I took the “short” tasting menu at Besta as it sounded plenty long to me. The chefs have apparently opened a new “seafood” restaurant Batea, and I would definitely like to try that next time I am in Barcelona, but would also return to Besta as the menu is reimagined every 8 days or so. I love fish and seafood but often find that the menus at fish/seafood focused restaurants in New York where I live can be very boring. (Different if I am eating at a Japanese restaurant, for example, where the accent is also on fish and seafood.) Anyway, Besta was focused on fish/seafood, but as you will see a bit of meat thrown in (though they asked if I had dietary restrictions, and I think a pescatarian would have done just fine there).
A couple of glasses of this excellent white with my meal (garnacha grape, and actually same grape, different vineyard–no pic–for my second glass):
Sweet white shrimp tartar sandwiched between crisped chicken skin (the sauce is some kind of chicken sauce, lost in translation):
Razor clam in some sauce that included anchovy, but again not sure what else. But the dishes in this meal were all excellent and full of flavor combinations that were new to me and just very delicious:
This was crispy kale served with a Hollandaise sauce and salmon roe. It had a little kick to it, too, and I could have eating this all night:
This was raw amberjack with a homemade kimchee. Don’t know what the little round pellets were, but they added both taste and crunch to the dish. One of the most pleasing aspects to this menu were the constant surprises of flavors and textures in the dishes:
This was a pompano ceviche with a dill sauce (again pardon my lame descriptions as I did not see the actual menu, but even if I had, I’m not sure I could have done justice to this meal):
This was red mullet grilled with a blow torch, little bits of crunchy cauliflower, and sorry don’t know what the sauces were, but complimented the fish (not usually my favorite fish, but tasted very good, not so oily/fishy to me, with the cauliflower):
Had a half pour of this red with my last savory dish (again the garnacha grape). Yum!:
Here was oxtail with smoked eel and beets many ways. Deeply delicious:
First dessert was coconut ice cream, crunchy graham crackers, some kind of gelée on top and horseradish! (Waiter tried to describe horseradish to me, but I let him know I was familiar.) Combination actually worked! Very excellent palate cleanser desssert.
And finally, something I really cannot describe, as I didn’t really listen well to the description, though I know it had chocolate and nuts (kind of candied, crunchy)…One of the best desserts I have ever had. Not too sweet, and not too rich, but the flavors were amazing.
To me this restaurant is one of the reasons I love eating in Barcelona so much. It is in a relaxed, inviting space, full of people (I didn’t see other Americans, maybe one couple leaving) having a great time. And the food, not over the top heavy eating, but rather so delicious and thought-provoking. I was eating solo, so just had the opportunity to savor every bite. Recommend this place highly!
