El Rectangle
Creative Modern · Eixample, Barcelona · €€€
Three young chefs deliver deceptively simple, meticulously crafted creative plates from a rectangular Sant Antoni bar.
The Delekta Review
Three young chefs — Martí Badia, Carlos Arocha, and Marcos López — pooled their fine-dining experience and opened a rectangular bar in Sant Antoni where the cooking is deceptively complex. They talk about four or five ingredients per plate and a simple style of cooking, but there's actually a lot of work and complexity behind the food. The bar counter is where you want to sit — you watch every dish get its final touch. The specifics are what make El Rectangle compelling. The grilled squid comes stuffed with its own fillet and tentacles, served over caramelised onion with a broth made from prawn heads, crab, and mantis shrimp, finished with roasting juices and lime. The chicken meatballs arrive with hoisin sauce. The katsu sando gets demi-glace and egg yolk. These aren't typical tapas — they're the kind of dishes you'd expect from a restaurant twice the price, served on industrial-style metal plates in a compact Sant Antoni space. Share about five plates between two. Reservations are essential — the room is small and the word is out.
What the critics say
- El Rectangle - Barcelona Food Experience
- Timeout Barcelona - Best Restaurants
- El Rectangle – Macarfi
- El Rectangle – La Vanguardia (Comer)
- El Rectangle – El Periódico de Catalunya
Visit
- Address
- Carrer de Sepúlveda, 23, Eixample, 08015 Barcelona, Spain
- Phone
- +34 936 43 20 29
- Reservations
- Book a table
Nearby restaurants in Eixample
- Batea — Seafood, €€€
- Besta — Seasonal Seafood Bistro, €€€
- Mordisco — Modern Mediterranean, €€€
- Embat — Bistronomic Mediterranean, €€
- Topik — Japanese-Catalan Fusion Tapas, €€€
More Modern in Barcelona
- Barra Alta — Modern Spanish, Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, €€€
- Llamber — Asturian Modern, El Born, €€€
- Franca — Modern Catalan, Eixample, €€€
- Finorri — Modern Catalan, Barri Gòtic, €€€
- Casa Maians — Modern Tapas, Barceloneta, €€