Secrets of Barcelona: Solange & Paradiso

This week my book The 500 hidden secrets of Barcelona gets released. In the next couple of blog posts, I’ll expand on some of the book’s entries. Today: two new bars that didn’t make it into the list of ‘5 tasty cocktails and specialties bars’. One because it wasn’t quite good enough, and the other because it only just opened – but it really should have been in the book. 

Cocktails beyond Bond 

Barcelona recently acquired two new cocktails bars. One in uptown Eixample, one in tourist-heavy Born. One gleaming, with vintage couches and a seventies vibe, one hidden behind what looks like a take-out. It should be obvious which one is the better choice for a night out, right? Right? 

First: Solange, a bar specializing in ‘cocktails and luxury spirits’. The windows are tinted and partly covered by vertical wooden beams, which gives the place an air of mystery. Once inside, you either go up (to the stately bar) or down, to a salon-like space with lots of couches. The walls are covered with bottles and the ornaments are the seventies’ idea of fancy. 

I was with my friend C. Neither him nor me are millionaires, so we skipped the first page of the menu, listing bottles of champagne that ran into hundreds of euros. The two following pages, with cocktails between 8 and 12 euros each, were much more to our liking, especially the section called ‘Orbis non sufficit’. I went for ‘The Journalist’ (just because), while C. ordered ‘Lavanda del Pisco’, created by Argentine bartender Fede Cuco. 

Both came in tall glasses without much decoration or ado. Both were satisfying: I enjoyed the blend of brandy with ginger, my companion was happy with his Peruvian brandy and lavender syrup. Neither of us was impressed. 

This is easily explained: we’d been spoilt. Our previous visit had been to Paradiso, in the Born.

Like I said, from the outside it looks like a tiny take-out restaurant. But if you try to get in on a Friday or Saturday night, the queue in the street will tell you there’s something else going on. The door opens and you’re swallowed by the deep red atmosphere, more than a little sensual. There’s a big bar to the right, and tables further down. 

It’s not a large space. In fact, the menu seems larger than the bar itself. I had a hard time picking out a cocktail. It’s convenient they mention how heavy a particular cocktail will hit you (re alcohol content), but the colourful descriptions seized my attention first. I settled, after much deliberation, on a ‘Great Gatsby’. 

I loved the novel but the drink may be even better. Macallan Amber whisky, lavender bitter and truffle honey – I’m probably skipping some ingredients since the description on the menu was much longer – which arrived under a bell jar filled with smoke: vanilla and chocolate tobacco smoke, to be precise for a change. It was spectacular, it was overpowering and the decoration beat any adjective I could come up with. 

Moreover, Paradiso also serves great (and large) pastrami sandwiches. These send an important message. A lot of cocktails bars, when it comes to food, will only serve expensive amuse-bouches, exquisite nothings. The pastrami and grilled cheese sandwiches ground Paradiso: they say ‘family’ rather than ‘stilted’, ‘stay a while’ instead of ‘spend a lot’. Between the attention put into the decoration of the cocktails, the drinks’ quality and the bar’s enchanted-forest look, it is incredible they only charge between 10 and 14 euros for a cocktail. 

There is no reference to James Bond whatsoever at Paradise. Those references abound at Solange. The bar is named after a Bond girl. There’s Bollinger champagne on the menu, the official Bond champagne. ‘Orbis non sufficit’ means ‘The world is not enough’, title of a Pierce Brosnan-headed Bond-movie. It’s clearly been a conscious decision, and you have to admire the consistency, but I found it slightly off-putting. James Bond and his Martini, shaken, not stirred, is the very first thing people think about when someone says ‘cocktail’. It’s not original. Combined with the interior (in which James would no doubt feel at home), I got the impression I was visiting a theme park rather than a bar. 

So while I can imagine Solange [Carrer d’Aribau 143, +34 93 164 36 25, www.solangecocktail.com] is a great place to have a drink with colleagues on a Friday evening (because really there’s nothing wrong with what they serve), I prefer to see my friends at Paradiso [Carrer de Rere Palau 4, +34 93 360 72 22, www.facebook.com/Paradiso-928595557214379/].