BARCELONA
By Joe Ray
My apologies to the non baseball-playing world.
Four of us visited Hysop a while back. The restaurant is one of the city's most respected 'bistronomic' restaurants and, on this at bat, they whiffed.
I think (I hope) that the kitchen just had a bad day. Likely, it also illustrates why a good dish takes time to perfect.
A shelled oyster amuse gueule bathed in some sort of vodka tonic with lime and horseradish mixture and I just wished that they would leave a good thing alone.A first course of gazpacho with mussels was a similar misfire. Fresh ingredients wilted into the soup and, combined with the mussels, the whole thing got a bit mushy.
Both dishes reminded me of the beautiful, submerged roses in the bathroom.
Things started going the other way with a warm, salty sardine with strawberries, soy sprout and salt flake dish. It was a product-first design someone spent a lot of time thinking about how it would taste, look and feel.
I had a great dish that combined white beans, anchovies, and pork jowl. "Salt fiesta! Yum!" read my notes… right next to "Why don't they warm the plates?"
One of us had the most beautiful lamb shank and… well… it was burnt.
I really wanted to like this meal. The lunch prix fixe is a bargain at 25 euros and at that price, I should probably be told off for nitpicking a meal that is an incredible value.
Maybe I'm just a little frustrated. I can see where the chef is heading, know how well his colleagues are doing and want to be there when he hits a home run.
Lunch prix fixe: 25€
Dinner tasting menu: 48€
Hisop – MAP
Passatge Marimon 9
Barcelona
+34 932 413 233
Food and travel writer and photographer Joe Ray is the author of the blog Eating The Motherland and contributes to The Boston Globe's travel blog, Globe-trotting.
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