I was invited out by a friend to try barsa on a Thursday night. The place was nice enough. As the name implies it Has a cool cave like feel. But the service and food were just ok in my option. Just Overpriced for what you get.
First of all the menu is very confusing. First it's in Spanish so obviously a bit hard to read for a. On Spanish speaker. Also they list the items based on portion sizes. From individual tapas style to full plate dinner. But nothing in the description will tell you how big an order you will get. So there is a lot of asking questions of the server. Who was very knowledgeable so that was a bit annoying. But fine. They are trying to keep it authentic. Fine.
I ordered the shrimp with barley salad. It was located in the middle of the menu. So I figured it would be somewhere between appetizer and a dinner sized plate. It was actually 3 shrimp with a scant handful of barley salad. And it cost closer to $20(!). Patatas bravas (fried potatoes) were just ok. It was a more reasonable portion for a side of potatoes for $7. They came smothered in a tomato sauce that was meh and a touch of aioli which was decent. I asked for more aioli as the tomato sauce was too overwhelming.
My friend ordered the seafood pallea. Probably what people come here for. But I found it just ok. Maybe it's just not my kinda flavour. That serving was definitely generous. Two or three people could easily share it. But it is also about $50.
When our order came it was the wrong pallea! They brought the chicken pallea instead of seafood. Apparently the server thought my friend pointed to the chicken one (All the more reason to make your menus easier to read), and it would now take another 20 minutes to get the correct order. Ugh.
For dessert I tried the churro, which was a big order. Another one that can be shared with 2-3 people. The dipping sauces, chocolate and apple I believe, were flavourless. I mean. How is chocolate flavourless? Anyways it was. So the churro is all you are really getting. And they were good. I've had better though.
So overall I'd say this place is not worth the hype or the price. For this price there are far better places in the city. I will not be returning.