Barcelona's Independent Review Website

La Taverna Del Clinic
Click here to view map La Taverna del Clínic looks like a typical bar from the outside (I’m very sorry to admit that it even has a slot machine, I still do not understand the Spanish frame of mind that drives them to put those in all their bars/restaurants), and it even has pictures of the food on the walls and placemats (which is also another no-no on my list) but the dishes are little works of art. I’ll stop my vague blabber and get right on with what we ate. We had montadito of Iberian pork and mushrooms. It is magic and I’ve gotten it all three times that I’ve been. Next there was foie gras with caramelized apple and butter. Foie is not the first thing I order on the menu, but it’s growing on me. I think it’s something that I hate to like, because it’s not the most humane, and it’s also not the healthiest, but this foie with caramelized apples is also something I’ve ordered more than once. Ah yes, and then there were the patatas bravas. Probably one of the most well-known Spanish plates, after tortilla (to come later) are patatas bravas. If you don’t know them, fried potatoes with a ‘spicy mayonnaise,’ is usually it’s most common description. Sometimes it’s a plate of home-fry potatoes with a blob of mayonnaise and a blob of spicy tomato sauce. These are nothing of the sort. These make your eyes light up when you see a plate with 5 cylindrical standing potatoes with little wells of sauce in each one. And if you’re not polite and you pop the whole thing into your mouth at once, the sauce explodes with the potato and it makes you really appreciate patatas bravas. We had seared foie with morel puree. Very rich. There was a salad with bacalao (salt cod), nothing too special, but the romesco sauce was something. It’s Catalan, and it’s most commonly eaten with calcots (something similar to leeks or spring onions, grilled and dipped in romesco). Romesco is made with tomatoes, red peppers, almonds, garlics, and oil, and it is gooood. They have all different kinds of tortilla, mushroom, bacalao, and they throw in a few pieces of pan con tomato (simple yet delicious bread rubbed with tomato). I don’t go crazy over tortilla, I mean, it’s an omelet, but it wasn’t bad, and neither was the bread. And then there was steak with asparagus and a little potato patty underneath. Perfectly cooked and seasoned, we were all very happy with this one. Most of the desserts are not made in house, they are done by one of Barcelona’s chocolatiers, Oriol Balaguer. but the dessert I had was very nice. It’s simply called ‘texturas de chocolate’ because it has a mousse layer and a smooth, creamy, chocolate layer above that, and a chocolate candy on top. So that’s Taverna del Clínic, I think it truly is an authentic taste of San Sebastian style food in Barcelona. They don’t claim to be Basque, but it was the first thing I thought of when we began to receive the little plates of beautifully presented, slightly modern food. The restaurant is great because it’s so unpretentious, which makes the food even more of a surprise. With thanks to our best buddy Courtney at The Doughball

Address:

Carrer del Rosselló, 155, 08036

Area:

Eixample Left

Nearest Metro:

Hospital Clinic

Opening times:

Price range:

Average €5 per dish. (Go Wild!)

Food types:

Tapas