Barcelona's Independent Review Website

La Fianna
Click here to view map Click here to launch website I know it’s got nice lighting, big bed settees, a great location and is contained in a pretty damn cool space but for some reason, La Fianna is the one bar in Born, off the top of my head, that I really don’t like. I think that if it had been the first Barcelonan bar I had stepped into I would have been pretty impressed, especially by the large, high ceilinged dimensions, cool Moroccan influenced décor and €4.50 cocktail of the week. But sadly for La Fianna I cannot even conjure up some misplaced notion of nostalgic affection and by the time I crossed it’s dimly lit threshold I had already been to twenty or so much better bars.So, what’s wrong with it? People across the world scream, demanding to know. Ok, here goes. It’s not hugely cheap so none of the following can be forgiven; most annoyingly every time I’ve been in there they play absolutely unsuitable music for the mood of the place, like bad BBC Radio 1 hip hop shows that sound like their being streamed off the web. There’s a horrible feeling of elitism and segregation to the place as it’s divided up by a velvet rope into eating and non-eating sections at all times. Obviously it’s ok to reserve some of the tables and beds for customers wishing to dine, but the bar gets really packed as it is without being penned in like alcoholic sheep. And last but by no means… I’ve tended to find the service rather rude and pushy, especially at chucking out time, or if a member of your party were to light up without noticing the no smoking signs! La Fianna is a totally beautiful - perhaps the most beautiful - Born bar but sometimes surface beauty is not enough. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.