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La Balsa

By Brian Gallagher 20.12.12

Barcelona’s metropolitan topography as well as extending to the sandy beaches of Barceloneta, Villa Olímpica and beyond also reaches the mountains of Tibidabo and foothills of Collserola with a bird’s eye views of the city below. Removed from the pollution and frantic pace of the centre the area is defined by its gardens and open space. Located within the shell of a former reservoir that used to provide irrigation to the surrounding area lies La Balsa restaurant. A piece of urban archaeology where the layers of time are still accumulating, the restaurant was designed by the architectural studio of Oscar Tusquets and Luis Clotet and won a FAD award back in 1979 when it was originally built.

Accessed through a figurative spider’s web metal gate an art work by the same architects, a secret garden where the building occupies the former reservoir within the original retaining walls; an external stair leads to the main dining area on the first floor - a timber pavilion supported on the ground floor brick plinth. The pyramid roof structure is exposed internally accommodating the bar, lounge and a functioning period brass fireplace below, two separate terraces one orientated east and the other west straddle the voids between the inside world and the peripheral garden that skirts the edge of the former reservoir. Although recently dusted down and redecorated the project remains essentially that of Oscar Tusquets founder of Bd Barcelona and one of Barcelona’s most respected architects. Before the furore of the Olympic games and the emergence of 90s hedonistic design there was La Balsa with its modernist sobriety combined with comfort and authenticity, a remarkable relic of the period that remains as relevant today as it was when it first opened.

  • Original plan of the project by Oscar Tusquets and Luis Clotet

  • Stuffed Peppers

    Originally managed by Memé and Antonio López de Lamadrid, director of the renowned Tusquets Editores publishing company together with the Güell family (former patrons of Gaudí), the restaurant is still operated by members of the same family. The current head chef Calixto Sánchez learned his trade here with important changes having been introduced to the menu over the last 18 months or so. The focus of the food is on Mediterranean cuisine using market fresh ingredients with the emphasis on fish and meat dishes. The Carta Balsámica is a good place to start in order to sample the food at La Balsa, tasting portions of the most successful dishes that are regularly updated and offer an eminently affordable introduction to this Barcelona icon.

  • Tosta Bread with Gaucamole and Salmon with Green Apple

  • Tosta Bread with Burrata (Italinan cream cheese), Fig and Basil

  • Hake 'tacos' served with 'Piquillo' Peppers

  • Fish Croquettes with Estragon Sauce