Sunday 13 October 2013

Gastrobar @ The Ohla Hotel






GastroBar 
Ohla Hotel Via Laitana 49


I've read that there's currently an big trend in Barcelona for 'Gastrobars' which is effectively fine dining Tapas.
 Im In.   
The fancy Tapas restaurant in question is Gastrobar inside the Ohla hotel. 
Jesus Christ do I wish I was staying in this hotel . Its Beautiful. 


I was eyeing it up when we was booking our hotel , but a grand for 3 nights was slightly over budget :O okay a lot over budget. If you have got the bucks stay there !  It has a infinity pool on the rooftop that makes me want to touch myself ..


Look at that , wow . I could cry. 

Anyway I didn't stay there so Ill just have to get over it . 
I did get to eat in their lovely Gastrobar , I had a good feeling about it , my one concern was the atmosphere and of course hotel restaurants in 5 stars hotels even with stars of their own are notoriously a bit crap. 
Some one had wrote a trip advisor review moaning about the above . 
Good Job I didn't take those comments on board . 

They have a open kitchen which we all love don't we , for obvious reasons (we'd be able to catch them picking their nose ) so lets call that hygiene trust issues and also because the chefs can see us , I'm sure seeing happy faces scoffing your grub must be for any chef working a double shift. Encouragement. 

I managed to choose a fantastic wine this time , a Chardonnay which was 26 Euro for the bottle (very reasonable ) called Enrique Mendoza from Valencia . I'm not getting nerdy on you , I kept the cork so Id remember the wine. It was that nice. 

The staff were cool , present when you need them but no pestering . To be expected but not always the way it goes. After taking our sweet time deciding what tapas combo we was to order , with my encouragement we came to a conclusion. I'm indecisive in most areas of life except when it comes to my stomach and what I want to put in it. 

First came Provolone with Cherry Tomatoes and Fresh Bread . We was advised earlier that the portions are bigger than your average tapas portions . Still ordered 7 dishes. 
The provolone . mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm yea I choose good there , bloody delicious 

  
We also stuffed in some croquettes , classic tapas choice.
Next came the our meat tapas , they brought dishes in twos as opposed to all at once like a most tapas bars do , which was perfect as that way everything is still hot . 

We had Lamb Neck , Iberian Pork and Veal . Lamb neck melted in your mouth , it came shredded with salad .The Iberian pork I could happily eat all day although my heart wouldn't be as happy about that I'm sure. 
Veal - I Don't get it , it was the first time I had tried it , tasted nice don't get me wrong but definitely not any better than a mature cow  , SO WHY is there celebrities such as Gordon Ramsey and Janet Street Porter Urging us to eat more Veal. ???? I understand if an animal is killed it shouldn't ever go to waste , but if that's the case why are you killing them in the first place ? Maybe I know sweet F all about this subject , please enlighten me ...... 

I enjoyed every bite of everydish we had . I was looking forward to dessert now..... 
is it going to be a fullhouse ???


YES . 
Best Chocolate Fondant I have ever eaten , and we have ordered a few over the years . Wasn't overly sweet, sickly or cakey . Do you like my use of descriptive food words, Move over Jay Rayner . 
It was so lush . As was the Icecream and Sorbets,


The atmosphere was perfect for couples or anyone wanting to catch up , even though every table was full , it wasn't loud , I could hear everything my partner was saying not what the table next to us was. It was strange , must be the design , the restaurant has a high ceiling and the tables are all curved around so everyone has a window seat. 

The other brilliant fact about this place is there was no 'you're finished now , we want you out' feel about it . Living in London I am SICK of being made to feel like you need to piss off when you're edging closer to the end of your two hour slot. Yes you are always pre-warned of this , but seriously in Tapas restaurants?! Kind of defies the point of Tapas in my opinion. 
A good is example of this is Tapas Brindisa . I love Tapas Brindisa's food but the time slot paranoia the staff have , staring over a you to see where you're at with your Chorizo every 5 minutes really is a big turn off. DID YOU HEAR THAT LONDON!? STOP IT. 

We grabbed La Cuenta and looked at the damage ... 96 Euros . Wow , I'm even happier now . Thought we had easy gone way over 100 .. that 96 included 7 share-able tapas dishes , one bottle of wine , two desserts , bread and service . We left a 20 euro tip. Then the lady serving us for most of the evening , brought the bill  back , I'm thinking did we work that out wrong ,arrrr embarrassing . Nope she came to notify us that we had left 20 euros and it was a very large tip , and was we sure !
Course we was sure ! What a lovely touch to end the meal. I'm not that naive that I don't think it could be a clever trick to leave customers really happy and appreciated but even still! I have never left a restaurant so happy. 
No one has EVER been so appreciate of a tip . EVER . 

I highly recommend this place .
 Just to note:  This isn't a biased review where the results of being in such a good mood that I'd have been elated even if presented with some cheese on toast. I was actually in a crappy mood this day and this place turned it around something not many things or people can do too easily . :) 






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