Àbac Barcelona - Buy Reservations

We recently spent a week in Madrid and Barcelona and spent considerable time planning our meals. We dined at multiple Michelin starred restaurants and this was definitely our favorite. The space is stunning and in a charming neighborhood removed from the center of Barcelona. The first "course" takes place in the kitchen where you get to watch the dishes being prepared. The course itself is a beverage and a pre dinner appetizer. They were one of the best on the menu. The menu is extensive, I believe 17 dishes? However they are grouped in a way that 3 dishes are served at the same time. I believe our meal lasted roughly 3-4 hours. The service is wonderful, professional, but still entertaining. Marco was our main server and he was excellent. One of the highlights of this restaurant in my opinion was their beverage options. We had been to a highly rated restaurant in Madrid a few days previously and our wine pairings were either 300 or 600 euros per person. At ABaC, we had two bottles of wine, both recommended by the wonderful sommelier. They were so reasonable priced, I could not believe it. They were both delicious and I was so appreciative of the lack of mark up at this restaurant. Every single dish with the exception of one that was just okay was a WIN. The eel sandwich I believe was our favorite amongst our group of 4. It happened to be my birthday and not only did I get an extra dessert, but we had a rousing birthday song with many of the waitstaff joining in. It was particularly entertaining because we had sucked on the helium balloons prior so it sounded like a chorus from the Lollypop Gang. The refined surroundings combined with the humorous but professional weight staff and lastly the creative and absolutely amazing food amounted to one of the best experiences I have had. I have traveled all over the world, and dined at many World's 50 Best and this is without doubt one of the best. I would go back in a second. While this is not a cheap meal, in my opinion it was definitely a memorable experience. Thank you Thank you Thank you.

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17-02-2023 when you hear a chef with 3 Michelin star you automatically expect something extraordinary. I am a person who loves gastronomy and use to go to all kind of good restaurants from Michelin star to street food. Tonight we were disappointed bcaz nothing except the beginning that started in the kitchen was surprising. The food was lame, everything went the same way “smoked” “carbonized” and almost no taste. Presentation maybe was the only thing you will remember. The stuff were “burned out” with a very false smile on their face and explaining the plates to every table seemed heavy and heavier every time. I almost felt sorry for them. We ordered the wine tasting with every plate. Another disaster and mistake I did for 280€ for 2 persons I could have ordered a nice bottle of wine but they recommend to try wine tasting. I have tried many and many 1 star Michelin chefs far far better in taste than Jordi Cruz who I think don’t even know what’s going on in his place since he now is a TV star. Money is the enemy of the passion for cocking and we all loose it as soon as we think more about money and not the passion for coocking. I don’t want to say it was bad or anything near bad, NO, but it was definitely NOT 3 star Michelin gastronomy

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One of the best restaurant experiences we've ever had! We were lucky to snag a reservation the day after Christmas and so glad that we did. We started our dining experience in the kitchen with some small bites and the best Bloody Mary cocktail I've ever had. Then we heading to the dining room for the rest of the meal.I could go on and on about the food, but they are constantly changing their menu based off of the ingredients in season. I'll focus on the superb service and their attention to detail. They have a lengthy wine menu and received a really nice recommendation from the sommelier. There are a few cocktails built into the tasting menu which I really appreciated. The service was impeccable! They asked that we let them know ahead of time if we need a dining break so that they can let the kitchen know as most of their dishes are delicate. Overall, we will definitely be back when we come back to Barcelona again!

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What an incredible dining experience! Each dish was filled with delicious and bold flavors, beautiful presentation, and creativity. & the staff were professional and very service-oriented. I highly recommend ABaC when visiting Barcelona. I only have two critiques, and they're both pretty minor. First, the music didn't fit the overall vibe of the dining experience. While trying some of the best food I've ever tasted, I was listening to some random cover of Hot Line Bling. I think classical or jazz would be a better fit. It was also a tiny bit too loud. Second, the kitchen tour was a bit too cramped. I appreciate getting to see the kitchen and meeting the chefs, but I also felt I was in the way during the kitchen tour. Overall, ABaC deserves the 3 Michelin stars it has. The chefs at ABaC do not shy away from bold flavors and creative plating. The service is also amazing, as the staff will truly do whatever you need to feel comfortable and happy in the restaurant. Highly recommend: 5/5!

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It's good but not Michelin 3 star good and not as good as I expected. I'll finish this review with my own experience shortly.

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After a fantastic experience my first go around in 2019, this second time was certainly not the charm. Despite phenomenal service, after 21 different items in their tasting experience, ABaC failed to amaze in 21 out of 21, and on the 21st there was hair in our dessert. Four and one half hours utter of disappointment, a wasted afternoon, and an empty bank account.Very disappointed.At best, the food: PalatableService: Fantastic.

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Went to ABAC on the recommendation of our concierge at our hotel while visiting Barcelona. We were celebrating a wedding anniversary and were very excited. Boy were we in for a surprise. While the service was everything you would expect from a 3 star Michelin, the food was anything but. For the next 4 HOURS we were Subjected to the most uncomfortable and unsavory culinary experience we have ever had. Every course was weirder and less enjoyable than the last. From the black goo we were served which smelled and tasted like a plate of death, to the inside out fermented tomato dish that felt like left over pizza paste. From The Luke warm soup like substances we were served to the plate of poached egg simmering in a broth of what looked like formaldehyde, we were left wondering if this was some sort of a prank. Luckily the bread we were served was soft and we were lucky to enjoy it as we waited for anything resembling an edible dish. The prawns which were served towards the end of our experience were promising, however for some reason ABAC believes that half cooked prawns are better than the fully cooked through variety, and we were once again left shaking our heads.The desserts, were the saving grace as those helped fill the void of nutrients in our stomachs after an ordeal lasting from 9pm-12:45 am, however our evening in Barcelona felt like a let down.Not wanting to be rude, we paid out bill and left without a fuss. I contacted the restaurant to let them know of our general displeasure, and we're met with the obligatory "we are sorry, come back again".Having eaten at 3 star Jean-Georges in NYC just two weeks prior, and raving about our experience, we are officially weary of the star system.Would not recommend this restaurant.

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Terrible from beginning to end. We arrived 15minutes late having to made our way down to their carpark and up to the restaurant without anyone to show us the way or welcome us at anytime. We were requested to wait at what seemed to be the hotel lobby and lost an other 5 minutes. Then the restaurant manager arrived looking at his watch before even greeting us and told us the kitchen will have to reduce the menu to a shorter version. The welcome was harsh, frustrating for anyone who booked for a 3 michelin stars experience long in advance and get as a welcome an instant punition from the chef for daring arriving few mintutes late. We finaly made our way to our table, got a written menu which let us believed the kitchen made up its mind and would let us enjoy the entire dinner experience. The service was surprisingly ungentle, trattoria style, harshly dropping bottles on our table, heavily pouring water with the botton bottle fully up and forgetting to give us the proper introduction to few plates or drinks. We moved on with our dinner, which was fine but at no point up to a 3 michelin stars restaurant, no way... We noticed we were moving faster on the menu than the other tables and that few dishes were indeed cuted from us like the prawn and an other main courses. We ended our meal still hungry and higly frustrated to see many others tables were still waiting or enjoying their main course while we were already good to go, what a stupid punition they gave us when we had plenty of time to complete the full set dinner. We complained to the restaurant manager who told us we could have extra deserts but what we wanted was to try the prawn, too late to make it up for that and very disapointing they chose what to cut on the menu without even checking our preferences up front. From the welcome, the service, the food experience there is no way Abac deserves 3 michelin stars. They barely deserve 1, for creativity and plating maybe. This is really bothering as it is giving a huge discredit on the whole michelin guide that they granted the highest recognition when this is obvious from other reviews and my personal experience that this is a total fraud. Waste of time and money, you can eat so much better and get a lovely experience at so many others locations in Barcelona.

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Went to Abac Sunday July 31 for our final meal in Barcelona. We've been to a number of great 1 Michelin stars and was excited to experience our first 3 star restaurant. Horrible mistake. Although the presentation was thoughtful and beautiful, the food was not good and it only got worse from there. That night we ended up taking turns throwing up in our hotel room and barely got any sleep for our last night in Barcelona. The early flight back home was not fun either. Save yourself the money, the stomach ache and get some tapas.

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After reading many comment on this restaurant I decide to try the place and understand how is. The location is beautiful, and i like the set up of the table. The set menu is well execute and I didn’t see any crazy mistake how other people found. Overall is a nice meal and deserve to be a Michelin restaurant

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Our friends are well known culinary critics. They would be easily recognized at ABaC restaurant. So they decided to ask us to visit ABaC and learn if this restaurant deserves 3 Michelin stars or perhaps there are cracks in ABaC’s culinary fame. The short version: the cracks are wide enough for all 3 stars to rapidly dissipate, leaving only fragmented memories - as unfortunate as it may sound. Jordi Cruz wasn’t in the kitchen on the date of our visit – that’s how the entire dining experience could be described. This review is focused on one goal: whether ABaC deserves 3 Michelin stars. Depending on your preferences and senses for culinary excellence and precision, you may be entirely satisfied while dining at ABaC. But it will not be a 3 Michelin star dinner: only a dinner with at least a few questions and answers unlikely to be provided. We arrived promptly at 1pm. The host asked us to sit outside on the patio while waiting for the table. The temperature approached 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The patio table hasn’t been cleaned, featuring a full ashtray with several partially smoked cigarettes. Multiple individuals sitting at the nearby tables were also smoking. Being subjected to secondhand smoke while enduring 100 degree heat can be termed a memorable experience but for the wrong reasons. Perhaps it was a sign of things to come? The host finally guided us to the table inside 30 minutes later without explaining the reason for the delay. There were already multiple couples dining inside speaking Spanish. It’s entirely possible that the staff decided my wife and I are garden variety tourists from the US (with the culinary palette at the earliest stage of evolution) and will be satisfied with anything ABaC may offer. Our server explained the menu in a rehearsed, synthetic manner without maintaining eye contact which could be only interpreted as questions would not be welcome. I nevertheless did ask a few questions. The answers arrived in a robotic, strained manner while lacking interest in our dining experience. Later, the server finally warmed up. The tasting menu has been attached. When my wife and I are asked to review a Michelin star restaurant, we use a very simple approach. There are 2 things a chef can do with selected ingredients: cook and construct. That’s where the magic happens, combining precise execution (cooking) with visual delight (construction). Perfectly cooked ingredients will be lost if not presented correctly. Perfectly presented ingredients – but not executed well – will be easily discovered. The first two stars: the magic of cooking and construction. The third star: experience, from start to finish. So let’s get started. The main focus of the first dish was predictable: heighten the senses by offering a ceviche with cocoa, scallop, and lucuma together with a plethora of other textures. Predictably good, yet hardly exceptional. Other dishes followed with construction clearly emphasized over cooking. The Chinese box with grilled eel fried brioche could not find the rightful place in the menu – felt entirely disconnected from the menu theme. The brioche lacked any distinctive flavor and could be in fact a lot thinner to bring grilled eel forward. Calcined roots, seeds, and bark (plus other ingredients) became the only truly memorable dish in the middle of the tasting process and faded away as other dishes arrived. Figueres Onion soup needs to be explored in detail. It was so rich and salty that after a few bites both my wife and I concluded that it wasn’t edible. So many thoughts crossed our minds: what if the chef could … But the chef did not combine the delicate flavor of caramelized onions with the broth. Instead, onions floated aimlessly as tasteless visitors in a molasses-like broth, entirely obstructed by salt. Neither one of us finished this dish. The red prawn with picada textures, braised hazelnut juice and grilled Romesco bread: a collision of poorly guided construction and equally poor execution of a delicate ingredient. We have been informed by the server that the red prawn has been kept in salt for several hours before dinner. Irrespective of this particular step, the red prawn – as the final product on the dish - was so dry and salty that sadly this dish also became inedible. Braised hazelnut juice featured so much salt that only small portion could be consumed. Marinated and grilled pigeon partially rescued the tasting menu on its own merits. But was it exceptional? It was simply predictably good. The desert with a scoop of ice cream (a lovely flavor) did not seem right. Upon examination, there was a strand of human hair on the white surface of ice cream. If I could casually notice it, so could the pastry chef or the server. I politely mentioned to the server that the desert needs to be changed. The apology seemed rather hollow because what could have happened did not. First – my desert had to be prepared again while my wife’s desert would melt if she waited for my desert to arrive. The right decision would be to remake both deserts and allow us to continue the tasting menu at the same pace. You guessed it. The proposal to remake both deserts wasn’t extended. My desert arrived (minus any unwanted additions). I did not eat it lacking confidence in the kitchen team. The server requested us to have the second part of the desert on the patio again. It was a rather surprising request because the outside temperature still hovered around 100 degrees. The dinner ABaC ended the way it started: on the patio, at a table where the ashtray hasn’t been cleaned 3 hours later, with several diners at nearby tables smoking next to us. I spoke the general manager who was very gracious and understanding. The patio was a very convenient forum to express our opinion in private. When my wife stood up, a piece of gum with cigarette butt was attached to her shoe. There you have it. Zero stars for ABaC. Partially memorable yet unremarkable dinner with only 2 dishes worthy repeating. Puzzling and disappointing pre- and post- dinner experience. Construction emphasized over cooking. Jordi Cruz nowhere to be found.

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don't risk an upset stomach. Gambas were bad. I threw up completely at night. Response from the restaurant to my e-mail: we only have fresh products, consult a doctor....

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Prior to coming here, I read several reviews and was debating on whether or not to keep our reservation. (I read them on Yelp as well as trip advisor.) I'm so glad we kept the reservation because all the poor reviews were completely wrong. Not only was the food amazing, the experience was truly worth it. The ambiance and the service is exactly what you would expect at a restaurant like this. We were told to come here by a few friends who had been here a few years ago... and it's safe to say, they haven't lost their touch. Each food item had meaning and we loved the story line behind them. Our waiters were so lovely and explained everything. We feel we had the full experience pairing wine with our meal so definitely recommend doing such.The only part I didn't like about the experience was the hot temperature of the restaurant, but they started to lower it once they saw how hot everyone was. Overall we are so happy to have experienced this meal and can't wait to come back when we are in the area. Love!!

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Service was mediocre for a 3 Michellin Star rated restaurant. A lot of time in between food. Servers were very stiff and stern, and not very personable. My husband enjoyed the food more than me, many heavy dishes it was a bit hard for me. Wine paring was interesting that had varieties of alcohol. The worst was that my husband got very sick most likely food poison the same night. Having been to many Three Michelin rate’s restaurant around the world, sadly I would not recommend this one.

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Having been to other three Michelin star restaurants my expectations were high, and unfortunately this place did not measure up. Nothing on the tasting menu was memorable during our five hour dinner. The service was okay but not worthy of three stars.

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Beautiful restaurant, great service, food was beautifully presented. The food ? There was not one dish out of 12 that I liked or I think anyone would ever want to have again. Took a super...... long time 3.5 hours. So in summary if you like to eat beautiful food that doesn't taste great in a beautiful restaurant with great service and you have nothing to do, come here. Otherwise Stay away.

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