Four years have passed since chef Carles Abellán’s La Barra closed on the first floor of the W hotel. Since then, many have wondered who would occupy this space that, even with a very large terrace and fantastic views of the sea and Barceloneta, seemed to find no substitute. Well, last July Coya, a restaurant focused on Peruvian cuisine with headquarters in various cities in Europe and the Middle East, including Paris, Monte Carlo, Mykonos, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Marbella, settled there.
This hotel chain, owned by the Indian businessman Arjan Waneyy and led culinary by the Anglo-Indian chef Sanjay Dwivedi, who trained alongside the Peruvian chef Gastón Acurio, managed to succeed years ago in London with a double proposal: on the one hand the restaurant, opulently decorated as if it were a corner of the jungle of the Inca empire, and on the other the cocktail bar, obviously specialized in pisco.
The one in Barcelona is their eleventh location, and for the new opening it is clear that they have not spared any expenses: tables carved in leather by Peruvian artisans, countless masks that reproduce the faces of different Inca deities, ceramic amphorae in which they were formerly kept. Pisco and vegetation reminiscent of the Amazon are the elements that are most repeated in the different spaces of the restaurant (two dining rooms, two cocktail bars, a ceviche and Robata bar with an omakase bar, and even a piscolounge where they intend to play music. during the afternoons of next winter).
The kitchen is in charge of the Italian-Filipino chef Tyrone Cabral, who worked in different restaurants of the Sir Victor group and the Tragaluz group. To start dinner (they only open at night) he offers us a guacamole with which he already suggests that in this restaurant we will find more fusion cuisine than the typical gastronomy of the Andean country. It is followed by a sea bass ceviche that they describe as “authentic”, although the leche de tigre lacks acidity and power. More interesting is the ceviche they propose with tuna, supposedly chifa style; the chicken chicharrones that they serve with chipotle and guava sauce or the nikkei rice that they prepare according to their own recipe.
It should be explained that the menu at Coya Barcelona is exactly the same as in its other locations around the world, with the exception of a couple of dishes: the katsobushi croquettes that are presented on the table covered with a tuna tataki and the beef empanadas. that we find delicious.
To finish? Chocolate with churros, a dessert that does not quite fit with the rest of the proposal and that is more exotic in other countries.
The cocktails deserve special mention: before starting dinner, try the chili Margarita that they prepare with mashed avocado and jalapenos; and of course some of the piscosour that they offer on their menu, since they contain the ancient Peruvian distillate that they themselves make at home.
