Ofis (CLOSED)

This venue is closed.

After having established itself as a place to get one of the best set lunch menus in Barcelona (you can now go next door to their renovated neighbour and sibling, Sifó), as of June 2018 Ofis cooks up dinner only. The two Argentinian owners, Pablo Antico (dining room) and Jorge Runnacles (kitchen) knock themselves out to offer informal dinners that hold on to the spirit (and affordability) of their midday meals: 'At lunch the cooking is more about using what we can – making vinaigrettes and jams with leftover fruit, for example; whereas at night we start with a conceptualisation of haute cuisine made with less-expensive products,' explains Antico. A great example is the chicken waffle: cage-free poultry – though not the kind that goes for a jog every day and eats better than you – that's semi-creamy, almost spread on a home-made waffle with grated idiazabal cheese.

What distinguishes the trade of the two Argentinians is that they've been able to combine quality meats with an otherwise almost vegetarian menu with finesse and creativity. After the more-ish duo of 'mantou' – chanterelle and horn of plenty mushrooms sandwiched into steamed Chinese buns – we're served suckling pig that's toasted on the outside and juicy inside, the flavour enhanced by roasted-garlic alioli, and a phenomenal trofie pasta with anchovy and yogurt sauce.