Eat here if you want food poisoning. Served me a fried napkin with my calamari. Refused to take it off of the bill. Brought me a drink instead, which I didn't want. Who does that? Yuck. Overpriced, overhyped, and mediocre/bad. read more

Yes, the previous reviews are true - this location is located along a strip of tourist traps down the way from Barceloneta Beach. We started with the patatas bravas, which were bomb, perfectly crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and a delicious spicy sauce drizzled on top. The seafood paella for 4 was gigantic, really could actually feed 5. Huge prawns, crispy rice, and quite filling! One star down because of expected higher prices for being in this area. read more

El Rey de la Gamba 1 - Seafood paella! - Seafood Near Me - Barcelona, B

~*~Touristy sea food. Best Calamari of my life. Amazing (but per-packaged) desserts. Order with Caution. ~*~ Portions come as full portion and Tapas (half portion). Calamari is like nothing I've had in the states. My parents had a fish dish that had a lot of little bones but was not too hard to eat. I was so full but when the waiters threw (and yes he did throw) the colorful dessert menu on the table, I had to look. I had a cream cheese/raspberry sorbet...and yes...my mouth even waters now. Highly Recommend. read more

I'm traveling Europe with my family along with my sister side as well. Just try out since the place seems to be catering to tourists. Their menu in different languages as well including Korean surprisingly. The price of their menu is decent in my opinion, and I'm happy with what I ordered. There are many places to visit in Barcelona areas where attractive to many tourists so searching what you like the most and try them out. I personally like more local authentic food than fusion styles. If anything you look good, just try and experience it. read more

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Hands down, one of the best eating we did in Europe. Ate all the razor clams, shrimps and oysters I could eat!! The prawns were so tasty, you initially get the succulent head juice gushing out and bam! sweet meaty shrimp texture right after. Ah, what a great stop. We actually went down the street and had more shrimp at another location but this was the best. My Experience::::::::::: chew chew chew happy happy happy.. more more more! read more

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Meh, that's all I will say... Seems more like a tourist trap than anything else - no point wasting more of my time here.

As you walk along Passeig de Joan de Borbo, the main street that goes down to the beach in Barceloneta, you'll encounter a ton of seafood restaurants--but this one in particular stands out because they seem to have THREE locations all connected to each other. El Rey de la Gamba 1, 2, and 3 are all connected to each other with people outside trying to get you to go in. I was a bit uncertain about picking a restaurant in this area, but the prices were extremely reasonable and quite delicious. They allow you, for most of the dishes, to pay for one person rather than two (most places charge you double the price they advertise for arroz (rice) dishes like paella and fideua because the portion is always at minimum for two). Our Fideua was only 13 euros for one person but fed us well. We also got the grilled razor clams (navajas) for 7.61 euros and a litre of sangria for 11.50 euros. The razor clams were really good and fresh but the Fideua was AMAZING. The sangria, however, was HORRIBLE. The still water was 1.98 euros. Our total was 36.82 euros, quite reasonable. So: - Do get the Fideua - Don't get the Sangria Definitely worth coming. read more

El Rey de la Gamba 1 - Fideua for ONE - Seafood Near Me - Barcelona, B

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The service was HORRENDOUS. After the meal, where our server took the plates away HIMSELF, he proceeded to ignore us for 30 minutes!!! He fed and cleared and gave a check and to go boxes to the table NEXT to us, he looked at us when we tried to call him over, even turned around when I called out SENIOR. We walked off towards him, he TURNED around and walked inside away from us, we decided to just leave. Then he FINALLY paid us any mind, we were more than willing to finally pay, but the server got extremely aggressive and claimed we were trying to steal, that we never asked for help ( also to note he NEVER asked us if we wanted desserts or coffee, even though I watched him ask TWO tables next to us). The manager was sitting at a table, allowing this server to ignore our table and also proceeded to get up to aggressively scream at us, I suspecting they always do this to any tourists who they suspect do not speak spanish, and had hoped to charged us double if I hadn't demanded the check before they ran our card. read more

I did not like anything of this restaurant is only good located that is the reason why they sell normal food to expensive price only for Turist and not recomended! read more

El Rey de la Gamba 1 - Terrible presentation of Galician Octopus - Seafood Near Me - Barcelona, B

Tried the chiken paella and let me tell you it would be better to by it frosen. There was small chunks of chiken bones and left over from other paelleas got som squid in mine. read more

There's tons of tourist traps and restaurants that are lined up in stalls right along this strip on the way to the beach. It's hard to decide which one is the real deal vs. the fakes. You'll definitely get approached by aggressive servers waving their menus at you to lure you in. We opted to try El Rey de la Gamba for 3 reasons: 1. Out of all the others restaurants, this place was the most packed 2. It was a good deal, not overly expensive 3. They have two locations on the same strip within feet from each other The Paella was really good, seafood was fresh all around, and had plentiful mussels which I can appreciate. For our appetizer we ordered Chipirones and it was so good I couldn't stop eating them before my entree came. Perfectly battered and fried calamari drizzed with fresh squeezed lime, best appetizer! The service was most excellent and very courteous. Lastly, we were lucky to get a table on the patio right on the edge of the sidewalk so we watched the sunset as we ate our dinner. read more

Fairly good, a bit salty, interesting to try. But I wouldn't recommend it to friends because of the tourist trap set-up & feeling. I felt like a cash cow there. Also, our waiter had a bad case of BO that made us uncomfortable. read more

El Rey de la Gamba 1 - Seafood Near Me - Barcelona, B

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As much as they say that restaurants on the boardwalk or along the beach blow, this place is great! The seafood platters are an absolute MUST. They are huge and totally worth it. I didn't have the tapas here, but I would suggest walking inland a bit more and enjoying the seafood fare here since you're so close to the beach. My dad went to Barca in 2005 and always remembered this place and recommended it to me. Now that I've gone for my honeymoon and LOVED it, I totally recommend it. *There is Rey de la Gamba 1, 2 & 3. 1 &2 are on the boardwalk/same street & location, #3 is somewhere else - not sure. read more

After a afternoon at the beach we were quite hungry. It seemed welcoming enough without too many tourists so we gave it a shot and f'ing scored! Patatas bravas were great, sardines were tasty and fresh and most of all, the seafood paella was amazing!!! Highly recommend it and all of our food including dessert was less than 50€! read more

El Rey de la Gamba 1 - Patatas Bravas, muy bien! - Seafood Near Me - Barcelona, B

A great place to enjoy Mediterranean style seafood. Ordered a plate with the entire sea in it. Great prices! Delicious sangria. Will definitely return. read more

El Rey de la Gamba 1 - Seafood Near Me - Barcelona, B

I had my first paella here and it just didn't agree with me. Having not much experience with authentic paella, I'm not sure what went wrong, but I agree with the other reviewers that it is a very touristy place. I didn't really have a good time here with the touristy atmosphere and there wasn't really much to recommend this place. There are lots of better places I'm sure, don't get caught here. read more

Overrated and salty! I was recommended this restaurant for the paella, so I was very excited to come here and eat. Boy, what a major disappointment. The paella was like eating salt gravy. Way too wet and nothing crisped up! The fideua was a way better choice as I enjoyed that much more than the paella, but it too was salty. read more

We came here for lunch and got sangria (duh), mussels and fish (don't remember which now) and fell in love! Everything was SO good that we came back for dinner the same night. Flavorful, plentiful, good prices! read more

WIFI PASS: GAMBAGAMBA Food was nothing special, and at a decent price- definitely a tourist trap. Someone annoyed us until we walked in (if they're begging for you to go in, something's wrong). Service was TERRIBLE. Server was annoyed and impatient the whole time when we were one of the only people there. Bathrooms were disgusting- worst in Barcelona. Only reason I'm giving 2 stars is because the food wasn't bad. read more

The food is great with Spanish people cooking and running this business! Family friendly with kid accommodations and great customer service! read more

El Rey de la Gamba 1 - Paella - Seafood Near Me - Barcelona, B

The food was tasty. Everything tasted fresh and flavorful. The service was mediocre. Sorry, I don't want to watch my servers smoking (in between serving me) just to the side of the outdoor eating area as the smoke wafts over to my table. read more

El Rey de la Gamba 1 - Seafood Near Me - Barcelona, B

The waiters were courteous, albeit pushy, and the restaurant is clean. We ordered the arroz negro, a dish traditionally cooked with squid ink and aforementioned squid. This gives it a black color and a deep salty taste. We got black tar rice. read more

I had the lamb chops, which were over cooked, greasy, and generally not that impressive. My wife had the spaghetti fisherman style which she said was good. The sangria was pretty good and reasonably priced. Over all, the food was okay but overpriced. I felt like I was the victim of a tourist trap. read more

Not a huge fan of rice in general but felt that it was necessary to try paella in Spain. We passed several restaurants along the strip on the beach and settled on this place as they have several options regarding non-seafood dishes. We started with tapas and after a bit of a waiting we finally got out paella. The dishes we served hot and the waiter even played part of the portions. I would absolutely patron again if ever back in Barcelona. read more

El Rey de la Gamba 1 - Mixed Paella which consisted of chicken and seafood. - Seafood Near Me - Barcelona, B

I would like to give this place a good review but I just can't. It's the typical tourist place with lousy food. They were very friendly and the beer was cold so I give them 2 stars. The pulpo a la gallega is just horrible. You can tell it's frozen. Very hard and tough to chew. I didn't bother with it. The paella looks good but it's not well prepared. Does not taste fresh at all and a paella needs that. The swordfish was ok. It's what the waiter recommended and he pointed out that it was fresh. Since most items appear to be frozen I would ask the waiter if you want to chance eating here. The calamari were by far the worst I have ever seen or tasted. They looked like onion rings and very greasy. Skip this place and every other one near it. read more

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I was told to eat at the Gamba 1 and not at the Gamble 2. The paella was really good and the service was friendly and fast. They serve the paella on a huge steel pan at the table. It was a great experience. read more

I just got back from Barcelona yesterday. We were a little wary of restaurants in the beach area, expecting bad food for the price. However, we were pleasantly surprised...we actually ate there twice on the same day(El Rey de la Gamba 2)! We chose the "Menu of the day" for lunch, which included one appetizer, entree,drink and dessert for 15 Euros. That was an excellent deal considering we ate a small dish of octupus in the Boqueria for 15 Euros!!! I ordered fried squid for an appetizer, paella for my entree, and a beer. My boyfriend ordered battered cuttlefish,black rice and a beer as well. They started us out with slices of warm toast with fresh tomato rubbed on top...delicious- both flavorful & crispy. We shared everything and everything was SOOO good! The squid and cuttlefish were tender-unlike the rubbery consistency we frequently encounter here in the U.S. The Paella was slightly salty for my personal taste (I don't eat a lot of salt),still very tasty, however. My favorite was the Black Rice....rice cooked in squid ink with fresh clams, squid and shrimp...very rich but sooo yummy!The desserts we chose were flan and an ice cream sandwich- they were ok, but I didn't really care. The main food was excellent! It was the best food we ate in Barcelona, which is why we ate there again for dinner later that night. My boyfriend was not as hungry for dinner since we ate so much at lunchtime. We only ordered razor clams and the Fiduea. People on either side of us ordered the HUGE platters of grilled seafood-piles of fish, mussels , prawns and langostinos. They appeared to be enjoying their food . I was not at all disappointed with what we ordered. I never had razor clams before (I had watched Andrew Zimmern from Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel eat them in the Boqueria and have wanted to try them ever since we got to Barcelona). They were simply prepared with butter, oil and herbs, and were very delicious. The Fiduea (noodles with mixed seafood) was just as tasty. I highly recommend eating at this restaurant! I will be back when I return to Barcelona someday!!! read more

I'm usually reluctant to visit any restaurant that caters to tourists, but my friend and I were hungry and had a train to catch. We stopped by El Rey de la Gamba expecting to pay for overpriced seafood because it was about a block away from the beach. To my surprise, the mussels and navajas (razor shell clams) were about 8 euros each! It was my last day in Barcelona so I decided to order both while my friend ordered seafood paella. Upon taking our order, the waiter seemed to think it'd be too much food and suggested I get half an order of mussels and half an order of navajas. It wasn't an option on the menu, but he assured me it'd simply be half the price. When the food came out, the order of mussels and navajas were huge! I couldn't believe they were only half orders and was very glad our waiter was kind enough to suggest half portions. It was my first time trying navajas and they were super flavorful and juicy. A bit phallic...but it made it more fun to eat ;) The seafood paella was also a large portion. Tasty, but not the best I've had in Spain. Come for the navajas! read more

I absolutely love this place. I would come here just to order tapas portion of razor clams, mussels, and other dishes. The tapas dish is no small feat at all, its plenty for one person alone and is less than 10 euros. Also the oysters they serve here are just the bomb. Quite expensive, but thats okay, it was amazing. Perfect place to go after an amazing time on the beach read more

Yuck! Don't eat here. We had Gambas al Ajillo. This is a national dish of Spain and really easy to make. Not here. Little garlic and bad bread. Bad wine. This is Barcelona, man! read more

The prices here are extremely cheap for huge platters, we ordered a fried seafood platter for 38 euros, and it was enough to feed 4 of us. Some of the seafood was ok, but the shrimp in the platter wasn't very fresh. Not too tasty either. And I'm pretty sure this place gave me food poisoning that took me out for 2 days of my Europe trip, it was all I had to eat that day, and I felt queasy before I even left the restaurant. read more

Walked in wanting a small dish and a glass of Sangria. The Sangria was small and low quality with way too much ice. Asked for a small dish and they brought a full size shrimp plate. 30 euros was bill, definitely not worth it steer clear. read more

If I could've give it 0 stars I would. I was trying very hard to find a place along the beach that wasn't a tourist trap, my family & I figured this place would be the best one where the Paella would not be frozen. I still asked if the Paella was fresh & they said yes. 1. the customer service was AWFUL. The waiter was rude and short tempered. He did not explain to us (obviously we are tourists and don't know much about Spanish food) & gave us short answers. We ordered our first paella from here. We also ordered chicken croquettes and they were COLD in the middle, which meant they were frozen. The Paella did not take long to come out which meant it probably wasn't "casera" a.k.a made fresh at the restaurant. The Paella most of all was horrible, have never tasted anything as bad as that, bad bad taste. Ruined my Paella experience + frozen food + bad customer service. Horrible. read more

So let's continue. Or should D I recap for anyone just joining in this story? Had a great time at SALAMANCA RESTAURANT, go THERE if you want to have a nice meal. This place I'll give two stars because I am generous and fair. I had the pulpo gallega (Octopus) which was delicious. We also had almejas al vapor (steamed clams) which were a bit small but tasty. My wife didn't care too much for the sauce. But as I explained in the other review, which put me in this rant that I had to discontinue and now finish here. Wife asked for fried fish and instead got fried guppies with the eyeballs staring at her. Looked like feeder worms from a pet store. Then we asked for a no brainer... Something no restaurant could "eff up"! Calamari. How many versions of calamari do you know of? I only know one, I'm from NYC. It's one of the few things we keep simple. To NOT " eff it up". Which is exactly what they do. Apparently they make it "la romana" style. I didn't know til he said it after he brought it out. It looked like it was the size of a doughnut, a greasy yellow doughnut. When I bit into it, it was a skin of yellow greasy dough with what looked like a thin rubber band fried in the middle. It was rubbery and thin, and it looked like a LIVESTRONG bracelet. I'm going to market one to raise awareness for people who suffered from going to his place. It's going to be the actual calamari which you will be able to pull and snap on your own wrist and cause you pain any time you even think of this place. Hopefully, within a few times, one will develop the Pavlovian response to run the other way! To continue, now we return this plate, the second plate we've returned. The maitre D sees this and asks what happened, then he says, from what he saw... GET THIS... WE SHOULD KNOW WHAT WE WANT! Apparently it was our own fault. This is a foreign place to us so we have to know what we order. That server, according to the gentleman, was also a chef, and he knows all abut the food. That's just BS. I didn't argue because I don't like to cause a commotion, I paid for my food, he took off one dish but not the other. I'm not crying about my money. It's tapas. It was cheap. But so was the quality. And so was the service. I've never heard of a chef serving food and NOT taking the time to explain what they serve, and not wanting the customer to be satisfied. These restaurants stand out front and punce on people to come in and eat here. But this is the quality you get. Go where someone tells you it was great. I'm telling you, my friends, DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME HERE. The waitress around the corner at the Salamanca (go there) said fried fish are fish the size of fingers. That other fish, which, though it was technically a bunch of teeny little fish, was called something else. And any decent place would apologize and ask exactly what you want, not blame you for not knowing, you have to be informed by the person who is working , making a living off that business. Otherwise, that person isn't going a good job. Look around at my history. I don't just make bad reviews for thrills. I like to praise the places I go to. This experience really went south and I had to let it be known. Thanks for your time. Viva España! read more

Restaurant for tourist. People next of us ordered paella looked mushy, so we asked extra crispy, but still not correct texture.

Food was ok. Service was mediocre and I may have to disagree with some of the reviews as this place is a tourist trap just like every other place on this strip! Beautiful view obviously however food wasn't fresh at all! Chicken wings tasted as if they were warned up, the bread was stale and hard as a rock and the Paella was definitely reheated and lack the crispy cooked bottom that comes from a freshly made Paella. I personally would not recommend! My star rating is for the view and location. read more

a bit touristic, but good. dish: sardines read more

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Salty - tourist trap - overpriced and not amazing. Tortilla espanyola was way too salty. Paella sort of redeemed it. Head off the beaten track a bit, people! read more

This was quite good. They asked us how much salt to use before the food. The sangria is a must. I think the paella was better than the arroz negro. There was a crab too small to have any meat. Everything tasted fresh. read more

Eh-ok, rather. Not bad but certainly not mind blowing. Very touristy, as they catch you on the sidewalk as you're returning from the beach area. Food was pretty good, outdoor seating was nice, but still not over the top about this joint. I'm being generous by saying wi-fi is spotty, as it was pretty horrible. Wouldn't try again - there are so many places you can get a great paella (which is what I was there for), so don't waste it here. read more