Carles Abellan, one of the former disciples of Ferran Adria, has built up a small empire of restaurants in Barcelona. His flagship restaurant is Comerç 24, where he serves a cuisine which makes use of molecular techniques he learned at El Bulli, but cares to accentuate the subtle flavor of the produce rather than emphasizing the gimmick. While his cuisine is based on many Catalan ingredients from the mountain and the sea, there is also a clear inclination towards Asia, so I decided to call it “Catalasian” (Catalan and Asian) cuisine.
The restaurant is not a quiet place, many waiters are walking back and forth to the kitchen. The pace seems to be quite high, as in a brasserie. There is a front room with a bar counter and a back room with a more formal dining room, which seems modern as well, but a certain darkness makes it somewhat comfy. The iron bars behind the windows on the other hand give it an odd vibe, so I guess the general atmosphere is “something in between”. We sat at a round table in the corner and opted for the large degustation menu.
Smoky “Trompeta de la Muerte” Infusion – An interesting dish to start with. It had mushroom aroma, but also reminded of black tea. Definitely a signal that an uncommon meal is about to start.
Cauliflower – ginger – rice vinegar – Again an intriguing dish with clear Asian inclination, think of pickles with a light Sushi flavoring because of the rice vinegar and the ginger. A nice crunchy snack.
Monkfish – black sesame – black garlic – Another great starter with extremly tender monkfish lying on black sesame and black garlic paste, emphasizing earhty flavors.
Pizza24 – a thin and crunchy “coca” (the pizza of Ibiza) topped with cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, high-quality anchovies and a few salad leaves. Nothing out of the ordinary, but well executed and tasty.
Sponge ceviche – A sponge mushroom that mysteriously transports the acidic flavors of ceviche, obviously with lime, but definitely also with a little cilantro. A few seconds after biting into it a spicy heat comes up and lingers on. A snack with an afterburner which I enjoyed much!
Beach shrimp Ceviche – ceviche granite, peach ice cream and coriander. Fruity, spicy, with tender shrimp. Interesting, but not as compelling as the previous dishes, maybe a little over engineered.
Beet Oyster – a nice oyster with lingering sea aromatics. The beetroot didn’t add much though.
Cockles Dashi – very subtle aromatics – not a loud dish at all. One that slows you down to some kind of meditation level. Cold dashi broth is poured on cockles which are caught in spheres with their juices. Those plop open o your palate and mix with the dashi. I’ve seen that other bloggers had this dish with sea urchin. I guess it would have added a lot of intensity and quite some contrast. But I enjoyed this subtle version a lot as well.
Sardine orange, fresh wasabi – a great dish with extremly tender marinated sardine in the lead role. Crumbles of a Catalan cookie containing orange blossom flavor impart crunch. This is a thought through and tasty dish with texture, flavor and freshness.
What a great wine this Cepas Vellas Albarino Do Ferreiro – razor sharp with salty minerality, reminding great Sauvignon Blancs. It evolved continuously with airing. I once had the simple version (no old vines) of this Albarino which was already great – but this one blows your mind. Check it out.
At this point I have to mention the sommelier. A truly passionate man who exactly knows which wine he should recommend and he has plenty of gems in his list, some of them very rare and at a faire price. So for wineheads there is one extra-reason to drop by Comerç 24!
Poultry Migas – I felt sorry for the waiters having to carry around those heavy stones all the time, and which poor fella has to clean these? anyway
Razor Clams Zaru soba – excellent product quality of those navajas, light sweetness of the flesh comes out so nicely. I guess the idea was to combine traditional Catalan seafood with a Japanese way of serving it. It is good, but nothing huge in terms of creativity.
Pizza Sashimi – Again, great product quality, nice crunch, tasty food, but not a creative leap.
Tuna Tartar – “See description above” – basically the last three dishes could have been served at any better Japanese restaurant. I enjoyed eating these, but I don’t get the sense. Am I thinking to much?
Cod, Chard, Chick Peas, Miso – Again a good product with a very well cooked piece of cod and a dish that is a little more creative than the previous ones. On the subtle side again, combining the very pure fish taste with hints of earthiness.
Duck rice, Foie – Nice texture with the crunchy rice next to the creamy Foie Gras.
Amazonic Stingray – A very well cooked piece of stingray with a nice crust dressed with a lemony sauce that also contains a few chewy tapioca pearls – works well! An enjoyable dish.
Again a great wine recommendation- The Villa de Corullon is a superb wine made of the Mencia grape by Palacios. Not a bold jammy wine, but lots of freshness and spice next to dark fruit.
Veal Cheek Pekin – tender veal with Asian allures in the sauce. Great pairing for the Corullon! ;=)
Cheese – great cheese selection and also good explanation of all the cheeses.
Chocolate goat fig – delicious first dessert.
Lemon Ice tea
Nougat twin cigar
Recuit Napolità /Apple, saffron
Conguito C,24
Oreo vanilla, black sesame
Wild pine nuts Chocolate
Gold bar
Matcha tablet
Unfortunately I am lacking time to describe all the desserts, but they were totally satisfying!
As a whole We had a good time at Comerç 24. Product quality and execution of the cooking are worthy of a Michelin-starred restaurant. In particular all seafood ingredients were top notch. I also enjoyed the wines and the sommelier input very much. If you like a good (not a huge one) wine list, check it out.
Regarding creativity, I had mixed feelings. In general, the more simple combinations (only 3-4 ingredients) were the more succesfull and I enjoyed the subtlety of the dishes. The more complex dishes (beach shrimp ceviche for example) were lacking powerful stance. Also, a few dishes just seemed Japanese and that’s it. Not a problem when it comes to taste, but not really the creativity I’d exepct in a Michelin-starred restaurant.
Still, the one star rating seems well deserved and if you’re looking for fine dining in this city, it’S definitely not the wrong place to go!
Restaurant Comerç 24
Carrer Comerç 24
08003 Barcelona
Spain
Phone: +34 933 19 21 02
