Barcelona Wine Bar

Cuisine Spanish
Price $$$ (31-50)
Rating 6/10
Last Visit May 14, 2019
Location Boston: South End
General Notes

This is my first time at a Spanish restaurant! I had pretty high expectations coming in, and while the food wasn't quite as amazing as I would have expected, overall this is a great restaurant, particularly for large parties and celebrations.

Positives

> The atmosphere of the restaurant is awesome. Nice, friendly service. The restaurant itself is fairly loud, and great for large parties or celebrations.
> I like the way dishes are brought to your table as they are ready. This stream of dishes allows you to pace yourself and feels like you're actually sampling a bunch of dishes. The paella was a great finale.
> Their bread is incredible: soft and tender on the inside and pleasantly crispy on the outside. They also serve it with some pretty good quality olive oil. I'm a huge sucker for good bread and good olive oil.

Negatives

> The restaurant is really popular, and it can be very hard to secure a reservation. I would certainly recommend booking well in advance, particularly for large parties, unless you want to eat at like 9:30pm.
> In general, the food was pretty good, but there weren't any particular dishes that stood out as absolutely amazing. Maybe I ordered the wrong things, or perhaps this is just typical of tapas restaurants. I would esay that the expensive meat dishes (rack of lamb, grilled hangar steak) were not worth it.

Dishes Tasted
  • ★★★☆ Paella Mariscos -- The rice has a strong seafood flavor and is absolutely delicious. But there is really not enough rice. The saffron flavor is a bit lacking, and I find that the socarrat is a little bit too crispy. Besides these minor flaws however, absolutely delicious.
  • ★★☆☆ Lamb Chops -- Like the grilled hangar steak, pretty good but I would have liked the lamb chops to be a bit warmer. Sauce was a bit strange. Disappointing for the price point.
  • ★★★☆ Asparagus -- Served with some kind of zesty sauce - delicious.
  • ★★☆☆ Gambas al Ajillo -- Not quite the flavor I was expecting. Tastes more like a grilled shrimp. The citrus and browned flavor overpowers the olive oil, sherry, and garlic.
  • ★★★☆ Grilled Hangar Steak -- With truffle vinaigrette. The truffle flavor is strong and delicious. I would have liked the steak itself to be a bit warmer and more juicy.
  • ★★★☆ Pork Belly -- Served with spicy membrillo jam. I like the lightly smoky flavor, but the texture could be improved. Tasted a bit dry and doesn't have the succulent, juicy quality of pork belly.
  • ★☆☆☆ Chorizo with Sweet & Sour Figs -- The chorizo was decent but the figs and the balsamic sauce were overpoweringly sweet.