Restaurant La Pau — Restaurant in Barcelona

A group of us enjoyed the Prix Fixe lunch offerings at Restaurant La Pau last week. It was my first time visiting this establishment. Tucked into the Passatge de la Pau in Ciutat Vella, Barcelona’s old town, this restaurant presents a modern and hip counterpoint to the ancient building exteriors that characterize this neighborhood. La Pau's decor features brick walls decorated with beautiful contemporary art, fairy string lights over the windows, brightly-colored chairs that accent the muted tones of the walls and flooring, a modernistic bar decorated with words that express the anxieties, wishes and dreams of the young people who have passed through El Llindar (a social equity youth education program in Barcelona). Students from El Llindar work at La Pau as part of their professional internships.

We came in at 12:30 PM without a reservation and were fortunate to get their last remaining table that had not been reserved. We were unaware that this restaurant was this busy or we would have made a reservation. I highly recommend making a reservation before going to dine here. By 1 PM, every table in the establishment was full and lively and gay chatter floated about the room.

We ordered one salad and two vegetable millefeilles with urgella cheese and romesco sauce for the first course. All were very enjoyable. The vegetable millefeuilles was especially delicious with light, flaky layers over cheese and tender veggies. For the main course, two of us ordered the braised veal cheeks with potato parmentier and roast juices, and the third member of our group ordered the sea bass baked with fried onions, potatoes and garlic. The veal was very tender and flavorful. The potato parmentier was delicious, but I wish there had been just a wee bit more of it. And the sea bass was cooked to perfection with perfect accompaniments which married well with the flavors of the bass. We all very much enjoyed our entrees.

The desserts were equally delicious - a rich chocolate mousse and a beautiful, fresh fruit tartelette with a light and airy crust. But, we were quite amused by the presentation of the chocolate mousse. Take a look at the attached photo and see what it reminds you of! I am not sure if this is an intentional whimsical take on its presentation, but I would understand if it could be somewhat off-putting to some people. I, for one, would prefer the look of the moose in a shallow bowl rather than on a flat plate where you cannot help but crinkle your nose by the thought of what it ressembles.

As we were celebrating the Dia de las Reinas (Queens' Day), our self-anointed celebration following on the heels of Dia de los Reyes, we sipped on a lovely, cold bottle of cava along with our meal. It was a very enjoyable lunch in a very lovely venue. Just remember! Make a reservation so as not be be disappointed and not have a table when you go...

Overall a sad experience and disappointment. I decided to book this place because of the high ratings and good reviews, but the evening was not at all what I hyped for. We came on Wednesday, I booked a table online for 19, maybe it is rather early in Barcelona to eat dinner, but we came into a completely silent (no music) and empty restaurant. Though all tables were free, we were given a choice of only two tables in the corners, because the rest were booked too - no one showed up to those „booked tables“ the whole evening as we stayed till 21:30. Our starters came far before the cocktails. Some restaurant staff (or waiters friends? As they were not dressed like waiters) were roaming to and from the restaurant across the dinning area. Baby squids with beans seemed like a joke and not a dish, honestly for that price - do not order it. The Creme Bruelle was cold, almost no crust. The ambient looked nice. I wanted this restaurant to be the highlight of our last Barcelona evening, but it was a...

I wasn’t going to leave any review, because frankly speaking the food looks fancy, but the taste is a bit behind. But! I decided to leave a comment about the care and treatment I got from the staff. I ordered a grilled calamari, but being vegan could not eat half of it (my fault completely, wanted to try something special and chose badly), and explained it to the server so that the chef wouldn’t feel bad for it. Later the chef decided to send me a vegetarian appetiser on the house and I must say it was marvellous: croquetas de escalivada is a must-have. And also, we loved the local version of the typical Catalan dessert “el music”, which normally consists of nuts and sweet moscatel wine, but in this case was a combination of cream, nuts, crunchy base and the most fascinating part - brandy foam peaks, which I can’t even imagine how they achieved. My applause. Thanks for this...