| rev:text
| - I had dinner last night at Barsa as a group of 4 and experienced some pros and some cons!
The best part was the food - it was fantastic, and honestly much better than I expected (always a pleasant surprise)! We ordered a la carte and tried quite a few dishes - manchego churros (picture a fancy mozzarella stick with tomato dipping sauce), patatas bravas, lamb shank with crispy kale, and chorizo platter. Chorizo platter in particular was great value, it was $24 and included three large house-made sausages along with delicious pickled vegetables. There was good variety among the three, ranging from slightly spicy to sweet. Lamb shank was perfectly cooked, very tender, and the sides (kale and a sweet potato sauce) were good too. For dessert we shared a chocolate dish that was delicious - a very rich brownie topped with poached pear and cinnamon whipped cream. It wasn't huge but good to split four ways since it was so rich. We also really liked the decor, we were seated in the back area that has a wine-cellar feel and really did feel Spanish. Beautiful floor tiles, interesting art, and quirky decor items on the shelves. We were also impressed that the server was okay with splitting the bill 4 ways and did it correctly even though it was somewhat complicated (some drinks shared between 2 people, food shared between 4, etc)
Unfortunately there were also quite a lot of cons. Due to the cellar-like structure of the room (small area and short ceilings) it was very loud. It didn't help that we were seated in a corner beside a large table celebrating what seemed to be a reunion. I'm not sure if it was because we were in the corner or overshadowed by the group beside us, but it seemed we were often forgotten by the servers - it took ages to place drink orders and to receive drinks, and later on to order dessert, and then ask for the bill. The server also seemed strangely annoyed when we asked her for recommendations before ordering. Overall the service was not great.
Additionally, the server mentioned Barsa is now using a new mobile app called Glance pay, which can give each person $10 off their bill their first time using the app. Three of us downloaded it, but between us only one person successfully got the $10 off. It ended the meal on a bit of a sour note; if they're going to advertise a system they should make sure it's easy to use or at least offer to help out the customers.
One last thing to note is that the drinks menu isn't great. The cocktails are expensive and there is only one type of beer (Spanish, Estrella Damm) which was also expensive. Wines by the glass were also fairly pricey and not a great selection.
I'm really glad I tried Barsa since I walk by it all the time, but likely won't go back any time soon. The food really was great though so if mediocre service doesn't bother you give it a try!
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