LA FLAUTA

LA FLAUTA - Carrer d'Aribau, 23, 08011 Barcelona, Spain

Just one block from where La Rambla meets with Diagonal in Barcelona we found a very nice restaurants for locals. It was recommended by the owner of the very nice B&B around the corner. When we came there around 9 it was quite empty but just a little after it started to fill up an was soon full of people of all ages.

In Spain we often start the meal with their fantastic ham and “pan con tomate”. It was a generous plate that was enough for us both. We had decided to have a good piece of meat and ordered the tournedos. We had however some language problems ordering so when we got the main dish it was just one portion for us both to share. It was a generous piece of meat, so we said we could start with that and come back later. It was well enough for us both. It came with a innovative style of French fries that looked like band pasta and was delicious and very crispy. I think the meat was one of the most tender and tasty pieces we have got for a long time.

We asked the waiter if he could recommend a good wine with the meal and surprisingly, he recommended the least expensive on the menu and it was excellent. The good thing in Span is that they mostly only add 100% on the wine in restaurants so this bottle was only 12 euros.

If you like a place where locals go and do not mind a little crowded atmosphere later in the evening – this is the place. Fantastic food and nice service. But – be in time if you have not reserved a table.

Telefon: +34 933 23 70 38
Latest visit: December 2018
Number of visits: 1

TORRE D’ALTA MAR ♥

TORRE D’ALTA MAR - Passeig Joan de Borbo 88 | Torre de Sant Sebastia, 08023 Barcelona, Spanien

This is really a fantastic experience that does not seem to be that well known. From Barcelona to Barcelonnette, there is a cable car. In the station-tower at the sea-side you find this restaurant. It is situated just one floor above the cable-car-station. The only sign of it from the outside is the door to the elevator. The design of the place is very modern and the view from up there is breath-taking of the whole of Barcelona.
The food is fantastic and to a fabulous price. We had the lunch menu that was a three course meal of the best gourmet class including a glass of cava and a glass of wine. If I remember right the price was 30 euros+ per person. The service was really pleasant and we can really recommend this to anybody visiting Barcelona.

WEB: http://www.torredealtamar.com/en/
Latest visit: February 2016
Number of visits: 1

LOS CARACOLES

LOS CARACOLES - Carrer dels Escudellers, 14, Barcelona, España

You must visit this place. Many people say it is a tourist trap, and maybe so. But – if it has been around for 180 years and my wife was here 1958 and it still looks the same it must have its virtues – and it has. You still have to reserve a table to get in. The atmosphere is fantastic and the service friendly but no nonsense. It is not a gourmet-restaurant, but the food is rustic, nice and generous.

The only problem is that you have to be sober to find you way out after your visit. You enter the restaurant through the kitchen which basically is an enormous stove where they prepare the food. They take you through a labyrinth of rooms, up the stairs and around bends and soon you are lost. Enjoy!

WEB: http://www.loscaracoles.es/index.php?lang=en
Latest visit: February 2016
Number of visits: 1

OSMOSIS ♥

OSMOSIS - Carrer Aribau, 100  08036 Barcelona, Spain

If I would recommend one restaurant in Barcelona it would be Restaurant Osmosis. We have been there three times. The first time we went there for dinner and returned for lunch the day after. They only serve tasting menus and this cost 25 euros at lunch and 42 euros at dinner time.

We came there quite early for being in Spain and got a table in the front room. Already reading the menu told us that this was something extra. My wife has a special diet and even if all the dishes are set it was no problem to go through every dish and customize it to her liking. They had a wine package there every glass of wine was selected from the whole world to fit perfectly to every single dish so we left to the restaurant to surprise us.

The first surprise was when the owner himself – Ignasi Montes – sat down at our table to discuss wine to drink with the foie gras that was the first starter. He decided that we should test the pride of Spain – sherry. You can imagine our surprise when he placed four glasses on a black piece of textile and beside that four different types of sherry on another black cloth. He told us the story of sherry and how the different qualities were produced and after that we had a sherry testing. It was really something else to test different kinds of sherry to the first to courses.

During the dinner a number of beautiful wines were served accompanied with descriptions of the wines and were they had grown. As he understood we were very interested in wine he spent quite a time with us during the meal to discuss the virtue with different wines and grapes.

With the dessert he asked if we would like to taste a very special sherry. A German wine grower moved to Jerez to grow wine. As he knew the Riesling best he planted this in Jerez. The Riesling however does not like the climate of Jerez so he decided to produce a Sherry from the grapes. This Sherry is thick, dark brown and very intense in taste.

Before dessert my wife went out for smoking. He came out and said that he had a private cigar-club upstairs there we could go after dinner and have our coffee. When he came with the coffee ha had hidden a big cognac-glass behind his back with a distillation of the special sherry on Riesling. This was only produced in 3000 bottles per year. To my disappointment I found that I had forgotten my cigars in the hotel and asked him if he sold any. He did not, but asked what size I preferred and sent out one of the waiters who came back with a lovely Montecristo. I can tell you it was something else to drink this sherry distillate together with coffee and a good Cuban cigar. The German person who started all this was Peter Simonis, but he soon changed is name to Pedro Ximenes.

Before we left for France the day after we had lunch at Osmosis. The quality of the food had the same fantastic standard even at busy lunchtime and the service as well. We had foie gras, quail, lobster, mushrooms and fish – all perfectly prepared. Even this time the dishes were customized to my wife’s diet.

We have been there once after this. It was together with our American friend and neighbours that we picked up in Barcelona where they arrived on a Norwegian cruise-ship. This time we got a separate room and our own personal waiter. As they only served the most fantastic wines from the whole world with our meal there were a few euros added to the basic prize this time, but it was much more than a meal. It was a total experience that can only be challenged by our local three-star restaurant L'Auberge Le Vieux Puits.

If you read Swedish you can learn more about our trips to Spain on my other blog. Se http://france-midi.blogspot.fr/2011/11/tva-pensionarer-i-barcelona.html and http://france-midi.blogspot.fr/2008/04/en-fantastisk-utflykt-till-spanien.html and perhaps even  http://france-midi.blogspot.fr/2012/05/forsta-dagen-pa-var-spanienresa.html

Revisited October 2013: We were invited to a wine- and food tasting and we decided that a trip to Barcelona would be nice. It is just a little more than two hours drive. It was an evening to remember. The food was as always fantastic and the wine of a quality that you seldom can afford. It was 16 invited couples sitting together and the atmosphere was really nice despite the language problems for us. They provided us with a translator from Catalan so we could follow the information about the wine.

Revisited March 2016: We had our specially designed 70+70 birthday-dinner in Barcelona for friends from Norway and Sweden. It was fantastic. We were sitting in a private room and had our own sommelier. It was something to remember for everyone.

Swedish report from the trip on http://france-midi.blogspot.fr/2013/10/snabbvisit-till-barcelona.html

WEB: http://www.restauranteosmosis.com/
LATEST VISIT: 2016
NUMBER OF VISITS: 5

Reasons for the ♥:
Our favorite restaurant in Barcelona. The tasting menus are always something very special and the service is really friendly. You can afford it too.