Hisop (Barcelona)

[Chris Amirault]

But of course!

[SgtPorkExplosion]

Hey all, rather new post-er, but just wanted to drop a line to say how delicious and well prepared the meal we had at Hisop this past Saturday. We did make reservations, and they did have them when we got there. It was somewhat of a funny joke with the waiter b/c they knew we were from America with a early reservation (9 PM!). It was pretty funny since they were just finishing setting up for the nights service.

Technique and taste were spot on here. Not quite expensive, and a nice wine list. I really wished I would have written down everything we had, but it was just not possible. However, i will mention that the cheese course was great with an excellant presentation and definite progression in flavor and texture. We had a Catalonian sweet desert wine that was made from 100% Merlot grape. Which surprised us.

Anyways, thanks all for the good suggestion as it didn't disappoint with regards to price, service and execution.

[Corinna Dunne]

We had dinner in Hisop on Friday, and I agree with SgtPorkExplosion, the food is absolutely delicious and there's really nice use made of avant-garde techniques, which support the overall dish rather than take centre stage. Very resolved. We had the tasting menu which with a wine pairing, cost 60 euro... incredible value. The cep ice cream was out of this world.

I booked by email and had no problems. Quick responses and very helpful. Their service was excellent too.

Edited October 18, 2006 by Corinna Dunne (log)

[Champagne Sadie]

I've had 2 meals at Hisop in the past 18 months, and neither has dissapointed. (Always booked via email.)

During december they have beautiful table decorations.

[Chris Amirault]

Report on Hisop from 9 October. There were two of us at the table and we got the tasting menu. Somewhere during the meal I mentioned to the servers that I was associated with the eGullet Society, and I think that may have accounted for an extra course at the very end (see below). Because we knew we were doing the tasting menu, we didn't look at the printed menu much and failed to ask for one at the end, stupidly. So apologies in advance for errors, which, due to language issues and alcohol consumption, may be legion.

The first amuse was sardine, brined pumpkin, bitter orange marmalade, gray salt. An excellent start, with the pumpkin and sardine playing off the marmalade. Fantastic.

Next came (the aforementioned) cepes ice cream, buffalo mozzarella, red vermouth gelée, pine caramel. Welcome to the autumnal forest floor. I found this round fascinating not only because of the remarkable ice cream but also because of the appearance of two items that evoke low-end flavor profiles: the omnipresent vermouth, homemade versions of which are a staple of the Barcelona bar scene, and pine caramel, which brought back memories of my grandfather's pine gum. Excellent dish and the highlight of the evening.

Fish course the first was scallop with ham, almond, and hazelnut mince, fig, sturgeon, greens, and a bitter foam. Well done, with the highlight being the mince.

Fish course the second was hake, vanilla potato, peas, cacao, foie gras sauce. Another well executed plate, but the vanilla tended to overpower the potato and the peas were unremarkable. The foie gras sauce was fantastic -- but you knew that already, didn't you? I'm not sure what to make of the appeal of hake, which was sweet and delicate but not particularly memorable.

Beef course had a wine reduction of some sort, mango in rose water, turnip sauce with a foie thread running through it, squash flower. This could have been a real winner save for a few basic flaws: it was a bit underseasoned and the small cut of beef had been poorly butchered, so we each had a thick piece of sinew running through the meat. It was a strange error, to be sure. I thought that, overall, the plate worked; my companion, not a fan of rose water, felt that it dominated her nose and tongue.

Cheese course was excellent, the highlight being a llavina blue cheese.

Next was a mojito infusion with, of course, rum and mint. Nothing much there.

The first dessert was an astonishing pistachio soufflé with candied pistachios, arugula sauce, and a kaffir lime sorbet. Excellent in every way.

The second dessert (with espresso) had two sorbets: passion fruit, raspberry, mint, and menthol; white chocolate, white truffle, and almond. While they were perfectly executed, they both felt a bit busy, and the complexities in each competed instead of allowing one to refresh the palate for the other. Still and all, they were damned tasty -- they just might have benefited from being served one then the other, not at the same time.

We wrapped up with sugared olives (I loved them; my wife thought that they were too rich to wrap up the meal) and alcohol-free gin and tonic (neither of us thought this was great shakes).

Oriol came out and chatted with us, and he seemed to take both my praise for most of the meal and my criticism for a few little things in stride. The uniforms staff wear are a bit Next Generation, and I could do with a CD playing that isn't Sade's Promise: hearing "Sweetest Taboo" four times doesn't aid the digestion, it turns out. Staff were perfect, and seemed energized by our obsessive deuce instead of annoyed (which would have been perfectly reasonable).

This was our one high-end meal on a ten-day trip to Barcelona, and we really enjoyed it in every way. Considering the tasting menu is €48, I'd say it's a remarkable value and a great experience.

[luizhorta]

Great! thanks for the report! I am glad you enjoyed it, Hisop is a best value in my opinion, along Sauc (now with it's 1st Michelin star). By the way, the dessert you mention "an astonishing pistachio soufflé with candied pistachios, arugula sauce, and a kaffir lime sorbet" received an appraisal here last august by Allain Passard, that cooked at the same event and ate some of Hisop's dishes.

Edited November 23, 2006 by luizhorta (log)