Attic, Barcelona

This is essentially a tourist rip-off shop dressed up to look like a trendy modern restaurant. Don't let the view of La Rambla and the admittedly pretty well done decor fool you - the food is presented reasonably well but is of a very low quality - reheated or overcooked, very un-fresh ingredients with botched attempts at second-hand modern/traditional with a twist recipies. For instance, my friend's 'Squid in Andalucian Dressing' was poor deep fried calamari (fried several hours ago and re-heated) with a side of slightly seasoned mayo. What is worse is that the staff obviously know it and the general attitude is one of thinly veiled contempt for you at having chosen to eat there. With many excellent restaurants in Barcelona, if you're looking for good or even decent food the recomendation has to be to avoid at all costs.

If I had read the previous reviews I would have known dining here is a roll of the dice. As it was ours set came up snake eyes - the hostess from hell.
A couple of friends got a table for dinner, telling the hostess there would be two more coming and giving our name for reference. When the two of us arrived later, saying we were meeting two friends and giving the name, we were told there wasn't anyone under that name nor was there anyone waiting to fill out a table. We waited outside assuming we missed our party and after 15 minutes returned to the hostess requesting to walk thru the restaurant to see if our friends were actually inside. She refused, saying it would be disruptive (for the staff she said, not the diners) and surely our friends were lost and there was nothing more she could do. After another wait outside spent checking other close by cafes and calling our hotel our friend walked out of the Attic looking for us. The two of them had been waiting for us, asssuming we were in trouble of some sort (the trouble being the hostess I realize now).
I confronted the hostess who denied knowing anything about the information given by our friends. She then followed up with saying the we were responsible for the problem as our friends should have been coming to the waiting area or street front to check for us. Nothing I said was of importance as she didn't see anything wrong in her actions.
As our friends had already begun to order and told us the waiter had been very accomodating we stayed for dinner but the dark clouds followed. The waiter became sullen and some how the kitchen got the word on us as the meals we were served were mediocre to boring.
We loved Barcelona and most every other experience was wonderful so this night was an unexpected disaster.

We first discovered The Attic in July 2005 when 10 of us were on a trip to Barcelona. The restaurant itself was busy and they were turning people away. Being a big group they let us in and we had our own room next to the dining room. The service was great and the staff were very friendly. I don't remember the total bill but it was very reasonable for what we had.

This October on a day trip to Barcelona we actively sought out The Attic and arrived at 6.30pm. The restaurant was fairly quiet but did get busier when we left at 8pm. we had scrambled eggs once more for a starter and couldn't fault them. I had the veal and my girlfriend had Teryaki chicken, we couldn't fault either meal and the staff were friendly and attentive.

I would recommend The Attic to everyone as I love the place. It's modern but not in your face and the cutlery hanging from the ceiling when you climb the stairs is a must for photographers!

Favorite Dish: Attic scrambled eggs. these eggs are more poached more than scrambled and are laid over thin french fries (more like chipsticks) that have been salted and served with bacon bits. A fantastic tasty starter (I could also eat these for a main course they're that nice!).

The Attic seems to be a very classy restaurant with its modern minlimist design and smartly dressed waiters and reasonable prices, however this is where the classy perception ends.

The service is appalling, slow and the staff rude, as others have said on this site, unfotunately I had not read these reviews prior to going Doh! The food was of extremely poor quality, beef fillet my wife ordered was full of fat & gristle suggesting it was not fillet at all and not cooked as requested so we sent it back, however the second one was even worse and also had to go back and my wife refused to have anything else as she had been put off by this. The leg of lamb was over cooked and looked like it had been cremated! And was also un-edible, the other two meals at best where bordering on OK. We did not finish the meals as by this time our evening had been ruined.

The staff did not seem the remotest bit interested or concerned and did their best to avoid us or give us eye contact as we attempted to resolve the matter and at no point did we get an apology. We requested to speak to the manager twice however after waiting for 30mins we decided we had wasted enough time and reluctantly paid for 3 out of the 4 main meals and left.

There seemed to be no one in authority only very young inexperienced waiters who congregated and spoke about you as they gave you dirty looks for requesting an acceptable meal which you are paying for!!

Be advised avoid like the plague!

Favorite Dish: Cannot recommend a decent dish! as out of 4 we didn't have one!

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Well, what can I say? I have been here several times and I have always enjoyed the food and service. There is a good atmosphere and staff are friendly.

My last visit was with 4 colleagues and we had a wonderful lunch with alcohol for around 160€. Excellent value for money.

REMEMBER TO BOOK!

Advised to book as even on Monday evening the restaurant was full.
We had seats overlooking the Ramblas and could see the scam merchants playing their card games & trying to con the tourists.

Favorite Dish: The food & wine overall were superb and very keenly priced.
Waiters service was good and also funny as we were served somebody else's order as he looked at us & we shook our heads to indicate it's not what we ordered, after that everything came as we ordersd.

if you want a change from the hustle and bustle of tapas bars - this is a great spot.
located on Las Ramblas - if you get a table at the window you can look down on the crowds as you enjoy some really nice food

Favorite Dish: I had staek and it was cooked to perfection

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We were told that this is the only good restaurant in Las Ramblas and I have good reasons to believe it is.
First it is almost impossible to get a table without reservation unless you go really early (before 20.00) or late (after midnight). This when most other places were empty.

You can see it is something special even before you walk in as it already looks really nice from outside.
The interior is very nice, in my opinion, All wooden walls and ceilings, but in a very modern style.

Service was good although I was a bit offended by our waiter as he insisted on speaking English when I was trying my best with Spanish ;) I guess he was just trying to be friendly.

The food was really good and prices were reasonable. I would definetly go there again and highly recommend it.

DO MAKE RESERVATIONS.

Favorite Dish: The Arròs Negre Sípia (Black rice) was delicious and so was the chocolate cake.
I would skip the tomato bread as there is barely any tomato on it...