Review: Barcelona Wine Bar’s small plates create an exemplary feast with big flavors
After more than a decade of sustained growth that shows no sign of letting up, I think it’s safe to say that the small plates trend is here to stay. At the same time, the downtown Raleigh renaissance continues to accelerate, with the Warehouse District — particularly the fashionable restaurants and bars in and around the new Dillon multi-use complex — recently staking a claim as its de facto hub.
You’ll find Barcelona Wine Bar at the white hot intersection of those two trends. Barcelona Wine Bar, a rapidly growing chain with 17 locations scattered across the country from Denver to Boston, offers a Spanish-inspired tapas menu. And, according to the restaurant’s website, it boasts one of the largest Spanish wine programs in the United States.
It’s clearly a winning formula, as I discovered the first time I visited. I’d booked a 5:30 p.m. reservation on a Saturday for our party of four. I didn’t think we’d really need it at such an early hour, even on a weekend night, but I had booked it then, just be safe.
Good thing I did. Our table was the only one left unoccupied, and the bar was packed. The rustic-chic space reverberated with high energy (and a decibel level to match) that bounced off the rough plank walls in the dining room, the marble-topped horseshoe bar, and the honeycomb of clay chimney flue tiles that divided the two rooms.
We settled in with a bottle of Rioja as we looked over the menu. The offering includes an impressive charcuterie and cheese selection, as well as a handful of larger dishes equally suitable for sharing or as a main course. But tonight we were here to explore some of the nearly 30 tapas that are the featured attraction. By the end of the evening, we had sampled our way through nearly half the list.
The feast began with an exemplary rendition of the Spanish tortilla that set a very high bar for the tapas to follow. Nothing like a Mexican tortilla, the Spanish version is a sort of quiche layered with thinly sliced potatoes.
The rest of the meal lived up to that standard, with just a couple of minor exceptions. A small plate of charred broccoli rabe, spangled with whole cloves of confit garlic, was a treat. So were crisp, golden jamon and manchego croquetas, floating on a cloud of garlic aioli and dusted with smoked paprika; and swordfish a la plancha, an expertly grilled mini-steak topped with a Spanish salsa verde; and spiced beef empanadas, fat and fragrant in their blistery crust.
The surprise hit of the table was Spanish chorizo with sweet and sour figs. Gambas al ajillo, shrimp in olive oil punctuated with guindilla pepper, had us asking for more crusty bread to sop up the oil.
As for those minor exceptions, while charcoal roasted oysters were very good, they were pricey at $10.50 for just three. OK, maybe that’s a quibble. But the grilled hanger steak we got — six slices totaling 2 ounces, if I’m being generous — left us feeling seriously short-changed. Clearly cut from the thin, tapered end of the steak, this one should never have left the kitchen.
Near the end of the meal, we ventured off the tapas menu for a grilled whole branzino. Served on a bed of roasted fennel, and skillfully filleted at the table, the fish was well worth the detour.
A tapas order of patatas bravas, cubes of roasted potato topped with a spicy salsa brava and garlic aioli, was late in arriving. It was so late that our server (whose pacing had otherwise been impressive, given the packed house) comped the dish. Don’t tell management, but it was so good we would gladly have paid for it.
We reaped another windfall in the form of a warm flourless chocolate cake with coffee anglaise and Marcona almonds that was delivered to our table by mistake. We happily polished it off, along with the excellent olive oil cake we had ordered.
The following weekend, I returned with my wife on a different mission: to explore the non-tapas sections of the menu.
That includes the wine list — all in the line of duty, you understand. After whetting our palates with a crisp Manzanilla (one of 10 dry sherries available by the glass), we turned to the server to help us choose between two Riojas we were considering. He brought samples of each, along with a Vara y Pulgar tintilla from Andalusia (a wine I’d never heard of) that he thought we might like. Did we ever. The restaurant doesn’t have a sommelier on site, but at least some of the wait staff know their way around the list.
We then dove into Barcelona Wine Bar’s impressive selection of Spanish charcuterie and cheeses. Or more accurately, I should say we dipped a toe in the water, limiting our selection to just three items from the 14 on offer. Resisting the temptation of familiar delicacies like jamon serrano and aged manchego, we opted instead for rarities, none of which I’d seen before on a menu in these parts.
I’d read about jamon Mangalica, made from a curly-haired Hungarian breed of pig thought by some to produce hams even more special than the famous serranos. At Barcelona Wine Bar, Mangalica is the only ham sliced by hand — which, in this case, produced thick, chewy evidence that properly slicing a ham paper-thin is a skill that takes years to master. Next time, I’ll go with jamon serrano, which is sliced to order on an electric slicer.
The cheeses more than made up for that disappointment: whipped sheep’s milk cheese topped with Spanish paprika and honey; and Valdéon, a just-sharp-enough blue served with a small cube of membrillo, the quintessential quince paste companion to cheese.
The next course, a paella mariscos for two, bristling with clams, mussels, squid and a couple of gargantuan head-on prawns, had us salivating the moment it landed on the table. The seafood delivered on that mouthwatering promise, too, but the dish was marred by too salty rice, masking the saffron note that’s a hallmark of the dish.
Then our desserts arrived, and all was forgiven. Flan Catalan was smooth as silk beneath a translucent blanket of caramel. But it’s the Basque-style burnt cheesecake that still haunts me. Topped with a shimmery cherry compote, it was the perfect sweet — but not too sweet — final destination in our Spanish adventure.
Barcelona Wine Bar
430 W. Martin St., Raleigh
919-808-5400
Cuisine: Spanish
Rating: 3 1/2 stars
Prices: $$
Atmosphere: rustic-chic
Noise level: high
Service: well-trained and enthusiastic
Recommended: tapas —especially Spanish tortilla, chorizo with sweet and sour figs, croquetas, patatas bravas, gambas al ajillo; whole branzino, flan Catalan, Basque-style burnt cheesecake
Open: Dinner nightly, brunch Sunday
Reservations: recommended, especially on weekends
Other: full bar; accommodates children; good vegetarian selection; patio; wheelchair accessible; parking in the Dillon parking deck.
The N&O’s critic dines anonymously; the newspaper pays for all meals. We rank restaurants in five categories: 5 stars: Extraordinary. 4 stars: Excellent. 3 stars: Above average. 2 stars: Average. 1 star: Fair.
The dollar signs defined: $ Entrees average less than $10. $ Entrees $11 to $20. $$ Entrees $21 to $30. $$ Entrees more than $30.
This story was originally published December 16, 2019 at 6:30 AM.