El Maderal

I have visited this place several times, before and after the menu change.

Overall very good experiences. The dishes are modern, creative and tasty. The service is just excellent.

Don't leave El Maderal without trying the vegan carrot cake, it's just amazing. If for some reason you don't like desserts, you will start liking them after this...

This place is around the corner from the old bull-fighting ring El Monumental. Ironic! I've been a few times and always had a good experience. It's a small place; seats about 20 in the front and another 8-10 in the back. The all-wood decor gives it a contemporary yet homey feel.

After trying various things on the menu, I now go straight for the veggie burger and patatas bravas. The burger is quite tasty and nicely presented, although on the small side for the price. The bravas are delicious. They have a nice revolving selection of craft beers to accompany.

The staff has always been friendly to us.

Great food and service. Paco was knowledgeable and friendly. Definitely a place to visit again!

I do not usually leave opinions about the restaurants I visit, but this time I'd like to share my experience.
I had dinner with my vegetarian girlfriend. The place is cozy, but at the same time have the sensation it is cold as well as the staff: not a smile at any time, nor told us hello.
We were advised to order 4 or 5 dishes because they were small, and indeed the dishes were very small, the russian salad was like... watery and the quantity was ridiculous: literally two tablespoons with three sticks of badly cut toast on top. We tought it was a joke.
The service was slow, always missing something, anyway it was not important, we were not in a hurry. But when my girlfriend requested the dishes to the waitress, she replied in a very impolite way. No comment.
The food was nothing special, almost everything arrived without taste and plenty of oil (or just dirty or don't know what) footprints on the plates.
I think it was very expensive for so small rations and bad customer service.
A very unpleasant experience. We left there hungry and went to eat a pizza.
I do not suggest it at all.

There is nothing to fear at El Maderal other than when it's time to leave. I had the pleasure of meeting Harp the Barcelona Happy Cow Ambassador in April 2016 and we discussed this new place on the Barca vegan scene. It's only a short walk from Arc de Triomf and adjacent to the former bullfighting arena chamber of horrors, The Monumental. We were expecting a typical beer / trash food pub experience but how wrong we were. This is a modern, smart and elegant place decked in clean efficient wood panelling. Very neat & tidy. It's set up for high class high tabled vegan tapas dining but it also has a traditional seated bar area for drinks and chit chat. We had a couple of Catalonian craft beers to wash down a succulent seitan skewer and an aubergine, garlic and tahini dip with bread. As expected with tapas, portion sizes are quite small and at around €5 to €10 each, not cheap. The quality however was astonishing. After a second visit in November 2016 and a sumptuous two and three quarter hour dining experience full of intense flavour, friendly conversation and vegan fulfilment I have had to upgrade my original review from April 2016 from 4 to 5 Happy Cows. When I realised there are 120 gins available here I took the opportunity of ending the night with a gin and tonic. The gin was a Macaronesian from The Canary Islands, made to perfection and made with love and attention. This is a place we will always make room to return to in Barcelona.

Updated from previous review on 2016-11-19

I first visited this restaurant for a light lunch in April 2016 . I was surprised at how sophisticated the restaurant looked as I was expecting something much more casual. The vegan tapas we had the pleasure of eating were exceptional, they seemed to focus on quality as opposed to quantity as the dishes weren't very big but were most definitely worth the price. The seitan skewers we ordered were on another level, it was the most mouth watering seitan I had ever had. We envisaged revisiting at night to try a larger variety of the tempting dishes.

We came back for an evening dining experience during our next visit to Barcelona in November 2016. I've been following the amazing reviews that El Maderal has been receiving since we last visited and was suprised to see a recent review that was extremely critical. I feared that it had lost it's magic but I left thinking that it had actually improved. The food was amazing. The staff were attentive, friendly and described every course in knowledge and eloquent detail. This restaurant is in my personal top 3, the list being shared with 2 other superb veggie establishments in Barcelona, my only regret is that I can't visit more often.


Updated from previous review on 2016-04-15

The food is nothing special since they have changed cook (Although in their facebook they continue to publicize the name of the former cook!!).
The dishes are bland and prepared without any love. The service is slow and neither they can explain you how the food is made!
The staff argued with each other and was unhelpful and uneducated with us, if you ask something, it is as if you was annoying them! Incredible!! It's a pity... the food has no comparison with what they served when newly opened,
The last time we went, we found it a fraud for the costumers.
We went many times at the beginning but will not be back.

This is honestly some of the best vegan food I've ever had. The dishes are small and it's the kind of place you order 2 or 3 things each and share if you want. The burger is brilliant, as is the raw canneloni with cashew cheese, the wine is incredible, and the service and atmosphere are as good as any top-end restaurant. It's a little pricey but not over-the-top (we spent about 65 euros on two beers, a bottle of wine, and five dishes, between two of us). Ideal for a date or occasion, only about five or six tables in there so it's quiet and intimate. HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Service was excellent, the vegan burger was superb, juicy, flavorful, the best I've had. The smoothie wasn't cold enough so I'm not too crazy about it. Overall a cozy little place. Great for socializing, though I went on my own as I'm traveling in Barcelona.

The food was spectacular! You have to try the seitan and mushroom dish. The food presentation and quality make this place a 5-star restaurant at 2-star prices. You really wouldn't notice that it is vegan only, but it is such a great option for a vegan foodie. All ingredients are specifically selected and directly sourced when possible. The staff is very knowledgeable and passionate. I haven't been this impressed with a restaurant in quite some time. Me Encanto este lugar!

Popped in as I had an hour spare before leaving for the airport. So glad I did. Incredibly relaxed, small bar-style place with the most amazing tapas selection. I had a mushroom and seitan dish which was mind blowing, but everything on the menu looked beautiful. Everything is made from scratch and the man serving was the friendliest, most helpful person you could imagine. Can't wait to return.

This is a very fancy place, a very upmarket feel to it. Perfect service, absolutely delicious food. The menu is all very well thought out, small sharing plates. I think the waiter said they stock 100 gins, there are also crafts beers and organic wines. I couldn't fault this place on food or service but the I found the vibe a little uptight hence the 4 stars.

Great place, I encourage to everybody to go there. Great tapas, we tried almost everything and all was delicious.

Really enjoyed our meal here. The food was tasty and filling, the atmosphere was welcoming and the service was knowledgeable and attentive. Great to be able to support a good all vegan restaurant. Only about 10 minutes' walk from sagrada familia.

We have just come back from a weekend in Barcelona and were pleasantly surprised by the choice and quality of the vegan restaurant there. But this one was truly outstanding, maybe the best vegan restaurant we have ever been to anywhere. We went late on a Saturday afternoon. Our waiter was fantastic and a credit to the place. He had an excellent knowledge of the menu and talked us through their extensive and excellent wine list. He made us feel very welcome. As for the food where do I start? It is a tapas based restaurant. We went for six dishes between us and all of them were great, some truly outstanding like the cannelloni or the burger. The deserts too were amazing. This is vegan dining of the highest order.
They also have 120 different gins to choose from which we thought it would be rude not to try. Their specialist gin man made us a G&T with a gin from Majorca with lemon and ginger. Best G&T I’ve ever had.
As you can probably tell we loved the place. A little bit more expensive than some places but we are talking high end dining and worth every euro.

Beautiful place with delicious tapas. All vegan, GF options.
Good music, big selection of vegan wines and beers
All dishes beautifully presented and desserts light and delicious

We had one raw canneloni (9.50€) as well as a burger (7.50€) and both was really delicious and flavorful!
Consider that the portions aren't the biggest.
However, definitely don't miss the banana/chocolate/pb smoothie, it is the best!

This was my favorite place to eat in Barcelona and I`m sure I`ll visit again when I return. Everything we had was absolutely delicious! I loved the Portobello mushrooms on flatbread with cauliflower cream and smoked tofu. The burgers and smoothies were great too. My boyfriend really loved the seitan skewers. I just had a bite or two and I must say, it was the best seitan I ate.