Disfrutar means “enjoy” in Spanish; and this new addition to Barcelona’s dining scene lives up to its name. It was one of my favorite experiences in a recent trip to Spain and the one restaurant I would say you must try if in Barcelona. The food is modern but yet comfortable although some dishes definitely held surprises. The pedigree of the food reflects Disfrutar’s chef-owners, who were ex-El Bulli head chefs and I suspect that there is probably a fair degree of similarity in some of Disfrutar’s dishes. So if you’re planning to go there, you may not want to read the dish descriptions or look at the photos.
Recently opened in December 2014, Disfrutar is the second restaurant in Spain by Mateu Casañas, Oriol Castro and Eduard Xatruch, but the first in Barcelona. Since I never ate at El Bulli, I can’t make any comparisons but the talent level is certainly high. I wouldn’t be surprised if they get their Michelin Star this year.
One of the nicest things about the dining experience is that all the dishes are shared – tapas style. This already imparts a casual, fun vibe to the meal. There is a choice of two tasting menus (no a la carte). Since we were there for lunch, we had the smaller menu (Disfrutar menu) which cost EUR68 while the larger menu (Festival Menu) cost EUR98. The smaller menu comprises 15 bite size dishes and three desserts – more than enough. The larger menu has three additional dishes and two other desserts. Fantastic value!
The other thing I liked is the light, airy, brightness of the restaurant. Like the food, the decor is modern but comfortable and not overly stylized. Service was genuinely accommodative, warm and friendly – when our waiter couldn’t explain the dish well enough in english, he found someone who could. We were also 30 minutes late but they assured us it was fine. All in, this was one of my favourite dining experiences of the past 11 months. Reservations definitely necessary – it’s a hot new restaurant!
Contact through Disfrutar’s website: http://en.disfrutarbarcelona.com
Our lunch:
Our first course was a two-parter – toasted coffee on passion fruit and rum parfait accompanied with a beetroot meringue. Naturally, it wasn’t as straightforward as it sounds. You’ll have to go to check it out.
This was followed by a three part course comprising tomato caviars, a ravioli of transparent cellophane filled with pine nuts, seafood and basil and the ubiquitous exploding olives pictured earlier.
The ravioli was presented on a pine cone and we had to use our fingers to dip it into a light broth for a short while (I think it was ten seconds or so) before eating it. We were told not to leave it for too long, which was a bit stressful for me as I had to take a picture of it (I know…this is a first-world problem).
The next three parter sets the transition into heavier and meatier dishes. We had a smoked Idiazabal (from Northern Spain) cheese biscuit with apple, a fried egg yolk with mushroom gelatin and seafood and avocado merengue sandwich. The egg yolk was amazing, with the yolk still runny and it was still shaped like an egg.
Our next three parter comes with a side show. We had tomato and parmesan tacos, with tomatoes and basil, mackerel accompanied by cauliflower tabbouleh with mushroom and pine nuts and Disfrutar’s version of carbonara “pasta”. This latter was one of my favourites and was made by the table (hence, the side show). The pasta is actually macaroni shaped gelatin. Some truffle oil was infused so while the “pasta” was light and springy, it carried a rich taste.
We were now at the final leg of our meal with three heavier dishes lined up. There was the razor clam served with fennel in a meuniere style…
…followed by red mullet with pork jowls and eggplant gnocchi.
Our final savoury dish for the meal was Iberian pork tenderloin ‘Pibil’ style with cilantro onion and ham. The yellow globule in the front is actually akin to the earlier olives but made of corn instead.
Three types of dessert close out the meal. We started with a tangy item called The Tangerine. This, as far as we could figure out was a tangerine fritter frappe with sorbet, a sprinkling of cinnamon and rose water.
The Tangerine was followed by chocolate peppers. It actually resembled peppers. The meal ended with coffee profiteroles that held amaretto gelatine.
Overall, a great experience – tasty food, beautiful presentation and find service. We didn’t drink much – just sticking to a bottle of locally produced Sauvignon Blanc from Cosmic Vinyaters and a white Penedes from Enric Soler, which went well with the overall lightness of the meal.