessert, we tried the tiramisu, the panna cotta with red berries, and the pistachio-chocolate cheesecake. All three were outstanding—definitely a highlight and a must-try before leaving.

Service remained quick and attentive throughout. One suggestion for improvement would be to offer a weekday lunch menu, which could enhance the overall value. We paid approximately €25 per person, which felt fair given the quality.

If you’re in central Barcelona and craving a well-crafted pasta dish in a relaxed setting, Ostaia is a...

Summary: Ups and downs, specially on service and desserts. Dishes were tasty and I'll definitely give another chance, but 4.7 seems overrated.

Food: Foccacia al Fromaggio -- very good, thin though, good amount of cheese. It was a generous portion for 2! Papardelle con ragú -- very good! Seasoning was on spot and pasta was al dente. Loved it. Gnocchi al pesto -- Gnocchi was great and pesto was good. It was a little bit bitter for my taste, maybe I was unlucky since pesto is their specialty. I need to try again. Tiramissu -- Didn't love it at all. It was too sweet, too runny and I couldn't taste the coffee. Panacota -- It was very good. Only thing I didn't love was the mango flavor, all place tries to be very authentic, mango doesn't seem to fit the place. Negative note on both desserts being served on a paper container.

Service: Everyone was very kind, explaining about the dishes, asking how things were etc but, at the same time, it was a bit chaotic. We asked for a second glass of wine that never came (even after asking again). I asked for my coffee together with desert, it came late, when desert was over... They need to improve service a lot!

Atmosphere: Place is modern, well decorated. I found it a little noisy, but...

We must have gone on an off night as this place is highly reviewed but I can’t say I would go back. All the food arrived barely warm. The wine was the worst red wine by the glass that I’ve had in Spain, it was sweet and left a raisin coating in the mouth afterwards. The service was frantic, our server came to take our order and in the middle wandered off to get help with her device never looking up or acknowledging us and then goes to the table next to us (who had just sat down) to continue taking our order, and was there with them for a full minute before they were able to communicate with her that she was at the wrong table and point her to us. The carbonara had a “box cheese” feel and look to and was was served with rigatoni instead of spaghetti or thick noodles. The ragu was good, there was no sauce to it, just chucks of meat and a few tomato’s. And at the back there is a projector playing a video of someone walking around Italy, which truly detracts from the vibe of the restaurant, but matches the chaotic energy the staff was bringing.

I took no photos because nothing was photo worthy, and this became a functional meal instead of...