Spicy Taberna Oriental - Coolest Asian Tavern in Town

Sant Antoni

May 12

Written By Maria

Cool places like Spicy Taberna Oriental don’t have it easy. Many are suspicious of them from the start because of their coolness, and some might judge a bit too harshly. If you also have the word spicy in your name and don’t live up to Thai hazard spiciness you’re also in trouble.

Spicy Volx Barcelona — *Spicy Taberna Oriental, Barcelona. Photo © Barcelona Food Experience.*

Spicy Taberna Oriental is a tricky concept in a country where dishes in general aren’t particularly spicy. To make customers happy you need to keep a middle ground. Spice tolerance is usually not very easily detected in people’s appearance, so if you are looking for spicy, why not mention it to the waiter? Most chefs are thrilled to be able to make the dish exactly like they often want it, HOT.

Before my first visit, I had been eyeballing Spicy Taberna Oriental for a while, I love their style on social media and I had a hunch it could be something very interesting. And it most certainly is! I was surprised at how much larger the space is than I had expected. It’s large, dark but very cozy, with so many fascinating details everywhere. The walls are amazing, covered with interesting and cool artwork. Most tables are communal, which fits the vibe perfectly.

The menu is a mix of Asian dishes, divided into starters, spicy specials, soups, noodles and rice and robata. Keep an eye out for the spicy dishes that are specifically marked. We opted for the Tom Yum mussels and chicken gyozas with a magical sauce as starters and continued with a big pork belly bao. It was actually so big it was divided into two! I had my eyes on the chilli crab bao too which looked interesting, and the tori caragee.

As a main I went for the Tom Ka Kung, a Thai soup with prawns, shiitake, coconut milk and lime. It was divine, and I have to say that for the first time since I was in Thailand many, many years ago I got a flashback from that time. I loved how it wasn’t as sweet as it sometimes can be around here, it had a wonderful tartness to it, with a lovely lemongrass twang.

We couldn’t miss the robata skewers, and went for the beef skewer with a peanut sauce and crunchy onion. Divine! The meat was so tender and flavourful. We paired it all with a really nice glass of red wine that I still reminisce about (I should have asked for the name!).

The desserts are written on the blackboard by the open kitchen. We chose the tapioca pudding made with coconut milk and topped with jackfruit, which was surprising and so tasty.

Make sure to pair your dishes with a tasty cocktail, they have quite a few interesting ones to choose from!

Spicy Taberna Oriental, Carrer de Comte Borrell 41, Barcelona (Sant Antoni).

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