Barcelona's Independent Review Website

Venus
Click here to view map For a restaurant in such a visible, central location Venus offers decent food at surprisingly reasonable prices. It’s bright, colourful interior make dining there all the more enjoyable and matches well with the young clientele and quirky staff. Venus regularly houses different art exhibits on one wall of the restaurant, always picked from the most modern and colourful Barcelonan artists generally resembling Niki de Saint Phalle, in colour scheme and cartoonish design. The gallery space really brightens the bar and provides a great talking point over dinner. The rest of the room houses attractively shabby wooden furniture with mosaic tables and a small bar space to watch the human traffic on the Avinyo cross roads. The food itself is generally good. There is not a huge selection on the internationally influenced menu, but there are a good range of large, attractively presented salads priced between €5-7 plus around ten main courses and a few “platas,” selections of cold cut meats and cheeses. The main courses vary in appeal. All are priced around €7-9 with some really nice mixed couscous dishes, a good vegetarian lasagne, and two fantastic chicken dishes - the pollo con Sanfaina being quite possibly the best value and most delicious item on the menu. The one dish I have tried which was less impressive was the meat lasagne, which was more like Catalan cannelloni - all meat and béchamel - than a traditional Italian lasagne. The staff are busy but generally attentive and did not hurry us up to leave the restaurant even though we sat chatting for half an hour after our meal and all tables were full up. Because of its location and good value, tables are often in high demand in the later part of the evening so go early if your in a hurry. I really like Venus for the friendly, casual dining atmosphere enhanced even more during the summer when the large French windows on one wall of the bar are opened for a warm breeze to accompany your meal. It’s simply a fun, affordable Gotico venue with perfectly edible food.

Address:

Carrer d'Avinyó 25,
08002

Area:

Gotico

Nearest Metro:

Jaume I
Liceu

Opening times:

Mon-Sat: 12pm-12am

Price range:

€10pp

Food types:

International