Nectari

Salt shock

gazpacho with lobster

Nectari is a 1 starred Michelin restaurant on the western part of Barcelona, I booked in for dinner as it was just down the road from my hotel which made it stress-free for me to return. In case you are not aware, the Spanish tend to have dinner very late and most Spanish restaurants doesn't open till 9pm. When I dinned in Comerc 24 a few years ago, I had the tasting menu and didn't leave the restaurant till 1am. Nectari serves creative Mediterranean cuisine with some very unusual presentation which gave me plenty of excitement as I was browsing its menu.

prawn tartare

seafood creamy rice

John dory, stewed leeks, green asparagus

The meal got off at a very good start, the lobster gazpacho was light and fresh, very flavoursome with a clever use of watermelon in the mix. However, the rest of the evening just went down hill. The seafood rice was overloaded with salt which completely killed off the natural flavours of the fresh langoustine and squid. Just the same was the Iberian goat, the seasoning was so aggressive that I failed to know if I was eating goat or beef, it was such a shame as the goat itself was well cooked and had such a beautiful tender texture. While the Nectari dessert had an interesting presentation, the flavours were a real let down, the raspberries element was so sharp and sour that it almost numbed my tastebud and the chocolate mousse was very unremarkable.

Iberian goat, mountain herbs and bruschetta

"Nectari" dessert

Tiramisu with Bailey's ice cream

To sum it up, my dinner at Nectari was good, but nowhere close to the level I think it deserves a star. The concept is there but the execution was missing for me on the night. The flavours were just very imbalance. And service was not that impressive either, our waiter seem to have little interest in engaging and messed up one of our order. Out of the 12 Michelin starred restaurants I have been to in Spain, I am afraid Nectari was the weakest, both in terms of the quality of the cooking and service. There are simply far better choices at similar price in the city so I see no reason why I would return. 

Food 2.5/5

Executive chef: 
Jordi Esteve

What I paid: 
£55 per head with a glass of wine

Average cost without drinks and services:
£50

Carrer de Valencia, 28, 08015, Barcelona

http://www.nectari.es/