La Mestressa is such a great vibe and one of the defining experiences from my trip to Barcelona!…read moreHere are a few highlights: 1. The neighborhood - I stayed at the AC Hotel Sants while visiting Barcelona. The Barcelona Sants train station was adjacent to the hotel, and the property was in a walkable neighborhood surrounded by restaurants, convenience stores, and other businesses. There was also a deceptively nondescript alley right next to the hotel that I didn't explore right away. Turns out, that alley leads to a vibrant, hidden plaza (Plaça d'Osca) with restaurants and shops, where locals in the Sants neighborhood hang out. This is also where La Mestressa is located. 2. The food and drinks - I got dinner with two friends at La Mestressa one evening. We ordered a pitcher of sangria, a bottle of wine, and a wide selection of tapas, croquettes, and a couple main dishes. My personal favorites from the meal were the sangria, patatas bravas (crispy potatoes with sauce), octopus, and the salmon salad (not pictured). Each of those dishes were well-seasoned, had great textural contrast, and provided either familiar comfort (patatas bravas and octopus) or a completely new flavor experience (salmon salad). The sangria was light and refreshing. 3. The service - Our server was bilingual and provided satisfactory service. She was warm. The service was well-paced, and she attended to all of our needs as a group. 4. The ambience - As I previously mentioned, both Plaça d'Osca and La Mestressa were a whole vibe. If the terms "off the beaten path," "honeycomb hideout," "in the cut," or "rural retreat" mean anything to you, this area similarly provides a nice place to "retreat" and immerse yourself in a local neighborhood right in the heart of Spain's second largest city. It's the perfect place to drink wine and sangria and while away your evening. :)

We were in the neighborhood on vacation, and were looking for someplace to eat. They had room so…read morewe stepped in. Honestly the rest of Barcelona has been ruined for us now. We ate other places, but none of them compare. Not the market, none of the other small tapas places we tried. It's as if the others aren't even trying. If you are near Plaça de Sants, you will not be disappointed.

The best jamon we had in Barcelona. A small little shop with a few tables, much quieter and better…read morequality than the bustling La Boqueria during lunchtime. We couldn't decide what else to get besides the jamon iberico de bellota, so the waitress suggested we try the chorizo and one I think was called copa. The jamon iberico de bellota was the best of the 3 meats. I liked the chorizo a lot, too. The other cut was a little stronger/funkier if you're into that - my husband liked it more than the chorizo. The menu was on the tables via QR code. Staff was friendly, helpful, relaxed, and not pushy.

Absolutely amazing and fresh meat and cheese. The server hooked us up with a fantastic sample…read more Coupled with great wine, this place was outstanding. Our cab driver did advise us to come to this area only during the daylight hours as crime, especially pickpocketing is rampant in this area. The place was spectacular and authentic!

If ever visiting the lovely and colorful Poblenou, be sure to visit this incredible restaurant! The…read morecheese selection and quality is absolutely superb. Even if without time to sit down and eat, do buy some cheese to go! We did that and then returned for a proper dinner. The atmosphere was so cozy and makes me feel like it's Christmas there everyday! The service is so kind and accommodating. We shared three incredible salads (one with bufalo mozzarella, one with mushrooms, and the third with orange and chili, as well as shared a large cheese plate of cheeses from Northern Spain. Wow! Everything was absolutely divine! All of the salads were incredible (and it was my first and last bite of jamon iberico while in Barcelona as I'm vegetarian and made an exception of a bite here in order to experience the culinary history of Barcelona... and I am so glad I did this here as my cousin who lives near the restaurant confirmed it is among the best Iberico he had ever eaten). The Rose was incredible and they offer an extensive wine list. The cheeses were unforgettable dekicious. It was such a delicious, beautiful and memorable dinner with such lovely company and our last dinner together in Barcelona this trip. Thank you so much! We hope one day soon to return to Barcelona from NYC!

As primarily English speaking it has been a disappointing culinary adventure throughout Spain, but…read morenot here. Not only did our server amuse our broken Spanish but he also spoke English. The food was absolutely amazing. I had a Tebia salad. I honestly can't say I've been so excited over a salad. It had a wonderful aray of light toppings with a hot host cheese on toast. It was delightful and rich with the semisweet salad. My spouse had the fondue and a toast with iberco ham. The tiramisu was not to sweet yet creamy and delicate. Great service, great meal, great start to our trip to Barcelona. Best meal yet in Spain

Delicious and inventive food. Friendly service and fun/kitschy dining room hidden in the back. They…read morerecommended 2 per person so we'll be back with a larger group next time to try more dishes. We waited in line for doors to open at 8pm on a weeknight. Great quality to value and portions were quite large for tapas!

Amazing hole in the wall place! So lucky we ran into El 58…read morewhen we were on the hunt for tapas during siesta. Definitely recommend for some authentic dishes and nice ambiance. The main part of the restaurant is further back (away from the street), so it doesn't feel touristy at all.

Overall the experience was good. Servers were friendly and the food was not pricey…read more My friend and I ordered quite a lot of food and we took our time to finish them. We didn't get the pressure that we had to empty the table. I guess it's Europe after all.

We arrived super late for lunch and they made an exception to keep the kitchen open for our little…read moregroup. The meal was fantastic starting with one of my favorites, pan con tomate that we make ourselves. Toasted bread, fresh tomatoes and garlic, olive oil and salt. Fun and delicious. We all had a warned goat cheese salad with seeds and nuts with a balsamic reduction- excellent. Then I had grilled bonito tuna over vegetables that was delicious and perfectly cooked. The manager was very friendly and offered all of us a free chupito at the end. Recommend!

We came here on a random Yelp review and we were NOT disappointed! We started with sangria and…read moremushrooms. The sangria was incredible. mushrooms coocked in butter and white wine and just about a ton of garlic! Amazing! And then the paella negro.. Black rice with seafood. Worth the wait! This is a whole-in-the-wall restaurant worthy of your time and money!!!

Benito gracias por su servicio, excelente todo!! Gracias…read more Ambiente divino como en casa la paella de mariscos la más rica del área!!

On our final night in Barcelona, we wanted to wrap our our stay with more of a fine dining…read morerestaurant, but also a spot that locals would go dine as well. Our hotel concierge recommended L'Olive as a spot for us to try and I'm glad they did! We made reservations about a month or so in advance and we arrived at our dining time and was warmly greeted by the host and also were greeted even by the kitchen chef team as we were walking to our table. The restaurant is pretty large and is very elegant, a true fine dining establishment! The server came by a few minutes later and greeted us as well and provided us with our menus and offered to answer any initial questions we had. They brought some olives and a few pieces of ham as complimentary starters and we ordered wine by the glass for I believe around 5 or 6 euros a glass. The wine was very tasty and a great value. The starters were also a nice touch as well! For appetizers, we ordered the Catalan bread for 4 euros, along with the croquettes for 3 euros each. Both were great choices for starters, and we enjoyed all of them! We also ordered the Gazpacho soup which was on their specials for the night, and it was absolutely outstanding! It tasted very fresh and the server also brought soup toppings by as well which we were able to select from. We ordered the Grilled Beef Filet, including fries for 34 euros each and the cut of meat was absolutely amazing! All food we tried was amazing and very flavorful and was a standout meal from our trip. We highly recommend trying the restaurant if you're in Barcelona!

Service: A friend recommended that check out L'Olive while in Barcelona and I'm glad we went! I…read moreenjoyed the quick and accommodating dinner service. The interior of the dimly lit restaurant was also stunning! Food: For appetizers, the restaurant provides the most delicious, fresh olives and bread. For my entree, I ordered the paella and was happy that I did. The restaurant will present the paella in a flat pan and then place it on a plate for you - I loved this presentation and the attention to detail! It was very filling and appetizing. Recommendation: Overall, I would recommend trying out this restaurant.

Beautiful/classy place, friendly staff, and delicious food. The entire experience was wonderful~ We…read morealso got a Cava and it tasted so well with everything we ordered! Food: Chistorra Sausage & Olives They give you olives & chistora sausages as a starter. The sausage was really juicy and flavorful~ Ajoarriero Cod with Poached Egg I loved this dish! The egg was perfectly poached and the fish was amazingly cooked. Flavors were on point! Grilled artichokes, foie and Iberian ham I'm not a big foie fan so I kinda stayed away from it. BUT! I can tell you that the artichokes were nicely grilled (not salty at all). The Iberian ham was a bit hard to eat because it took me a while to chew it and swallow. It just didn't go down well I think. Cured ham and loin of Iberian acorn-fed pork This selection of meats was better than the Iberian ham in the foie dish (look below). Very nice and generous portions too~ Grilled white asparagus, truffled mayonnaise and Idiazábal cheese Probably...the best white asparagus I've ever had. It was sooo good that we ordered another right after we finished it. Explosive. Wild Mushrooms with Farm Egg I think a dish that combines mushrooms and eggs has been becoming more and more popular lately, and I can see why~ It's so yummy! The yolk was runny and the mushrooms were nice and chewy (not like those soft, floppy ones). Cream cheese soufflé with raspberry ice cream Our waitress recommended this dessert and it's a better dessert than the lemon sorbet. I just liked looking at the souffle because it seemed so perfectly..."poofed." Then I took a bite, and then continued to clean the entire bowl. The raspberry ice cream also made the soufflé even more delicious. Our Lemon Sorbet Decent dessert, although I liked the soufflé more. But the sorbet was still pretty refreshing.

The appetizers here are ok, not not that spectacular…read more However, the 1KG steak, cooked rare, was excellent!! Great marbling and dry aged taste. Spaniards can cook steak that's for sure!!!