BARcelona Spanish food and SOHO Irish bistro

barcelona soho

It was a lazy Friday night and we got a call from Wendy asking us if we would like to join her for dinner. She’s buying and we headed down to BARcelona for food and drinks. BARcelona is a place that serves Spanish food and the best thing about the place is that you can order stuff from SOHO (which is next door) too!

barcelona us

BARcelona and SOHO are located in adjacent lots and belongs to the same owner – you can sit at either one and order food from the other. SOHO specializes in Irish food and I’m pretty sure both establishments share the same bar.

There’s an outdoor patio type canopy that allows you to chill al fresco style. It’s Miri so there’s always a nice sea breeze going on at night. πŸ˜‰

barcelona facebook

I am intrigued by BARcelona’s concept – they have different seating arrangements to suit everyone. You can have a private dining area or sit in one of the side booths where there’s a computer screen on the table. I saw a lot of people logging on to Facebook and showing their friends photos.

I facebook-like the idea. πŸ™‚ It brings social media back to the real world.

Anyway, the photos I took are really horrible coz I didn’t bring my dSLR here so I’ll use a thousand words instead. Heh!

Jeanie had the broccoli soup from SOHO. I like it – it’s very creamy and rich. I’m not a big fan of soups in general so that’s saying a lot.

barcelona salad

The other thing that surprised my friends was the large Cobb Salad (RM 15) which we ordered for starters. This also came from SOHO and contains organic mixed greens, honey roasted chicken, tomatoes, onions, bacon with blue cheese crumbles and hard boiled eggs. I don’t eat a lot of veggies but the salad uses a balsamic vinegar dressing which hits the spot and the bits of bacon inside helped a lot too. I ate quite a bit of the leafy greens – enough to hit my usual monthly quota. smirk

The chef also recommended several tapas dishes that we had. The most memorable one is Albondigas Picante (which will hereby be referred to as the meatball tapas). This is quite surprising since it looks rather plain at first glance. However, when the Taste Test (TM) is applied, it turned me into a believer. The meatball is firm but literally bursts with juicy goodness when you bite down into it. Nice!

barcelona tapas

There’s also the Patatas con Alioli Picante which all the others liked but I didn’t care much for. It does have very nice dressing but eating potatoes just doesn’t do it for me. To each his/her own!

The Baranjas con Salsa de Pimentas (eggplant with Spanish sauce) was good though. I love eggplant. It’s one of the few vegetables I like, mostly due to it’s creamy and rich texture. The tapas dishes all come with slices of bread to soak up the gravy.

barcelona paella

I love the Paella Marisco (seafood paella) too – it came with huge prawns, mussels and squid. You can request for them to use the more authentic Spanish rice instead of the regular rice tailored to local tastes – it tastes much better this way.

The rice is firm and each grain is distinctive. It’s flavorful and goes very well with the seafood. Trust me on this – ask for Spanish rice. πŸ˜€

barcelona pizza

Next came another one of their specialties – the Valencia Pizza (RM 19). It’s 10 inches, made with a topping of onion, chilli, pepper, bacon and minced beef and comes in a proper thin crust. I had my doubts initially upon setting my eyes on it. Chilli slices on a pizza? It looks like the product of an overzealous fusion chef but when I bit into the thin crust and tasted the pizza, I fell in love with it immediately. I eat a lot of pizza and I usually forgo it when I’m eating out but this one tastes exquisite!

barcelona pizza closeup

It’s one of those rare moments when fusion cuisine works very well. I can see why it’s on the recommended list in the menu. I would recommend it too. πŸ™‚

barcelona maghrita

Down to the cocktails, I had three – this is the Ultimate Margarita (RM 20). It’s done well and I love the sea salt lining the rim of the glass. It’s a small thing but you’ll be surprised at the number of places that don’t do it, especially in smaller cities. It’s not a proper margarita unless there’s sea salt on the rim. I like the attention to detail in BARcelona.

barcelona tea party

I also had their signature BARcelona Tea Party (RM 25). It’s listed on the alcohol menu as β€œStar & Strong Alcohol”. It’s true, the alcohol content is rather high in this long island tea variant. I love it! πŸ˜€

barcelona wings

The best dish that we had that night was hands down the humble chicken wings. It’s oven baked and marinated with juices which complement the chicken very well. The skin is crispy but the meat tender – a wonderful experience. Do not miss this one if you’re ever in BARcelona. It’s perfect as finger food or a main course. Succulent.

barcelona neon

BARcelona and SOHO is located diagonally from Mega Hotel in Miri. It’s outside of the main clubbing distinct and as such, provides a nice change of scenery. The bill is affordable too – the tapas ranges from RM 5 – RM 10 and the mains are reasonably priced. It’s a great place to have dinner or drinks with a couple of friends.

barcelona me wendy

Thanks for picking up the bill Siaw Yin! You’re too kind. Next meal is on me. πŸ™‚

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26 thoughts on “BARcelona Spanish food and SOHO Irish bistro”

  1. That is a super idea! It allows friends to Facebook and show each other photos while eating.

    Barcelona looks like a nice place. πŸ™‚

    Reply
    • Yeah, I like the ambience of BARcelona. πŸ™‚

      Unfortunately it was a little too dark to take proper photos without my dSLR. 😑

      I think the computers with net connections is a great idea! πŸ™‚

      Reply
  2. Hey HB! You’re in Miri right now? Want to go for drinks?
    I’m a long time reader of yours. From back in the days.
    Me and my friends go to SOHO for drinks too. We went last weekend too but on Saturday.
    I didn’t know Barcelona and SOHO is related!
    You want to go again? I’ll love to buy you a beer.

    Reply
    • Hello there! Yup, I’m still in Miri!

      Yeah, the two places even share the same bar, I think. I know it’s owned by the same person and you can cross-order food from each restaurant.

      Sure thing bro, it’ll be fun get a few drinks together. I’ll be leaving quite soon though so it’ll have to be before this weekend. I’ll email you – got your email in the comments.

      Cheers and thanks for reading! πŸ™‚

      Reply
    • It’s awesome! The chicken wings are easily the best dish of the night. A must have if you ever go to BARcelona or SOHO. πŸ™‚

      Reply
  3. HB, pretty good food you had there. I had tapas food at Cha Cha Cha on Haight St. in San Francisco there a Brazilian Restaurant called Espetus Churrascaria Steak House for all you can eat everything. It a meat restaurant in roast, grill fried braise type meat all kind and all you can eat meat and side dishes too. They keep on bring you meats to pick from.

    Reply
    • Yeah, it’s good to see more tapas places coming up. πŸ™‚

      Interesting! I’ve been to a carvery type meal too but it wasn’t Brazilian.

      Reply
    • I use a Sony alpha as my dSLR with one external flash. It’s the external flash that helps, have learned to use it, when it first got the external I didn’t even know how to use it. Heh!

      Yup, I have several secondary compact cameras – a Sony, Nikon and Olympus. I use them for different purposes. πŸ™‚

      Reply
      • ooo ok, thinking about getting a micro 4/3rd camera maybe an olympus pen. dont really fancy the idea of carrying around a dslr for everyday photography.

        Reply

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