Nowhere does day-to-night quite like Spain, a country where a liqueur coffee in the morning is perfectly acceptable, and where a night out can comfortably begin at 2am. We travelled to Barcelona to test the unique hybrid of a sit-down three-course meal that melts into a dance party.
Boulevard is one of the city’s newer arrivals, having opened in October 2022 and situated just steps from Antoni Gaudí’s iconic Casa Batlló on the Passeig de Gràcia. It’s prime Barcelona real estate that makes for a very convenient stopping point after a day of exploring the cultural centre.
To experience the ambience in full swing, we’re visiting on a Saturday night and have arrived at 10.30pm – fashionably on time by Spanish standards. Entering Boulevard is like visiting a nightclub: bouncers at the door, neon lighting and loud music; but the group at the table next to us is very much seated and in the middle of tucking in to plates of lobster and several bottles of wine.
The interior at Boulevard is kitsch and camp, with fake foliage and tongue-in-cheek signage. Everything is low lit, and the twinkling fairy lights dangling from the indoor trees create a sort of enchanted forest effect. The surroundings are designed for fun and not to be taken too seriously. This is reinforced by the cabaret singer, who is making sultry rounds of the tables of diners while belting out singalong covers.
It feels like just the right moment to join the party atmosphere, so we order a bottle of the region’s speciality: a bottle of the Juvé & Camps Reserva cava, produced by a centuries-old family-led vineyard in nearby Montserrat. Our waiter regularly returns to keep our glasses topped up throughout, reinforcing the concept that this is primarily a dining experience and not a bar.
In keeping with the unexpected hybrid concept, the menu really isn’t what you’d expect from the festive surroundings. Far from bar snacks and fast food, Chef Jose Vega has created a fusion of local and international flavours, designed to be enjoyed in a casual environment and accompanied by drinks.
The menu has a strong Asian slant, with a section dedicated to sushi, but not as you know it; uramaki rolls with lobster and raspberry caviar, fois gras and fig; nigiri with smoked eel and dates. Beluga caviar appears throughout the menu as something of a house speciality, yet on the same page you can order a sharing plate of nachos for €28. Far from appealing to a small, exclusive market, Boulevard makes rare ingredients accessible and presents a menu with something for everyone. It’s the sort of place where you can comfortably order oysters and caviar, a large gin and tonic, and then head to the dancefloor without judgement.
As we are in the port city of Barcelona, famed for its fresh seafood, we are eager to sample some of the local produce. Our waiter recommends that we try gyoza, a house speciality, and so we order the prawn variety to start, accompanied by crisps of sesame and ponzu dipping sauce. We also take beef carpaccio with ginger, black truffle, and parmesan ice cream. The carpaccio arrives topped with bread grissini, giving it the appearance of a bar snack, but the taste is restaurant-quality. The meat is paper-thin and full of flavour, served with plenty of parmesan and truffle shavings and offset with the refreshing tang of the parmesan ice cream.
Next, inspired by the table next to us, we have lobster linguine. It comes as a half lobster in its shell, grilled with butter and topped with tomato and parsley linguine. Next, the grilled octopus, which comes with violet parmentier potatoes, pico de gallo, and scattered with decorative flowers.
The basement area of Boulevard doubles as a lounge bar and by now the Saturday night crowds are gathering, ordering elaborate cocktails and taking pictures with the neon one-liners. The singer has finished her set and a DJ has taken over, bringing even more of a nightclub atmosphere. Even the lighting has changed and the whole place is now electric blue.
The desserts have arrived: the first is the emphatically named ‘chocolate volcano’, a bombe atop a base of chocolate biscuit; the velvety fondant creating a satisfying textural contrast against the biscuit crunch. The second dessert is a ‘caramel sin’, consisting of a pannacotta-like pudding sprinkled generously with slightly salted macadamia nuts and served à la mode with vanilla ice cream. It’s a decadent end to what has been an altogether surprising meal.
Time is marching on and the focus switches from eating to dancing at Boulevard as the crowds switch out glasses of wine for spirits that glow luminous under the blue lights. The transition is complete and, save for a couple of tables still happily finishing their meals without hurry, the dance floor is filled with people enjoying the DJ’s constant stream of crowd-pleasers.
Boulevard embodies a concept that could only really take off in southern Europe, where dinners and late and casual, bleeding into night. It is a brave move for a venue to straddle the line between fine dining and lounge bar, but – judging by the happy diners and carefree dancers – it seems to be working.
If you’re looking to sit down over a relaxed meal with long conversations, this probably isn’t the choice for you, and Barcelona has a whole host of excellent fine dining choices that will fit the bill. However, if you’re open to experiencing the more hedonistic side of a city that loves to have fun, while sampling some good-quality ingredients in surprising combinations, then absolutely make a reservation.
However, be warned that the subtle switch from dinner to party might take you by surprise, and we can’t be held responsible for any missed plans the next morning. Fortunately, you’ll have an incredible view of Casa Batlló, tourist-free and all to yourself, as you stumble out of Boulevard at 3am.
We ate
from the à la carte menu available at the time of visiting (regularly changing):
Prawn gyoza with ginger, sesame and ponzu – €18
Beef carpaccio with ginger, black truffle and parmesan ice cream – €28
Lobster linguini with tomatoes and shisho butter – €34
Grilled octopus with potato and pico de gallo – €28
Chocolate volcano pudding with biscuit base
‘Caramel sin’ – €10
We drank
Juve & Camps Reserva Cava – €52
This was a press visit – all opinions are our own
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