TXIRIMIRI — Restaurant in Barcelona

My wife said “I haven’t eaten canned vegetables since I lived with my mother.”

We came here because the neighborhood paella place that some locals sent us to was closed for the month of August, and it was getting late, and we were both cranky and hungry. We found this place here on Google Maps, rated 4.4 stars as of this writing.

I’m not gonna sugar coat it.

The food was pale, salty, soggy and gross. “Paella” dish was in a paella pan, consisted of grey canned peas, green beans and artichoke, and inconsistently-cooked eggs.

Pan con tomate is a no-brainer. Chain coffee shops use great bread. This place served it on a spongy “Italian” white-bread roll.

I ordered a dish that purported to be a delicacy made with baby eels, spicy peppers and fried eggs. The eels were mostly flavorless, and could have been buttered noodles. The peppers were sliced red bell peppers in vinegar, like the type you might get on a sandwich at Subway. The eggs were... not great.

Our starter was a 9 euro “pastry pie” with crab sauce, leeks and langosteen shrimp. What came out was a very soft sliced loaf of mush drowned in thick beige sauce.

This was not a cheap meal. Everything came out of a can, and tastes bland at best and gross on balance. My wife and I are torn between trying to find better food, to wipe away the memory, and just heading back to our hotel, as we’re both feeling a bit queasy.

I’d give it zero stars if possible. My second regret, after eating here, is that I cannot drag the average rating down far enough to save others from this experience.

Do yourself a favor and look up Story, which is right around the corner, for delicious, fresh, inspired food with friendly service for comparable prices. Plus, their house vermouth, made with fresh rosemary,...

Having constantly snacked throughout the day, I was in search of a lighter fare come dinner time. Pintxos (a traditional finger food of Northern Spain) fit the bill perfectly. At TXIRIMIRI, it's à la carte - head up to the bar, peruse the variety of freshly-prepared pintxos on display, and grab what you fancy. Then, come back for more! They are reasonably price at 1.5e per skewer. The staff was super friendly. Washrooms located on premise. Minimal crowds in the early evening.

Tip: Some of the pintxos are stacked pretty high and it isn't physically possible to eat them whole (though you would be forgiven for thinking that's the "only" way to eat them). Chatting with the owner, I learned that it's perfectly cool to layer-off piecemeal or enjoy...

Tried tapas, entrecot, marinated pork, Txirimiri cod fish and ordered a jar of sangria. The best one was the fish. The sauce they made for it was awesome. The atmosphere was very nice, kind of like a hovel. They really know how to make their customers happy. From the moment we entered, our waiter was very caring and polite. Although he did not speak English and we did not speak Spanish, he communicated with us perfectly. They did not charge us for the three pieces of tapas and they gave treats to our daughter (a kinder surprise egg and a bottle of fruit juice). So, even the toddler who ate none of the...