Barcelona bar review

Barcelona Bar is a new joint in the Northern Quarter. As the name suggests, it specialises in Spanish stuff - food, coffee, wine and beer - and it’s in a spot that you’re probably familiar with too. At the end of Thomas Street, this venue has played host to Six Pack Deli and The Little Book of Furniture. Neither was a success, but as we pulled up outside, my friend Ric pointed out that a new Spanish bar-cum-restaurant might just pull it off – after all, no one else is doing the southern European thing in this part of town, are they?

First impressions weren't stellar, but they weren't bad either. It's got a sturdy, metal and brick front, bringing to mind those ‘industrial chic’ haunts of old, like Dry Bar and Manto. And inside, the owners have gone for a less-is-more approach too, with hits of red paint and plenty of exposed metal beams and floorboards. The result is a chilly but not offensive interior - the kind of place that'd suit a bottle of wine after an epic day in the office.

Ric and I met two friends, Dr Sam and Dr Dave, to jazz our Barcelona experience up a bit. I'm not sure if this is linked to their medical qualifications but Sam and Dave are both bang into their Spanish food, and they’d got the low down on the menu by the time we arrived.

It turned out that there are just six food options to choose from, all of which are tapas-style portions (ie. you’d want at least three if you don’t want to be getting a kebab later). The choice includes tortilla, chicken in a beer sauce, roasted vegetables, patatas bravas (potatoes in a tomato sauce) and chorizo (which they’d run out of).

Obviously, it’s a small selection, which is not a problem in itself - in fact, I often wish new places would serve less food better, rather than more food worse - but the menu is lacking a few key items. Like bread, for example. Or anchovies. Those tasty little fishes bring to mind evenings, sitting in some Spanish square, contemplating the quality of hot climate life. The same can be said for a ración of nutty Manchego cheese, or the soft, smooth bite of croquetas - you know, those deep-fried balls of béchamel sauce which sit, serenely (and probably for months on end), on every bar top in Spain.

Shame that. Anyhow, we ordered what they did have, and set to mulling over the joint. To my mind it was a bit too minimal and the vibes were downbeat too: I’ve not listened to so much trip-hop since I was a miserable student. Sam reckoned that the bar bore ‘little relation’ to anything she’d seen in Spain’s second city, while Ric thought that it had an atmosphere ‘more workday than holiday’. All in all, not great then.

The arrival of food did little to lift our collective mood. A dish reminiscent of overdone roast potatoes, left uncovered for a few days in the fridge, was served under the guise of patatas bravas, while other low points included watery chicken, a bitter aubergine creation and a bowl of over-oregano-ed plum tomatoes in place of roast vegetables. Bleurgh. The only good thing was the tortilla, which is kind of hard to get wrong.

I got the gang to give their verdicts. Ric gave it two out of ten, adding that ‘one of those is for the nice waitress’, and the others followed suit. ‘These potatoes have no soul,’ Dave lamented, as he piled more flavour-enhancing chilli flakes onto his patatas bravas.

In comparison, the drinks were better. The wine list, in particular, is a solid and largely Spanish affair. There are white and red riojas, unoaked chardonnays, zingy Albarinos – and the house red is well worth a punt too.

Having been introduced to Monastrell, a grape that’s typically grown in Spain’s Jumilla region, by Manchester Confidential’s resident travel guru, Neil Sowerby, I’ve become a fan of its operatic range. From the jaunty offering here (Ademas Viura, £11.45) to the deep, Malbecian tones of Juan Gil Monastrell (available at the Red Lion in High Lane), it seldom fails to impress. And if wine is not your thing, Barcelona have got a good selection of lagers, spirits, and jugs of hand-made sangria for a tenner too.

Not so bad on the drinks front, then - but elsewhere, Barcelona Bar appears to be a work in progress. Neither design nor atmosphere are great, but what was of greater concern to me, was the food. Unlike, say, a Mongolian Barbecue or a Gurkha Grill,  many of us have actually been to a bar in Barcelona and enjoyed the experience - which makes Barcelona Bar kind of sad, and makes the food even more disappointing.

Having said that, the idea behind this venture is a good one. And it’s possible that Barcelona Bar could do all right by offering authentic mid-priced Spanish food and drink in this part of town. On the back of this experience, I'd suggest that they need to seriously examine the food offering first though - and maybe borrow a couple of CDs from a mate while they’re at it.

Rating:	12/20
Breakdown:	2/5 food 4/5 drinks 4/5 service 2/5 atmosphere
Address:	Barcelona Bar 6 Hilton Street. Manchester M4 1LA Tel: 0161 839 7117