Saüc (Barcelona)* - HE

At the new trendy Hotel Ohla at Via Laeitana lays Saüc with an avant-guarde decor in simple line gray and white tight space. Xavier Franco runs the kitchen we went for a quiet quick lunch and the midday menu, an economic option only available at lunch time.

Service: 9/20

To be nice is not enough, it is necessary to be available, rigorous, attentive to the detail and clients, focus and low profile. A three waitress staff for almost a full house is unacceptable at this level, the loud talking amongst waitresses and noisy space also did not help. Waitresses more than once forgot the elements of each dish when presenting them to the table when they did not simply dropped the dishes on the table and left without saying a word.

Ambiance and décor: 14/20

Noisy and tight with no direct natural light. However, the restaurant is modernly decorated with simplicity and elegantly illuminated.

Food: 12.5/20

One day for El Celler and I felt the anxiety slowly taking over me, after having breakfast at The Boqueria we discussed where should we have lunch. Tickets was our main target, but was closed, Alkimia was full so we decided to try the economic lunch menu at Saüc. As soon as the first dish was served we started to regret it...

The lunch menu was composed of some abuse bouches (olives and some fried and dehydrated vegetables), a starter, a first dish, a main (fish or meat) and a dessert.

The starter was a painful and never ending sardine and grapefruit salad with a toast and ajo (a garlic and almond "gazpacho"). The harmony and proportions of each element of the dish were non existent, the flavours mixed up and the ajo was grainy and should have been passed through a musseline (9/20).

Slow cooked egg with potato and grilled artichoke. The egg and artichoke were well cooked but the potatoes burned. Was this dish perfectly executed? Was there any geniality or creativity? Was this dish extremely difficult to execute? The answer to all these questions is not (11/20).

Finally a beautiful piece of veal cooked to perfection medium/rare with a puree of aubergine and capsicum. That is more likely, but still is was not far beyond the minimum expected for a Michelin restaurant (14/20).



The dessert was a palatable mille-feuille with a great strawberry sorbet (14.5/20).


Genre: Modern Catalan cuisine
Price: €37 (person and no wine included)
Michelin: *
Date of visit: Spring 2012

Overall: 12.5/20

Pros: décor, the veal and the sorbet
Cons: If you want to serve an economic menu at a Michelin starred restaurant you have to do it right, much better than this. Use less expensive ingredients and be creative, it does not take much to create impressive dishes with day-to-day affordable ingredients.

Saüc
Hotel Ohla, Via Laeitana 49, Barcelona
www.saucrestaurant.com