La Balsa
Mediterranean · Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, Barcelona · €€€
Open since 1979
A Sant Gervasi institution since 1979, built inside a 19th-century stone water basin with Tusquets-and-Clotet architecture that won the FAD Prize. Three terraces — heated, summer, indoor — host market-driven Mediterranean cooking, traditional with current touches.
The Delekta Review
Market-driven Mediterranean cooking — traditional foundation with small touches of current trends — sourced from small trusted producers.
Founded 1979 by Memé and Antonio López de Lamadrid, with backing from the Güell family. Architecture by Óscar Tusquets and Lluís Clotet won the FAD Architecture Prize in 1979 — built into a 19th-century stone water basin (a 'balsa', literally a pond).
Three terraces — heated for cool months, open in summer, indoor for any weather — under skylights and surrounding vegetation. A wooden pavilion sits inside the basin's old stone walls, garden meeting structure.
Carrer de la Infanta Isabel 4, Sarrià-Sant Gervasi; reservations via the website.
Canelón de pularda con rebozuelos y bechamel de castaña — fattened-hen cannelloni with chanterelles and chestnut béchamel Arroz caldoso de bogavante — creamy lobster rice Chuletón de vaca vieja madurada 30 días — 30-day dry-aged old-cow ribeye
Quoted in
“Iconic spot surrounded by light and greenery with magnificent terraces” — Macarfi
What the critics say
- La Balsa – TimeOut Barcelona
- La Balsa – Goop
- La Balsa – Macarfi
- Dos de las tres mejores terrazas de España están en Barcelona — Metrópoli Abierta
Visit
- Address
- Carrer de la Infanta Isabel, 4, Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, 08022 Barcelona, Spain
- Phone
- +34 932 11 50 48
- Website
- labalsa1979.com
- Reservations
- Book a table
Nearby restaurants in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi
- El Pescadito de Mandri — Seafood / Fried Fish, €€€
- Barra Alta — Modern Spanish, €€€
- Bar Tomás — Tapas & Bravas, €€
- Tram-Tram — French-Catalan, €€€
- Vivanda — Fine Dining Catalan, €€€
More Mediterranean in Barcelona
- Orvay — Mediterranean & Wine Bar, El Born, €€
- Berbena — Creative Mediterranean, Gràcia, €€€
- Mordisco — Modern Mediterranean, Eixample, €€€
- Sr. Antúnez — French Bistró / Mediterranean, Gràcia, €€€
- Embat — Bistronomic Mediterranean, Eixample, €€