La Balsa

Mediterranean · Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, Barcelona · €€€

Iconic terrace restaurant nestled among trees in upper Sarrià. Refined Mediterranean cuisine since 1979, with a magical open-air setting.

The Delekta Review

La Balsa has occupied a tree-shaded terrace in upper Sarrià since 1979, founded by Meme and Antonio López de Lamadrid with architecture by Oscar Tusquets and Lluís Clotet that won the FAD Prize. The structure weaves the stone walls of an old irrigation pond (balsa means pond) with a Balinese-inspired timber pavilion. The covered terrace has underfloor heating, so the room works year-round. Cantabrian anchovies, foie mi-cuit with quince and pistachios, hare cannelloni with foie cream, suckling pig with apple and cardamom, and beef cheeks with polenta anchor a Mediterranean menu with Catalan roots. The rice dishes — including one with oxtail — draw particular praise, alongside the croquetas and steak tartare. Average 27 to 40 euros. The setting is genuinely unlike any other restaurant in Barcelona: mature trees, residential Sarrià, far from tourist circuits. Some find the food good but not exceptional — that you are paying for the garden as much as the plate. Maybe so. But what a garden.

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Address
Carrer de la Infanta Isabel, 4, Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, 08022 Barcelona, Spain
Phone
+34 932 11 50 48
Website
labalsa1979.com
Reservations
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