Can Cisa Bar Brutal

bar brutal

October 7th, 2013

After a hard day of eating and then drinking on the beach, I went out to dinner with Nookie, she was particularly keen to take me to Bar Brutal in El Born.

can cisa

The front of Bar Brutal on c/ Princesa is a wine merchant specialising in natural wine, Can Cisa and to enter the restaurant, one has to go round the back to a tiny little street called Barra de Ferro. The style of food here is influenced by Venetian Cuisine and the decor is simple, with little red formica tables and wooden chairs. It’s quite lively with a lot of people coming in for a quick drink and to say hello to the staff.

rosado

We sat at the bar (left in the top photo from outside) and ordered the house rosado, which is very dark and slightly fizzy. Initially it tasted odd, but on taking a second sip it was very good, tasting of the usual summer berries.

burrata con salmón y hueva de trucha

The food here looks amazing, but it isn’t cheap. We ordered two starters to share.

First: Burrata Artesana con Salmón Ahumado, Hueva de Trucha y Salsa de Eneledo – a traditionally produced Burrata (a fresh Italian cheese made with mozzarella and cream) with smoked salmon, trout eggs and dill sauce. As you can imagine this was salty, smokey, creamy and slightly sharp, all at the same time – heavenly!

zamburiña al estragón

Second: A plate of 6 Zamburiña al Estragón – baby scallops in tarragon sauce.

zamburiña al estragón

These were tiny, the size of a 1€ or £1 coin and amazingly sweet.

tartar de buey

Nookie has quite a small appetite, but as you’ve probably gathered, I can normally eat a horse, so I needed a little more to fill myself up. I had a Tartar de Buey con Salsa Cipriani – Steak Tartare with Cipriani Sauce. I imagine the sauce was made somewhat like this recipe to accompany Cipriani’s Beef Carpaccio, created by Giuseppe Cipriani who founded  the world famous Harry’s Bar in Venice.

ventresca brutal de atún

Sadly I could only eat one horse today, otherwise I would have ordered this beautiful Ventresca Brutal de Atún – this is the belly or flank of a tuna fish, the part closest to the head. It has a high fat content, a delicate and intense flavour and is considerably more expensive than the rest of the fish. It looked delicious!

la ventana

As we were finishing our last drops of wine, two guys pulled up next to the bar window on a classic Vespa. They stood the bike on its stand but stayed sitting. The bar tender served them a beer and what looked like Pastis or similar aniseed drink with ice and water. The one on the left reminded me a crazy young Donald Sutherland character (Oddball in Kelly’s Heroes) and the other, a young Francis Ford Coppola.

We reluctantly took our leave and headed for a Basque Bar near Nookie’s flat for a nightcap of Patxaran – the Basque liquor made of aniseed and sloes with coffee or cinnamon.

The food and atmosphere here are fantastic, but expect to pay about about 60€ for 3 courses and wine for two people (in the evening).

Can Cisa Bar Brutal is at: c/ de la Princesa 14 (also entry from Barra de Ferro 1), 08003 Barcelona