Barcelona's Independent Review Website

Oviso
Click here to view map Oviso is a lively, quirky bar in one of the most famous squares in the centre of town. It’s cheap, got some of the weirdest décor I’ve seen in a bar, has cheap decent food and is a great place to hang out and feel like a true Barcelonan. Starting with the thing that singles out this bar the most, at the rear of Oviso are a bunch of first millennia cave-like paintings of animals, men, men attacking animals and animals attacking men. One wall is given over, for example, to a slightly sub-human guy being mauled to death in quite realistic fashion by a large lion. The front of the bar is slightly less uniform in its design, with the walls covered in paintings of sea-life, like dolphins, whales and squids, as well as birds and boats. The light shades are made of recycled drinks crates and the whole look is finished off with a large advert for an old fashioned triple X cinema. Yet somehow all this feels cool. In large part no doubt due to its location on Placa George Orwell (Plaza Trippy) the bar is incredibly popular at most times of the day. The food, including sandwiches, crepes and salads are all priced around €3-€5 with an excellent value menu del dia available for €6 and is surprisingly delicious. On weekend nights Oviso really fills up with drinkers. A pretty mixed crowd of international and local barflies tend to be in residence but there is a definite emphasis here on the alternative youth scene who seem to dominate much of this part of town. A young, normally attentive, staff force help maintain the youthful feel of the place and though music is not really a major feature of the bar, the choices they do play are always suitably cool. A large outdoor patio is also available for most of the year round if you fancy some people, or pigeon, watching. The best thing about Oviso, in my opinion, is the fact that it is a decent sized, fun place to go that also manages to be a good place to have real conversations with people. If I was to pick a bar that matched with Barcelona’s historical image as a place for discussion and new ideas, this would be it. A kind of Quatre Gats for the 21st century perhaps?

Address:

Carrer d'Arai, 5, 08002

Area:

Gotico

Nearest Metro:

Liceu
Jaume I

Bar type:

General

Opening times:

10am-2am

Happy hour:

Drink prices:

Beer:€2.50

Food served:

Yes

Music played:

Indie
Rock