Caelis Barcelona

Outstanding fine dining, open kitchen style

Lobster royale with caviar

Located inside the 5 stars Hotel Ohla Barcelona, Caelis is a fine dining restaurant by French chef Romain Fornell. What set this place apart is its slick open kitchen where you can book its counter dining space, watching the chefs at work. If you are not a fan of the counter setting, that is no issue as the Calis also offers traditional dining table space too. It is a tasting menu only venue, with the longer 'Celebration' menu containing 18 dishes using the finest ingredients from the Catalan region. 

Amuse bouches

Cured egg yolk tartlet with caviar and wagyu tartare

Iced vichyssoise with botarga

Zucchini flower with shrimp mousseline

Beetroot with beurre blanc, pistachio and caviar

Out of all the dishes, I enjoyed the zucchini flower the most, it was beautiful on the eye and stuffed with prawns and langoustine mousseline, it tasted like the sea with all the lovely crustaceans flavours, and the flower offered a floral aroma and worked like a dumpling wrap that contained all the lovely taste within. I got nothing but love for the macaroni “surf and turf”, a thin layer of pasta with lobster and foie gras, it was rich, creamy, and sweet, with a killer shellfish sauce made from the lobster shell. Fatty tuna belly was thinly sliced with a melting buttery texture, I really enjoyed the soft earthiness from the lovely morels which offered such a bold umami depth to the dish, and the olive acted almost like seasoning with the extra edge of salty fruit note.

Asparagus from Navarra, BBQ, deep-fried and soup

Macaroni with lobster and foie gras

Tuna belly with murgulas and olive

Sweetbread, shallots and reduced juice

Chocolate madagascar flower

Despite Caelis having been around since 2004, the restaurant doesn't feel dated, and the food offering still has a cutting edge to it. Food quality-wise, the Michelin star status was totally warranted. The tasting menu showcased some fun ingredient combinations with some interesting presentations visually. I would rate it as one of the better Michelin-starred restaurants in Barcelona after dining at over 12 venues across the last few years. The service is another strong point of Caelis, they don't miss a beat as you would expect within a 5 stars hotel. 

Food 4.5/5

What I paid: 
£155 with wine

Average cost without drinks and services:
£130

Via Laietana, 49, 08003 Barcelona, Spain

https://www.caelis.com/