Another year at Fismuler, another dinner that splits neatly in half. The kitchen remains one of the most reliable in the Born: Nino Redruello's Barcelona outpost cooks with a product-first confidence that rarely wobbles, from the chargrilled artichoke to the Basque-style turbot to a schnitzel with egg and truffle that has no business being this satisfying. The plates are generous, the technique is real, and the room keeps its unfussy, slightly clattering energy — this is a restaurant that wants you to eat, not to contemplate. And then the wine list arrives and the whole enterprise deflates. Twelve months on, our complaint hasn't moved an inch: for a kitchen of this caliber and a bill of this size, the cellar is indefensibly thin, badly guided, and priced with a confidence it hasn't earned. You are made to feel that ordering something interesting is your problem to solve. Sixty-five euros with wine still buys a very good meal here, provided you arrive with modest expectations about what's in the glass — or simply accept the house pour and get on with the artichokes. Fix the wine and this becomes a serious restaurant. Until then it's a very good kitchen with a hole in it.
Address · Carrer del Rec Comtal, 17, Barcelona 08003 Type · Restaurant District · Ciutat VellaBudget · 65€/pax
The 2025 Review
A safe bet for food — and a bafflingly weak wine game
Fismuler is contemporary, product-driven Spanish cooking with a global accent: market ingredients, open-kitchen energy, and a menu built around share plates that flirt with comfort and surprise in the same bite. When it’s on, it’s a great night—strong technique, bold flavors, and a room that feels lively without trying to be precious. This is why we call it a safe bet: the kitchen rarely misses, and the whole operation runs with confidence.
But the wine side doesn’t play in the same league. For a restaurant cooking at this level (and charging like it), the selection and the recommendations feel calamitous: thin, unhelpful, and oddly disconnected from what’s happening on the plate. We shouldn’t have to work this hard to drink well in a place that clearly cares about detail everywhere else.
We still think it’s a good restaurant. We just wish the wine program matched the ambition—and the price tag.
