Osmosis Barcelona – Understated restaurant in Eixample

Osmosis Barcelona is a small restaurant in the district of Eixample.  The external walls are discoloured. The wooden doors badly need a fresh coat of paint. If we had to decide whether to eat at Osmosis by its looks alone, we would probably go somewhere else. But we had come here after reading the good reviews about Osmosis Barcelona. It is a restaurant listed in the Michelin Guide (but no stars) with a 4.5 TripAdvisor rating and a 9.2 The Fork rating.  So we decided to trust the weight of public opinion.

The interior of Osmosis restaurant looks better, perhaps the darkness of the room concealed some of its flaws. Immaculate it is not, but the spotlighting and the sparkling white linen moved the attractiveness of the restaurant up a few notches. The warmth and welcoming attitude of the restaurant staff, presumably the owner and/or the manager pushed our comfort level up more levels. We started to see why the reviews were so positive.

The Osmosis Barcelona Restaurant Menu 2017

Osmosis Barcelona offered only a seven course degustation menu, which has appetisers, two starters, two main courses and two desserts.  The full works cost 55€, diners can opt for a 38€ 5 course version by cutting down two items.  At lunch time an even shorter version is available – 25€ for 3 courses. We opted for the basic lunch course.  There being two of us, we selected different items in each course so we could effectively try everything on the menu between the two of us. Wine pairings were available but we opted to go with wines by the glass that cost about 5€ each.

A couple of amuse bouche items were served quickly. Both were very small items and could be consumed in two bites, but the taste was good. We also like their attention to detail when it came to the bread. A good quality olive oil was offered together with three types of salt – I believe they are from Catalonia, France and Australia.

The two appetizers were foie micuit and marinated octopus salad. The octopus was cooked just nice, soft but not chewy. The foie micuit which we think means it is goose or duck liver that is half-cooked, was nice and creamy and with a gentle liver flavour.

The main courses were rabbit and tuna. The rabbit had a very strongly flavoured sauce. We would have preferred a milder taste. The tuna was the better dish – both in terms of presentation and taste.

Finally, time for desserts.  The various fruits and nuts with coconut ginger was a very good dish with a blend of various tastes and textures – sweet, sour, crunchy, soft and ginger.  The chocolate dessert was enjoyable as anything with dark chocolate usually is. The desserts were the best part of the meal, bringing our meal at Osmosis Barcelona – an understated restaurant in Eixample to a nice sweet end.

Ratings:
Food: 4
Service: 5
Value: 5
Atmosphere: 3
Overall Rating: 4 TOPs