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| - I was looking forward to trying this place since I read about it in the 89148 Magazine back in February. I love tapas and the menu looked so promising...carpaccio with truffle oil, grilled octopus with a red wine reduction, and chorizo clams in a white wine broth. My mouth waters just thinking about these dishes and many more on Barcelona's menu, but I'm sad to report that this was one of the most disappointing restaurants I've ever been to!
It just so happens that I recently acquired a coupon to this restaurant and went to it last Friday. I just want to make it clear that I would have happily tried this place at full price, and the dish I was looking most forward to trying was the carpaccio (you just can't go wrong with raw beef and truffle oil...I'd hope). My boyfriend and I were seated and greeted promptly. When the server came over to take our drink order, he looked down at my coupon, took it and went straight to the kitchen. Being a server for a long time, I could tell he was not happy that we brought this coupon, but I tried to remedy the situation by being extremely nice. We ordered the carpaccio, pan fried dates, steamed clams, diabla shrimp, grilled octopus, sautéed tilapia, albondigas, and merguez. After a short while the tapas started coming out, and after delivering the first wave, our server said, "I'm sorry, but the carpaccio is very popular and we are running out of it tonight." I smiled and said disappointed, "oh really?" and he responded, "yes." Both my boyfriend and I picked up on his wording, but we did not confront him about it. It is my strong belief that they had enough carpaccio for AT LEAST another order, but they didn't want to waste it on a table with a coupon! As the night progressed our server grew increasingly more impatient and annoyed with our presence. When we got our check he had manually written in an 18% tip...on a table for 2, and I always automatically tip 20% (even when the service is bad)! With a coupon or something comped, I usually tip much more because that's what fellow service industry workers do...(can you tell how livid I am?) Unfortunately, I wish I could say that only the service was sub par, but the food ranged from ok to not even edible.
Pan Fried Dates- This was the best dish we had from Barcelona. The bacon was cooked well, all of the textures were spot on, and they had a nice savory sweet taste. However, the red wine reduction was way too thin, the blue cheese crumbles were on the stingy side, and Firefly's are much better.
Steamed Clams- The clams were cooked well, but the chorizo was very dry. The broth also needed more seasoning (this is a common theme).
Diabla Shrimp- I liked this, but again, it was not as good as Firefly's. A nice spicy sweet sauce with shrimp, but the sauce was a little too thin.
Grilled Octopus- This just lacked seasoning. The octopus was a pretty good texture, not too chewy, but the flavor was bland. For good grilled octopus, try Olives in the Bellagio.
Sauteed Tilapia- Completely inedible! I'm not sure if the kitchen just didn't care or if they genuinely made a mistake, but the outside of the fish was mushy and the inside was raw. I've never seen fish this texture before, and I honestly can't think of how it happened.
Albondigas- Meatballs in marinara with melted mozzarella on top. These were so dry we drenched each bite in the marinara.
Merguez- A spicy lamb sausage served over roasted red pepper couscous. The sausage was dry and not very spicy. The couscous was a little wet, but it had a good flavor.
The one good thing about our experience was that the man refilling our drinks was extremely friendly! He never let a drink go empty and explained they have live music some nights. I really wish the food had been better so I could give this place a second chance.
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