Barsa Taberna

We had the $40 tasting menu, which was amazing. It was picked by our server and the chef and we got to give input on which items we really wanted to try. Everything tasted amazing and it was great to taste things I normally wouldn't have ordered (green bean salad, which I'm very glad they gave us). The service was also great. We weren't sure if we should try the $40 or $50 tasting menu, so before our last dish, our server came back to ask if we were still hungry and if we wanted more, which then would've allowed us a could more dishes for the $50 tasting menu!

Unfortunately not a very positive experience. While the service is attentive, I find the food to be mediocre. The octopus dish is mainly potatoes with small pieces of (slightly burnt) octopus scattered on the plate. The noodle dish is a bit rich for my taste. The beef tartare dish was a bit more decent. Overall I find the price to be too pricey for what you get. On top of that, the AC was broken in door during a hot summer day.

Well we were stumped last night on where we should have dinner and did some digging and ended up at Barsa. Small place hidden beneath the LCBO at the St.Lawrence Market district and I mean hidden the door is sunken in behind the bricks. If you have small children in strollers you will need a second set of hands to help you down a few steps in the restaurant, but once you're in then there is no issue except for the cramped quarters where it is hard to store the stroller. The hostess told us to store the stroller beside the bar area which we were fine with. So they serve Spanish style tapas here and the price is very reasonable but mainly the food is bueno. If you check-in through Yelp and tell the server you get a complimentary pincho, our pincho last night was chicken liver pate spread over bread and was seasoned very tasty. Friday night it seems that their Estrella tallboy is on special for $7 a can, sure I'll bite and try it. Smooth beer light and refreshing. We ordered a whole wack of food scared that it was not enough to feed the 4 of us. Firstly we ordered a tabla de embutidos which is an assortment of salami and some pickled veggies as well as some chicken pate. I found this was a really nice way to wake up your palate. We also ordered the croqueta de jamon y albacora dish. Wow this was good basically its a croqueta filled with ham and tuna deep fried and sits on top of pickled veggies with a lemon aioli sitting on top. Another dish to order. We ordered a noodle type dish called fideos del campo. It consists of catalan noodles with broccoli, roasted olives, almonds and goat cheese. This one might not be on everyone's radar as the goat cheese they use is quite strong and powerful. I love how they serve this dish right from the pan that it was cooked in, be careful of those fingers as it is hot straight from the oven, The lomito con chimichhurri is good, tender striploin topped with house made chimicurri which is very flavorful and brought the dish together. We also ordered the tabla de chorizo which is basiccally an assortment of chorizo with grainy mustard pickled veggies again and some bread. This is another good sharing dish for the table and not spicy at all. Final dish was paella de mariscos or seafood paella. the rice was wow perfectly cooked perfectly seasoned and the portion is pretty big. The seafood was fresh and plentiful. Must order dish when here. Service is good lots of servers around and smiling. Kept the cups always topped up and table always clean. I think if it's an intimate spot this would be a perfect spot for date night.

Great spot for food and drinks. The atmosphere in this restaurant is great (feels like you're in an underground cave, which is kind of neat!). They have a wide drink selection, of which the Sangria was the best. We had the Cava sangria and it complemented our meal well! We did the $60 tasting menu which is a great deal as the waitress and chef choose an assortment of dishes based on your food preferences. We got the raw top sirloin (to die for!!), the scallop ceviche (super fresh with lots of citrusy hints, great palate cleanser), albacore tuna and jamon croquetas (came out piping hot and was very tasty), grilled octopus with chorizo (flavours were amazing - one of my favourite dishes), and a massive seafood paella with mussels, clams, shrimp, and jamon. To finish, we had the most delicious churros I've ever had with apple bourbon ice cream (just unreal), dulce de leche, and apple purée. A very enjoyable Spanish meal!

Delicious food, great customer service. Get the tasting menu if you can afford it. It was delicious!! Surprisingly the best thing we tasted was the beet salad, but everything we tasted was amazing! The only downside was the long wait even though we made reservations. However it was because the previous party did not want to leave, so can't really blame the restaurant