Espaisucre Barcelona

Do you like surprises? Do you like to be delighted? Do you enjoy the feeling of happiness? If you answered “Yes” to any or all of these questions, you’ve come to the right place. And, let’s be honest, if you didn’t answer “Yes”, you have got to be pretty twisted. Espaisucre is one of the first of its kind in Barcelona – a tapas bar completely dedicated to making desserts and satisfying the sugar craving in all of us in the most interesting and unique kind of way.

You’ll notice that the mascot of the restaurant is an ant. It can be found printed onto the glass doors, the business cards at the front and all over the staff’s uniforms. At first puzzled as to why they would have a pesky little insect as such an integral part of their logo (because let’s face it, insects can get pretty freaky – don’t want that anywhere near my food, unless it’s supposed to be), it suddenly all made sense. The ant is constantly foraging for food, specifically for sweets. The use of the ant is based around the idea of bringing people in to have a taste of Espaisucre, attracting them by the manufacture and the production of delicious sugar based products. Interesting analogy.

So, heads up: gaining access to the restaurant is also different than the norm because the door is always locked. You can see inside as the entire front of the restaurant is covered in sparkling ceiling-high glass windows but you’ll need to ring a doorbell to get in. Thankfully, the servers are quick to let you in otherwise those without reservations might head elsewhere, perhaps fooled into thinking that the restaurant is closed or reserved for a private party.

One other thing – diners who sit in the front of the house are all ordering set menus hitting a certain minimum price point. For those who’d like a taste of à la carte dessert tapas, you’ll be politely asked to sit in the back area, close to the kitchen. This has its advantages too: here you’re able to see the back-end of the operation and observe the quiet diligence and work that goes into making each plate. There were about 10 chefs in the back preparing dishes for almost just as many diners, which is insane. We were just surprised that we were asked to move only because the restaurant was A) filled by only one or two small parties i.e. at about 1/4 capacity and B) because we arrived post 9:30PM, and the restaurant seemed like it was winding down, so what’s the big deal?

After reading the menu a couple of times and consulting with our very helpful and well-spoken server, we went with one Goat Cheese Menu and eight dessert tapas from the menu, selected by the chef himself. I won’t go into detail about each dish – words can only say so much. You’d have to taste these yourself to understand, so I’ll let the pictures do the talking with the occasional comment. Every single dish is comprised of a few key ingredients which are then taken to new levels of texture, taste, look and feel, to achieve an unconventional and unexpected eating experience. Espaisucre has definitely done that in a very palate pleasing manner.

Goat Cheese Menu

Goat Cheesecake with Raspberries, Red Pepper and Ginger

Extra Virgin Olive Oil Cake, White Peach, Green Olive and San Simon

Cake and Corn Ice Cream, Cream Cheese, Hibiscus and Pineapple

The cake and corn ice cream made me think of David Chang’s cereal milk soft serve in New York almost immediately. Similar wacky combination but obviously completely different context. When eaten with a smidgen of each ingredient plus the foam like pieces sprinkled around (melt in your mouth), you’re at a loss for what to say/think except that you know it’s good.

Dessert Tapas à la Carte

Refreshing (Cider, Celery, Apple)

Fruit (Passion Fruit, Apple, Peach)

Breakfast (Banana, Sesame, Keffir)

Special shoutout to the breakfast tapas. The mix of the sweet banana, nutty sesame and acidic keffir was a really unique flavor. We were told that some people are turned off by it while some adore it. It’s also one of the chef’s favorites so we were in good company – we loved it.

Yolk (Egg Yolk, Corn, Apple)

Butter (Butter, Lime-Basil, Sesame)

Red Fruits + Cheese (Raspberry, Goat Cheese)

Coconut (Coffee, Coconut, LIme)

Chocoaddict 4 (Cocoa, Ginger, Spice Bread)

Chupito (Green Apple and Laurel)

Petit Fours. Top to Bottom, L to R: Piruleta (Lime and Rosemary), Crunchy (Sesame and Liquorice), Shortbread (Butter and Salt), Pate de Fruit (Coffee and Anise), Bombon (Chocolate 70% and Smoked Tea), Cookie (Peanut and Curry), Marshmallow (Cocoa and Green Cardamom)

We both finished with the petit fours and appreciated that even at the last, these bite sized delicate and not so delicate pieces were meant to tease and play with our perceptions of what we might expect them to taste or feel like in the mouth.

Overall, we had a very pleasant experience here. I have to say that everything is beautifully plated too. Espaisucre offers a fun and unique dessert eating experience – I would recommend you do it once if you get the chance. More than that though might be unnecessary. It’s a delicious novelty worth indulging in, but note that it doesn’t come cheap.