Osmosis

Osmosis es un restaurante interesante. Fui a cenar y me pareció una comida correcta. Lo primero que llama la atención es la sensación de cerrado y de poco espacio que hay a primera vista. Nosotros comimos en el piso de arriba y esto hizo mejorar el asunto del espacio pero no de cerrado. La ambientación, para mi punto de vista, un poco pasada de moda. Luces halógenas, contrastes blanco y negro, pinturas monocoloristas color ocre, etc… El idioma predominante aquella noche fue el inglés, un 50% de las mesas estaban copadas por angloparlantes.
La propueta en carta es también cerrada. :) Puedes elegir entre dos menús. Elegimos el corto 4 platos y un postre 35 euros sin bebidas. Un buen detalle son los aperitivos que nos sirvieron a base de aceites y bocaditos. Existe la opción larga de 5 platos y dos postres por 50 euros.
En general los 4 platos fueron correctos. Lo más destacado fue el arroz negro con sepia y helado de azafrán. En mi opinión, el helado le aportaba un punto dulce y cremoso muy interesante. Lo hacía un plato más desenfadado y sobre todo acompañaba al sabor tan potente de la tinta del calamar. Un buen plato.
El resto de los platos no nos acabaron de enamorar aunque estuvieron bien. Cochinillo confitado, lubina con acelgas y crema de nabos con timbal de bolets, todos ok.
Mi percepción fue que habíamos cenado bien sin muchos alardes a pesar de los esfuerzos creativos y de calidad que intentan implementar en cada plato. Le falta un punto de brillo, queda a medio camino entre la creatividad y la calidad, pero al final no es sobresaliente en ninguno de los dos parámetros. Aun asi, es un lugar perfecto para una cena de negocios, para mi gusto, no para una cita. Es demasiado cerrado, intuyo que en el pasado fue un lugar elegante pero con el paso del tiempo el estilo ha quedado trasnochado.
Mención especial al servicio. Muy bien. Atento y discreto.

Me encanto este lugar.
Hace ya unos meses que no voy pero tuve la oportunidad de sentarme a comer en sus mesas dos veces, y sin duda repetiria.
El menú degustación es absolutamente genial con platos que querrás volver a comer, el servicio, increible. Ayuda para todo, respuesta a tus preguntas, nada snob.
Tiene una carta de vinos gigantesca. El sitio es pequeño pero nada abarrotado por lo que se puede comer con tranquilidad.
No me parece demasiado caro para todo lo que ofrece, sin duda un lugar a tener en cuenta para una ocasión especial.

Osmosis is just perfect. We had two dinners with them during our eleven days in Barcelona. The staff at Osmosis was ultra professional and very sweet to us and our two young children. The tasting menu was creative, tasty, and sophisticated for each of our meals. If you enjoy food and appreciate excellent service then you will like Osmosis.

Ideal para alguna celebración o comida de negocios. La comida, el servicio, los detalles… Todo perfecto. Y como el menú degustación es cerrado te ahorras el haber de elegir! Para decir algo negativo, resaltaría que el local me pareció un poco claustrofobico…

Nice fine dining restaurant, I have attended a wine pairing dinner and I have really enjoyed it. Food was complex but yet simple, absolutely matching with the wines that have been promoted. Not sure if they are used to organize these type of events cause at the beginning the service has been incredibly slow (it ended up being a 3hrs dinner for 4 dishes and 4 glasses of wine) O_​o apart from this «detail» I highly recommend it

The ambiance is great or poor, depending what you are looking for. It is a very small and narrow restaurant. We were seated in the upstairs room which held our party of 10 very comfortably (probably could hold 14). The décor doesn’t feel upscale, so some may not like the ambiance. The conversation levels were better than sitting at my house, as everyone could hear each other at a comfortable volume.
We chose to go with the «wine pairing». Each of the 7 courses were paired with a separate wine (Total of 75 Euros per person). Each dish has small portions, so you will come away feeling adequately fed. If you have a growing teenager, you may ask for «extra large» portions. The Foie Gras was uniquely good with a sweet flavor to it (apple and Vanilla). The Mushroom cream with sausage was a very good combination. The 3 slices of beef with apple and red fruit sauce was tender and complementary. Dessert had two dishes: fig in a creamy sauce with sorbet on top; and 3 chocolates (so good).
The wait staff was very friendly, but eccentrically so… Our waiter commanded (I do not use this term loosely) our attention to explain each dish, and a separate expert came to tell us about the wine pairing. The chef was very friendly, as he came out to greet us as we were leaving.
The food and wine were delectable, and I only give it less than 5 stars because I know some will not like the overly intimate and somewhat bland setting.

is there some chemistry going on here???
osmosis
/​äzmōsis/​
Noun
1. the tendency of molecules of a solvent to pass through a semipermeable membrane from a less concentrated solution into a more concentrated one, thus equalizing the concentrations on each side of the membrane.
2. the process of gradual or unconscious assimilation of ideas, knowledge, etc.
Synonyms
osmose
but fear not as they do not belong to the molecular gastronomy category.
they merely position themselves as a new catalan market cuisine, a fresh take on tradition.
dressed in my desigual best, i turned up unannounced, like most michelin star inspectors do, just before their 8pm dinner opening.
their shutters were still half drawn.
their staff taking a break by the kerbside.
casually i established eye contact and enquired about a possible seating.
whisperings in spanish ensued before a courteous just one moment.
shortly after, they indicated that they were indeed willing to accommodate me on the condition that i could vacate by 9.30pm, to which i answered no problemo.
at first glance, ambience is intimate and classy.
on closer inspection, even the toilets are equipped with proper fluffy hand towels!
their ever friendly chatty staff were really informative and tried their best to make you feel at home.
nothing snooty here.
it is tasting menu only and tasting menu it is.
reasonably priced at € 52 for 7 courses.
pa i entretenimets for € 3.
copa de cava for € 5 each but unfortunately the pour was not generous.
vichy sparkling for € 3.
just as the food fan fare was about to begin i was told that the table was mine for the night due cancellation, so no need to hurry on my part.
yay! now bring it!
the quality of the bread, olio and salts set the tone for what’s to come.
crusty with a sourdough taste and stretchy texture.
smooth as can be extra virgin olio.
british, australian and intriguing black hawaiian volcanic salt.
amuse bouche consists of deep fried cheese on a stick, larger than life fresh olives and a mussels with chopped tomatoes in seaweed cream concoction.
foie micuit with apple and vanilla, which looked more like a dessert, was a sweet rich creamy, one bite use your hand start.
sun-​root cream with baby squids at garlic’s style, the staff described this as a canadian potato but it tasted more like artichoke with a good roasted brown garlic punch and sweet tender baby squids.
pig’s trotters rice with prawns, my favourite of the lot.
a risotto with the full flavour and gelatinous essence of pork without any signs that a pig died for this dish.
fresh as day prawns adorns.
roasted monkfish with oregano and anis suquet, a close second.
this reminded me of a bouillabaisse!
the plump monkfish was firm and full of bite accompanied by a distinctly anise perfumed, not overpowering, suquet enhanced by slow caramelised onions and a tofu mayo.
veal with steamed eggplant and roasted peaches, probably my least favourite due to the fact that the veal medallion was served seared outside but almost raw within.
it was good quality meat but a slightly higher core temperature would have been ideal.
peaches or rather the slice of peach was seasonally sweet.
duo of desserts were accomplish but nothing to shout about.
time check: 9.30pm.
as promised, i delivered.
not that it mattered any more but it’s good to know just how fast i can eat, so the bottle neck is always how fast they can cook!
the continually joking staff then wanted to know what i was doing after dinner, to which i gestured bedtime.
that was immediately greeted with a no no!
it’s saturday night and the party is just about to start!
the advice was, when in spain do as spanish do, no sleeping!
and it being my last night in barcelona it is sacrosanct to do so!
sigh, no wonder nothing is opened early here on sunday mornings!!!

Osmosis is a truly singular experience and is a great value for the tasting menu. We paid 52 euro for the dinner tasting menu which was comprised of seven dishes and bread. They also offered the wine pairing but we elected not to have it. The service was top notch and provided a fine dining experience. The restaurant is small with limited seating so make a reservation ahead (online reservation available.) We did notice there was a majority of tourist in the restaurant so the staff speaks varied languages. The head chef greeted us at the door when we arrived and consulted us on the options for the tasting menu. He offered different options if a dish was not agreeable. The overall ambiance was also delightful as the décor was muted and modern. The midday tasting menu is also offered at a nice price.

**Same review as on my tripadvisor**
I thought it would be nice to do a little fine dining in Barcelona, so i made reservations in advance once we had our trip details confirmed!
We came here at 8pm on a Tuesday night, first table ever (until another hour or so when other tables got filled). Maybe it’s a Spain thing, but I thought it was quite odd.
It’s tasting menu only, so be sure to check the menu (changes every now and then, but for reference). They started off with a plate of green and black olives with some chips, then brought us bread with olive oil and 3 kinds of salts. Chips are good, the bread was really crispy and the salt was fun to try.
1^st dish, it’s a foie muit which was very good and creamy.
2^nd dish, peach gazpacho with cockles and orange, very yummy and love the cockles! it works with the sweet-​ish taste of gazpacho
3^rd dish, prawn rice with squid — super yummy! tasted like paella but the squid was very good and prawn was cooked perfectly
4^th dish — cod fish — this is my least fav dish, didn’t even finished mine
5^th dish — duck confit — cooked rare, very good but very small piece, could have been a little bigger piece
6^th — vanilla ice cream + hibiscus soup, just seems uninspired to me
7^th — trios of chocolates — good! Bailey’s ice cream with yummy chocolate! this is good
Overall, it came up to 135 euros (had a bottle of cavas, 2 bottle of mini waters)

Osmosis offer one fixed menu at a time, that they change on Tuesdays. In the evening it has 7 courses (45EUR) and 5 at lunch time (25EUR). We had the house wine of very good quality for 5EUR per glass. They adjust courses on request.
The food and the service is of very high quality and is excellent value for money. In our case the courses showed a certain continuity in the sense that the soup and two sauces served with subsequent courses resembled themselves.
We definitely enjoyed our dinner and would return there when we go to Barcelona. We had a hard time reserving our table by phone, because we couldn’t reach them during the first attempts. Probably the web is the way to go for reservations.

An interesting place to eat — but some strange juxtapositions. Trip Advisor gives it a super high rating, but I can’t agree. It is a small restaurant, two levels. Supposed to be sleek and minimal, but I found it a little worn down. The staff and service is beyond excellent, 6 stars for them. The menu currently (Feb 2012) is a fixed tasting menu, with another option for each item if you don’t like one on the menu. Perhaps that changes in tourist season? While we waited we were brought olives and fresh bread with a local olive oil and three different salts to dip the bread into, white, pink and black. Although the bread was delicious, as was the olive oil, sadly my palate was not sophisticated enough to taste the difference between the salts :(.
The starter was fois gras with apple and vanilla — quite interesting since I’m not a huge fan of fois gras — but I actually liked it. Lots of vanilla made it almost taste like a very rich dessert and the slight tartness of the apple almost balanced the richness of the fois. I would only say that the thin cracker on which it was served was not appropriate to hold or balance the richness of the fois — I think it would have ben better served with bread, a number of pieces, on which to spread it (just my opinion). Next was the cream of squash soup with sausage, bacon and carrot purée — delish! Mushroom risotto — quite good as well — I love mushrooms! I then had beef tenderloin, also good, but not excellent. Crispy pig back with liquorice, hmmmm. Not my favourite, tho I had a similar dish in California with chocolate and it was to die for…
Two desserts — both good :) First was some fruit sorbets — good, fresh, interesting, then a dish with 3 bites of chocolate — white chocolate and baileys ice-​cream, a chocolate scroll filled with mousse (?) and a dark chocolate ball filled with chocolate ice-​cream. Good in my opinion, but again not great. I am a chocolate purist and to me, chocolate is not a dish best served cold (I think that may only apply to revenge). I prefer my chocolate room temp or better still — warm! Take out the mousse stuffed chocolate roll and replace it with a bergamot/​chocolate lava cake, replace the chocolate ball-​icecream with a simple truffle with chill and they’d be all set!
We had good wine pairings as suggested by the waiter — Alsace with the fois and a bottle of Spanish red with the rest.
I like that the waiter told us about each dish and how best to approach them — first taste this, then take a bit of this — if it is to increase the enjoyment of the food then I am all for it.
I like tasting menus because I like to eat as many interesting things as possible in small amounts and not be too full to have dessert, so this was a good place for me, but I found all the courses to be just good, not great. I think they would need to experiment just a little more to enhance the flavours, and perhaps move away from their comfort zone.

Sleek small restaurant. Waiter was great. Presentation was fanstastic. The food, however, was a bit adventurous for some of us. First two courses both included foie gras which doesn’t appeal to all. Hake/​cuttlefish dish just wasn’t good. Dessert with red fruit done fresh and dried was delicious. Clearly, they create some great dishes, but won’t appeal to all.

Restaurant/​Ambiente:
Das Ambiente des Restaurant ist sehr schön, jedoch am schönsten ist es wenn man gerade im EG speisen kann. Man sollte dies bei der Reservation anbringen, damit man wirklich einen tollen Abend verbringen kann.
Menu:
Ich war an einem Samstag Abend im Osmosis und es gab nur das Tastingmenu für EUR 42.- und keine Karte. Die Karte habe ich ebenfalls fotografiert und mit den einzelnen Speisen hochgeladen.
Essen:
Das essen hat mir sehr gut geschmeckt und man hat neue Geschmackserfahrungen gemacht bei jedem Gang. Vor allem aber beim letzten Gang hatte es eine Schokoladenkugel mit einer Überraschung drin, die ich jedoch nicht verraten möchte, sondern jeder selber herausfinden muss.
Wein:
Die Weinauswahl ist sehr gross und vielfältig. Zudem bieten Sie sehr viele Weine offen an, was ich super finde.
Service:
Der Service im Osmosis war eigentlich gut, jedoch ist er nicht herausgestochen. Als wir zahlen wollten mussten wir sehr lange auf die Rechnung warten und zudem war die Rechnung dann noch falsch, obwohl das Menu ja klar vorgegeben ist und nur die Getränke dazugerechnet werden müssen. Danach mussten wir halt nochmals lange auf die richtige Rechnung warten. Dies war ein bisschen der Minuspunkt am ganzen Abend.
Im grossen um ganzen war es ein sehr guter Abend, welcher viel spass gemacht hat und ich empfehle das Restaurant für alle Feinschmecker weiter.
Was ich zudem noch ausprobieren werde ist das Mittagsmenu, welches für EUR 25.- angeboten wird.

El Osmosis es uno de los locales más interesantes del Eixample porque ofrece un producto de enorme calidad, una apuesta gastronómica compleja y una carta de vinos y maridaje muy interesante, y todo ello en un local pequeño, íntimo, al que accedes a través de una enorme puerta negra metálica. No se trata de un restaurante económico, pero la relación calidad-​precio es buena y existen opciones asequibles para disfrutar del restaurante: un menú diario de 25 € (con posible degustación de quesos por 7 € más) y un menú desgustación por 42 €. Si sois algo gourmets, la experiencia del maridaje de vinos y quesos hay que vivirla.

El lujo se paga.
Explicar el significado de Ósmosis, es un tanto complicado, lo importante es comentar este innovador restaurante de la zona alta de Barcelona de la Nouvelle cuisine.
Su diseño es bastante trasgresor para el común de los restaurantes locales. Su puerta blindada en color negro tipo bunker, marca la pauta y brinda la personalidad del lugar. Una decoración en tonos negros sofisticados, que de inmediato, te cambia la percepción, sin duda un ejercicio de ósmosis. Su interior no tiene mucho que ver con un clásico lugar de este tipo. Eso mola.
Su dueño, un joven chef catalán, especializado en la cocina de autor y en la comida catalana, quiere marcar tendencia y sin duda, que lo consigue. No sé si es para todo el mundo y para todos los gustos. Pienso que es sólo para amantes de la nueva cocina.
Su menú de degustación, aquí no hay carta por si acaso, incluye varios platos de diversos sabores. Destacan las verduras, las salsas y setas. Valor por persona 25 €. Ambiente elegante.