Restaurant Ibérica : a Review

Recently, I decided to try out Restaurant Ibérica. It’s a restaurant my Mother and I have been curious about, so we decided to go for supper. Situated on Peel street, Ibérica is a Spanish cuisine restaurant that offers Barcelonian food and a beautiful decor. As you walk in, you can’t help but notice a lovely double losange light arrangement. There are three menus: one for your main meal, one for the deserts and one for drinks. Although I must say that the menus online have more options than what was offered in person… those bastards.

Now, there’s only so much food that I can eat in one sitting, so I didn’t get to taste EVERY THING on the menu. However, I did steal a bit from my Mother’s drink and desert… how could I not?

Ibérica’s menu offers a selection of different types of bread, raw or cooked meats and seafood, salads, fried foods and tapas. Since the restaurant's speciality is seafood, I had to try that out. The raw meats will just have to be for next time!

Ok, you probably want me to shut up and get down to the food porn, so here ya go: our meal consisted of 2 tapas, a seafood paella, a desert each and of course, alcohol (one cocktail each).

THE COCKTAILS

Tenerif

Gin, Chartreuse, elderberry liquor, lemon and lime, simple sirop, egg white

Barcelona

Rhum, Vermouth, bitter chocolate

I have to say it felt nice to finally drink a “solid” and “real” cocktail, i.e. one that isn’t mostly ice with some cheap juice and barely any alcohol in it. There’s a bar as you walk in the restaurant, so if ever you don’t feel like eating, you can always just have a drink.

As I read the list of different cocktails they offer, the Tenerif caught my attention, as it contained egg white. You’re probably like “Why the fuck they put egg white in that for?” and honestly I was the same, so that’s what I asked our waitress. She informed me that the egg was simply to add texture to the cocktail, that the taste of it could not be detected and if I didn’t like my cocktail they would make another one for me instead. As it turned out, the egg white did indeed not taste and it made my cocktail a little bit like Jell-O, which I found really cool to watch wobble around. It tasted fresh, which I enjoyed. To top it off, there was a little flower on the cocktail. The child within me was happy.

My Mother picked the Barcelona. This cocktail was also very good. It had what I would describe to be a “woody” taste, which I think was created by the adding of chocolate to the liqueur. I’ve never straight up went and licked a tree, so I don’t know what wood literally tastes like (ha ha cue in all the sexual jokes here, you freaks), but what I meant is that the cocktail had more of a heavy and down-to-earth aroma to it.

THE TAPAS

Vieiras con romesco y aceite de perejil

Scallops, Romesco sauce and parsley oil

Pintxo de pulpo a la gallega, fondo de garbanzo, aceite y limón

Octopus pintxo on mashed chickpea, lemon and oil

Each tapas was of a 4 bites portion, meaning they each had respectively 4 scallops and 4 slices of octopus.

The scallops were placed on a strip of Romesco, which is sauce made to be paired with seafood and is based on red peppers and nuts. I found this tapa to have, as a whole, a mild taste. The flavours where very light. I believe the taste would’ve been better had they added a bit more seasoning to it. How to say this… the scallop tapa was good, but I enjoy flavours that… punch a little more? Although I must say that the scallops themselves were done just right: they melted in your mouth. I really appreciated that, because scallops are often left to cook for too long, and so the meat ends up being tensed.

The octopus was my favorite. It was simply delicious. The meat was cooked in an oven at 500º, which is literally the temperature at which my oven self cleans. Thankfully these chefs knew what they were doing and the octopus didn’t come out burnt, but rather perfectly cooked. The salty taste of the octopus married itself very well with the sweeter taste of chickpea purée and slices of (I think) caramelized red beet.

THE PAELLA

Paella de mariscos (with 1/2 lobster)

Seafood paella (with 1/2 lobster)

The paella contained shrimp, clams, squid, mussels and bite size pieces of white fish. Basically a classic paella de mariscos, with an added half of a lobster. The meal was actually really refreshing, which I know sounds weird to say about a paella, so let me explain. First off, you could taste that the seafood was fresh. Second, they went very light with the salt. If you were to take a bite of rice only, you might’ve thought that it was a somewhat shitty paella, but as soon as you mixed it in with the seafood you realized that it was on purpose : clearly the rice wasn’t made to be eaten alone. The seafood and it’s natural sea salt added what was missing, making the meal complete and without any unnecessary added salt. This was really great as meals that are highly salted or contain lots of oil are usually what make you feel bloated and super sleepy.

Their light hand at salt surprised me, as during my trip to Spain most Spanish meals I ate were highly salted. I have honestly no idea why, especially since the seafood would come straight and fresh from the sea, meaning it didn’t take long before it was eaten. Maybe this was exclusive to the region where I was? Or maybe they just hella love salt. Who knows. Any Spanish people reading this who could tell me?

THE DESERTS

Churros con dulce de leche y chocolate

Churros with dulce de leche and chocolate

Chocolate, pan, aceite de oliva y flor de sal

Chocolate ganache, croutons, olive oil and fleur de sel

Ah desert… no matter how much I may eat, there’ll always be place for desert. Both in my tummy and in my arteries.

The chocolate ganache was delicious.

[I wish there was more of it.]

There was a perfect amount of fleur de sel, lightly sprinkled over the ganache that served to heighten the flavours and enhance the sweetness of the chocolate. The olive oil added a subtle touch of spice to the taste, which I really enjoyed.

The churros were… well churros. I have no special comment to say about this desert honestly.

ALL IN ALL

My favs were the octopus tapa, the paella, the chocolate ganache and the cocktails.

I do plan on going back, either to eat or to simply get a drink at the bar. The location is great, so is the decor, the staff and as previously stated the drinks & food.

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When food puts you in a good mood :