Tres Encinas

Walk into Tres Encinas on Avinguda de Roma and the first thing that hits you isn’t a host with a tablet or a playlist of chill-out house. It’s the smell. It’s the heavy, intoxicating aroma of Jamón Ibérico de Bellota—specifically from Guijuelo—hanging from the ceiling like holy relics in a cathedral of cured pork. This is a place that doesn't give a damn about your Instagram feed or the latest 'fusion' trend sweeping through the more gentrified corners of the city. It is a restaurant for grown-ups, for people who understand that the best Mediterranean restaurant Barcelona has to offer is often the one that hasn't changed its decor since the eighties.

The room is a sea of white tablecloths, dark wood, and career waiters who move with the weary, professional grace of men who have survived forty years of Saturday night rushes without breaking a sweat. There’s a glass display case near the entrance that functions as a morgue for the finest seafood in Spain. You’ll see red prawns from Palamós, their eyes still bright, and hake that looks like it was swimming an hour ago. This is 'product' cooking in its most visceral form. If you’re looking for a seafood restaurant in Eixample that treats ingredients with the respect they deserve, you’ve found the end of the road.

You start with the ham. You have to. It’s served at the exact temperature where the fat begins to turn translucent, melting the moment it touches your tongue. It’s a salty, nutty, funky reminder of why Spain is the undisputed king of charcuterie. Then, you move to the seafood. The 'Parrillada de Pescado y Marisco'—a grilled platter of whatever the tide brought in—is a masterclass in restraint. A little olive oil, a whisper of garlic, maybe a squeeze of lemon, and the searing heat of the plancha. That’s it. Anything more would be a crime against nature.

But the real soul of Tres Encinas lies in the rice. Their 'Arroz Caldoso con Bogavante' (soupy rice with lobster) is the kind of meal you want for your last supper. It’s rich, deep, and stained a dark, oceanic red from the lobster shells. It’s messy, it’s loud, and it requires you to get your hands dirty. This isn't the dry, thin-layered paella you find in the tourist traps of La Rambla; this is a heavy, soulful stew that tastes like the very essence of the sea. It’s the kind of dish that makes you realize why people have been coming to this specific block of Eixample for decades.

Is it perfect? No. The lighting is a bit too bright, the service can be brusque if they don't know you, and the wine list favors the classics over the funky natural stuff the kids are drinking these days. But that’s the point. Tres Encinas is a fortress of tradition in a city that is rapidly being polished into a theme park. It’s honest. It’s expensive, sure, but you’re paying for the fact that they didn't cut corners on the shrimp or the saffron. If you want to know what Barcelona tasted like before the cruise ships arrived, sit down, order a bottle of cold Albariño, and let the kitchen do its work. It’s not a 'gastronomic adventure'—it’s dinner. And in this town, that’s becoming a rare and beautiful thing.