Taller de Tapas is a chain restaurant in Barcelona, Spain. We sought out its location in the Barri Gothic district on our first night in Barcelona, having read promising reviews online.
Our server did not speak very much English, but we got by with my Spanish. Service was moderately attentive by North American standards, very attentive by Spanish standards. Although the restaurant was nearly empty when we walked in, it started filling up as the meal went on (mostly with tourists, unfortunately).
We started with a pitcher of sangria, which came with large chunks of fruit. The Spanish really know how to make a good sangria. Then the food started coming.
The deep-fried cuttlefish was the best I’ve ever had, with a practically non-existent batter and fresh cuttlefish. Instead of the usual rubbery-ness of fried foods in the squid family, this cuttlefish was surprisingly tender, although still chewy.
Patatas bravas is the Spanish take on home fries. The potatoes were average but the smoked paprika sauce was an interesting twist from ketchup back home.
The sizzling prawns in clay pot were soaked in a butter, garlic, chili concoction, whose fragrant smell filled the room as soon as it was brought out. The prawns were not as big as expected, nor as savoury.
Unfortunately, I don’t remember what these were because I didn’t order them, and the people who did can’t remember ever having it. My guess is that it was tuna fillet. Its lack of memorableness can be attributed to its absolute bland character.
This is a plate of mushrooms. They were fried. They tasted like mushrooms. The end.
This was the fanciest dish that we were presented with, but I was told it was average.
The chickpeas and sausage were supposed to be a staple for the meal, but the sausages ended up ruining the dish. The sausage was house-made cured, but it was so salty that each piece tasted like we were eating salt.
In the end, the only outstanding dish was the fried cuttlefish. I would probably not return to this restaurant if I come back to Barcelona. We should have known better than to pick a restaurant in such a touristy neighbourhood.
Rating: 