For some time now, Barcelona’s food scene has been begging for someplace where scrappy, brash street food could be relished, similar to Madrid’s StreetXO. And since Barcelona doesn’t seem to be part of the plans of the media-darling mohawk-sporting chef behind that gig, the same concept has been used as inspiration and adapted to our city.
The prolific Iker Erauzkin, always known for being the creator of the successful space UMA, is now surprising us with a project brimming with energy, a bar, exotic flavours and most importantly fun. Don’t expect any formalities or exquisite, French-style service here but instead only loud music and a friendly, accessible wait staff.
The moment we set foot in NOBOOK, we are transported to a venue with an industrial aesthetic, with bare walls where the tables move on rails and bright orange as the main hallmark, even in the staff’s garb. Everything’s way cool.
Sporting prisoner’s overalls, the young, multicultural team is in charge of preparing and presenting the different items on a menu that points directly to southeast Asia and carries us to a world of hot spices (in their proper dose – don’t worry!) and sauces that are mysterious to the majority of us who dwell in these latitudes.
So why this uniform? The fact is that we Miguelins are not quite sure about the concept. And we noticed that apparently the team isn’t either. In any case, there it is: coherence and wisdom are not part of NOBOOK’s irreverent DNA.
Focusing on the drinks, the first thing we noticed was a trivial presence of wine (only four on the list) compared to cocktails. There is a wide variety of cocktails, with incredible presentations and unusual ingredients like sea plankton and yuzu.
Going on to the dishes, judging from both the prices and the sizes, the goal is clearly for all diners to share them. The majority of dishes are presented as if they were paintings, small works of ephemeral art. Everything is a feast for the eyes.
The first thing we’re brought is salmon rolls wrapped in a temporised nori seaweed and topped by trout roe. The variety of sauces for this dish makes it difficult to decipher each flavour once we have dipped the roll, so we suggest choosing a single sauce for each piece. The next thing that comes is the tastiest morsel of the evening: Iberian pork dorayaki with prawns and shrimp. It is a curious reinterpretation of this famous Japanese confection, delicious and fun, worth tucking into and getting your hands dirty.
Salmon roll
Iberian pork dorayaki with prawns and shrimp
It is followed by a succulent butterfish with grapefruit and hazelnut sauce. Outstanding texture, definitely a must. The smoothness of the hazelnut praline is worth note. We continued with a Peking-style duck bun, a delightful little titbit. The fried eggs with chistorra sausage, kimchi and herbs are fine, but nothing more. The power of the herbs means that the other ingredients aren’t noticeable.
Butterfish with grapefruit and hazelnut sauce
Peking-style duck bun
Fried eggs with chistorra sausage, kimchi and herbs
And in the final stretch of the menu, we are served grilled octopus with popcorn, creamed corn and huitlacoche. It could be an amazing dish, but the texture of the octopus leaves something to be desired. It’s a great dish with the potential to be further fine-tuned. We finish the savoury part of the meal with a surf-and-turf of prawns on a deboned breast of chicken with hints of citrus. The curry and coconut combine magnificently with the dish’s main ingredients.
Grilled octopus with popcorn
King prawn satay
Now comes the drama: NOBOOK has no desserts. You read it right. However, to rectify the absence of carrot cake, coulant and other caloric temptations, we are offered a small selection of cocktails accompanied by diminutive nibbles to close the evening.
First we decide to explore the mixture of raspberries and beets in both solid and liquid state, in the guise of a little casserole and a thimble. Surprising and unusual. And we close the evening with a display of avant-garde and technical virtuosity in the guise of nitrous crackers with piña colada. Truly the triumph of style over substance.
Piña colada cocktail
Cocktail with vodka, raspberries and beets
Without a doubt, NOBOOK is a place you want to go with your friends or partners, not with your parents or a client. All of this, naturally, as a prelude to a night of partying.
| Score | ||
|---|---|---|
| Food | Cocktails | |
| 68 | 73 | |
| Service | Venue | |
| 65 | 63 | |
| Price | Miguelín Stars | |
| 45€ |  |
|
| Per person: 5-6 dishes to share +1 cocktail | ||
Where is Nobook?
Address: Carrer de Provença, 310 Bis, 08037 Barcelona
Timetable: Monday - Wednesday 7:30 pm – 12 midnight / Thursday - Friday - Saturday 1 pm to 1 am / Closed Sunday
Website: http://www.nobook.es/