I really hate this phrase on Yelp. But I "really wish I could give this place 6 stars". Now that we…read moregot that out of the way. But after a 3 city trip to Europe, this is the frontrunner for my favorite meal. Was it the food? Was it the company? Was it the service? Was it the interaction with the owners? The answer to all of those is... YES! If you want a true neighborhood spot in Barcelona with delicious food, look no further. I will say the English translation would be tough. Not as tough with me since my wife speaks Spanish. Their tomato bread was the best I had. Their razor scallops were top notch. But the octopus and sardines were the show stealers for this meal. If you are in Barcelona and don't mind fighting the language barrier, come here hands down.

If you want a very authentic Spanish Catalan experience - definitely try Bar Ramón. Be mindful…read morethough that the staff does not speak English so be prepared with Google Translate or some elementary Spanish. We ordered a ton of food for our large group and my favorites were the avocado with prosciutto and dates, the duck, the lamb, and the steak. The white wine was also absolutely amazing as well. It's moderately priced (€€), but you get a ton of food for your money so it is a good value. The restaurant is a bit small so if you have a large group, try to go during a slower time so you can get seated. It's a very local restaurant, so feels very Catalan! Definitely try out Bar Ramon!

An amazing meal. It was conveniently located just a 5…read moreminute walk from my hotel. I opted for the wine pairing. If/when the option is available, I always opt in. The tasting was great. Most dishes are seafood based since it is Barcelona after all. The dishes were innovative and pleasing to the eyes. I loved the fish dishes. I also loved the citrusy dessert as it cleansed my palate for the last dish. The service was lovely. I feel like it's an advantage to do tasting menus solo cos you get more food, in my opinion. The rice dish was my favorite. I'd like to give a special shoutout to the oil they provide to the bread. Man, that was so good.

What I like about Hisop is that they are very flexible with the menu. They allow individuals in a…read morelarge table to choose whatever each wants; some could have a tasting menu, some could order a la carte, some could have a tasting menu with substitutions, etc. I chose the tasting menu among my group and enjoyed each course. The flavors were pretty unique. The plates were on the small side but I felt satisfied, though not full, at the end of the meal. My favorites were the fried squash blossom with pickled bonito, the aubergine and cuttlefish in Catalan green curry, the picanha and chanterelle mushrooms, and the watermelon and yogurt. 1 star off: Service was very cold. There were two women serving the dining room, and both had a snobbish demeanor. Every time we asked for more drinks, more water, more bread, etc., we felt like we were inconveniencing them. We never got most of the things we asked for, even after repeated requests. They would say, "I have not forgotten" but then off they go somewhere else. They clearly have forgotten or did not want to serve us. At the conclusion of our meal, as we are preparing to leave, they poured us more water. Thanks...

BEST RESTAURANT IN BARCELONA!…read more We know that's a bold claim, with so many good ones (and we've eaten at many of them at all price levels), but Petit Pau is the best of the them all. That statement may be well be true at an absolute level (although we love Disfrutar), but it is easily true on a quality/price metric. We have visited and re-visited Petit Pau over the years, because it was always very good, but Pau has taken his game to a new level. He charges 50 euros for an 8 course dinner, each one of which is complex, perfectly executed and with ingredients of the highest quality. If he were charging 125 euros instead, we wouldn't be surprised or call it a rip-off. You simply can't get food of this quality at anything close to this price. Petit Pau is a tiny space with 6 tables. Pau does all the cooking and has help with serving from a single, knowledgable waiter. He is extremely pleasant and comes around to explain the courses and answer any questions about the ingredients or cooking techniques. The menu changes regularly with the seasons. We also recommend the wine pairing. After the complementary glass of cava, we had a sequence of 8 half pours, one with each course, that paired perfectly and enhanced the meal. We almost never choose the wine pairing, as it is usually a high-profit-margin item for restaurants, but Pau's was only 20 euros. Pau offers a vegetarian option and a vegan option in addition to his standard menu with meat and fish. Go there, you won't be disappointed!

Great cosy romantic restaurant in Barcelona! It's a bit out of the way from the city center, but…read moreworth a little detour if you have the time. The restaurant is tiny (seats around 14 people) and it is almost always fully booked so making a reservation in advance is a must. Your dinner starts with a glass of champagne and bread with olive tapenade on the house. Then we had the grilled octupus salad (excellent) and the grilled aubergines (very tasty) as starters. Our mains were the monkfish with fennel and citrus and the fishermen's stew. Both excellent! The dishes were all very fresh and tasty. They have a little dessert trolley which they bring our after your mains so you can see the desserts and choose what you want. The options were cheesecake, lemon merengue tarte, chocolate biscuit tart or a cheese selection. All looked amazing. We had the cheesecake (jum) and the cheese selection. They also have a nice selection of whiskeys!

A Menu Del Dia lunch should always be incorporated into your Barcelona itinerary. This happened to…read morebe our third visit to Barcelona in past 2 years and instead of visiting La Boqueria on Las Ramblas, we headed to Mercat de Santa Caterina. Bar Joan was a popular dining location for the locals who enjoyed tapas at the bar. For Menu Del Dia diners, you get seated in a table area where you are treated to a very filling, authentic meal. Reasonable selection of lunch choices and beverages at a great price. The market itself doesn't have too much to offer if you're not buying real, fresh groceries.

Great non-touristy bar for authentic tapas with locals right by the cathedral! Good bravas. Good…read moreanchovies.

I was lucky enough to have a reservation for dinner here my first night in Barcelona. From the…read moreminute, you walk into the Barcelona arts hotel, you realize that your meal will be visually pleasing as well as delightfully tasteful. The staff were absolutely wonderful and so knowledgeable about the dishes themselves, but also the ingredients where and how they were sourced and how they were prepared. The multicourse meal truly is a journey through the ocean, forest and mountains I got to try proteins that I might never have eaten like pigeon and barnacles! in all honesty-I can't say that every dish was delicious. But this is more a matter of my taste than preparation. I felt that some dishes were too salty and for example, the pigeon was just way too gamey for my palate. Nonetheless, the meal was a true experience in transitions. I especially loved how at the end of the main courses right before the desert you were brought a molecular gastronomy explosion of citrusy scents in the most creative way-- to prepare you for the desserts. I have to say the desserts were all my favorite! All in all a great experience and I can see why this place has two Michelin stars. The ambience was so open and comfortable that I would love to come for lunch someday.

The only reason I am giving two stars is because the servers were all so sweet and provided a great…read moredining experience with their finesse and skill. The food was HIGHLY disappointing. I was expecting to have some of the best food of my life but it was the worst food I have ever been served. I am pescatarian and absolutely love fish but the fish provided was so fishy I had to drink my water to choke it down. After drinking my water it left my cup smelling like someone left a dead fish in there for over a week. The presentation was stunning but overall the food was bland, flagrant, and leaves an everlasting bad taste in your mouth. It was 16 courses of absolute torture.

Barcelona has quite a few Michelin starred restaurants, and I'm slowly working my way through them…read more For my friend's birthday, I booked a lunch at aBaC. I'll be honest, the menu didn't immediately excite me and felt a bit underwhelming at first. That said, the execution completely won me over. Everything tasted far better than expected. Highlights/Memorable dishes: The onion, cheese, anchovy, and enzyme dish was deeply savory and full of umami. Their interpretation of onion soup was comforting yet refined, and the flavors worked perfectly together. The cured sea bream with mollusks, frozen hummus, and spring onion gazpachuelo with cilantro was another highlight. It was almost like a ceviche. The fish was incredibly tender, and I loved the mussels. Great! The squid with Roman style caviar was another hit! Think squid tartare topped with caviar. Simple and delicious! Naturally, my friend and I went all out and ordered a bottle of wine each. The service was exceptional, made even better by our attentive and very charming server (Mitsu?). He was funny and entertained our shenanigans lol. All in, I spent around $700 for two, including the $200 deposit required to secure the reservation. Overall, money well spent and a solid Michelin experience. I would definitely recommend it.

Magnificent! ABaC restored my faith in Michelin rankings for Barcelona…read more The space is well organized with a simple design with black, white, beige, and antiqued bronze colors. Plenty of space between tables. Service was perfect: polite, attentive, and plenty of people. The food was inspired. Every course was delicious and organized around regional influences. Several were fun, such as the deconstructed Caprese salad. An anchovy embedded in a thin slice of bread to resemble a fossil. The last dessert included a helium balloon. Other interesting touches included a candle made of butter, into which could be dipped the excellent rustic bread. The pacing of the courses was ideally timed. Wine pairings were excellent. I highly recommend ABaC. It's worth the expense.

I mean, you kind of know what you're getting when you go to a Michelin Star restaurant in Europe:…read moretiny, elaborately crafted dishes, great wine, respectful service. This place was so ridiculously over the top that it was almost like a mockumentary of a fancy dining experience, though. The waiter took my arm to accompany me to my very dramatically lit table like I was his prom date ffs. . They gave me 3 kinds of butter and an hourglass precisely tuned to the amount of time it would take to steam my fish *at the table*. They used tweezers to garnish everything. I couldn't stop giggling to myself about the whole thing, though this was not really the kind of place where giggling is appropriate. They are INCREDIBLY SERIOUS. Ahem. Just made me want to giggle more, though. Overall of course, the food was very "yes chef" good.

Lo que no entiendo es como perdieron una estrella... este restaurante es increíble!!!! Es…read moreexactamente lo que pido cuando voy a un restaurante y darle las 5 estrellas. La experiencia que empieza abajo es una locura buena, después con nada plato que llega la experiencia se hace mejor. Los sabores te explotan el cerebro, el producto es excelente. Platos frescos, llenos de innovación! Cosas tan "sencillas" como el pan con esas 3 mantequillas que son una locura, que no quiere uno llenarse de pan, pero es que no puedes parar de comer... el postre que es un helado en un labial... algo innovador, rico y sencillo pero que te vuela la cabeza. Y ya de los platos ni hablar, traen el mejor producto de cada rincón de españa para transformarlo en un viaje gastronómico que te lo van explicando a medida que te lo van sirviendo. Y ya cuando pruebas cada bocado es un placer que es cuando aprecias y das gracias a la vida por poder estar ahi en ese momento, gozando de esa experiencia! El servicio es superior, el restaurante es espectacular, los cubiertos, cada vajilla que llegaba era mas linda que la pasada. Una experiencia que hay que vivir así sea 1 vez en la vida! Volvería? Claro que si! No veo la hora de volver a barcelona para poder volver a angle! EXCELENTE!!!!!!!

This is a place filled with locales and authentic neighborhood vibe. If you like Vermouth this is…read morethe Tapas place for you. Make sure you have a translation app or be fluent in Spanish. That said we're two senior travelers from America with limited Spanish and we had a great time. The servers tried hard on their English and put up with our minimal Spanish. We had patatas brava spicy but addictive, croquettes extraordinaire especially the spinach and the sopressa ones, olives are good too. If you like anchovies in a variety of delivery formats or calamari both are plentiful. The place was really busy and clearly loved by locales of all ages. We're glad we had the experience.

Cute local place that was referred to us by our amazing food tour guide. Great inside area with…read moregood group seating + plus good outdoor seating for smaller groups. They had several specialty drinks too - solid drink menu. Unfortunately, the service struggled a bit. We were never told that the food menu was on the wall nor that payment was collected at the bar.