#60 | Paradiso, Barcelona, Spain
Last Visit: Spring 2025
We've already covered some big names, from Clumsies to the Experimental Cocktail Club, but with the Paradiso, we will probably discuss the currently biggest on Liquid Thoughts. Of course, they proudly display their awards online on their website, see below. In 2017, they were included in the "Ones to Watch" of the World's 50, in 2018 they entered at number 37 and have been in the top 20 ever since. Then in 2022 to the top of the world, number 1 of the World's 50, followed by number 4 and currently number 10.
But almost more interesting than the pure ranking and listing is that Paradiso 2022 was the first bar since the list began in 2009 that was not from London or New York, the capitals of the "Old World" in the bar cosmos. What's even more exciting is that they set a precedent to a certain extent, as the two lists since then have also not seen London and New York at the top, but Barcelona again with Sips (our review will follow in the near future) and currently Mexico City with Handshake Speakeasy. Of course, this is less due to a cultural battle that Paradiso has waged and more a sign of the general globalization of high-end bar culture. Nevertheless, it is a special, perhaps even the coolest historical fact or "merit" that you can take credit for. Despite all this, I had already been warned by several friends, two very competent bartenders and a barfly who had recently been to Barcelona: You shouldn't expect too much, there's a lot of show, not so much behind it. Let's see if that's the case.
Let's move on to the bar itself, which is very centrally located, close to the coast, in the middle between the port and the Parc de la Ciutadella. If you come from the city center, you will find an inconspicuous façade with a dark sign in a pedestrian zone. There is a small anteroom to the bar, which is/was apparently a pastrami store, but we never saw anyone buying anything there. It was probably more of a speakeasy in the beginning and part of the concept. Now, of course, everyone is here for the bar and, unsurprisingly, it always has a carefully organized queue of guests and service staff in front of it, who direct you, ask how many you are, etc. In contrast to Sips, however, Paradiso does not offer reservations, but a system with a QR code that can be scanned on site and used to form a virtual queue. A very practical idea to avoid wasting too much time.
When you enter, you are greeted by a view that anyone with half an interest in international bar culture has probably seen in photos: The bar consisting of light-colored, organically shaped & cut wooden sections. On the opposite side, there are seats along a wall, which in turn is adorned with a few mirrors and covered in upholstered leather. I don't want to be picky, the bar looks quite impressive of course, but you can't help but feel that the design wasn't 100% finished.
The leather looks rather old-fashioned and counterproductive to the rest of the design, especially in the second room next to the bar, which is completely covered in leather. The side walls with the simple tropical print also don't look quite as high-quality, reminiscent of cheap Instagram cafés. Worse still, the same tropical print, again cut up with black elements, also adorns the bartenders' uniforms, which was the final aesthetic gut punch for me. All of this was one of the first clues that reminded me a little of a chic theme park experience. A place where there's also a lot to be impressed by, but then the seams of it all stand out all the more in the details. Don't get me wrong, I celebrate for example full-on cliché tiki bars that are absorbed in their self-aware fantasy beyond all measure. But this one is somewhere between a deliberately elegant but unskilled design and a pinch of magical tiki, but ultimately again not really tiki or anything specific. Because, once more, it lacks a bit of focus and with all these little things that interfere or stand out in the design language, it's already crossing over into Uncanny Valley.
The next theme park clue would be, for example, when you almost get scared because everyone, actually all the bartenders, greet you enthusiastically and loudly in synch when you walk through the door. It reminded me of wanting to sink into the floor when an aisle of children was organized at my birthday party at home 25 years ago, and I had to walk through it while a song was sung for me. That melancholic feeling then quickly changed to simply being annoyed when this loud "HOLA" and other shouts are called out like a military salute by 5+ people every time a new guest enters while you're sitting at the bar. Perhaps it's simply the German inside of me that is to blame, as I can't help but think of the cliché of artificial Californian friendliness that unsettles me to the core. Speaking of friendliness and service: In the end, the service here was quite professional, informative, and solid, but as always in such well-known bars, it was of course busy around the clock.
(click for original size)
Theme park evidence, next part: the menu. I can't say whether I like QR code menus less or menus on tablets (this may even have been the premiere as far as that is concerned). After all, there is of course more space for design on tablets. But the strong artificial screen light and, above all, the concept or lack of it doesn't exactly make this a prime example of what would be possible with tablets. Unless you try to keep it completely generic and call the concept "fantasy", because I don't see any connection here. Between the individual drinks, the color background differentiates between "Universe", "Nature" and whatever the others are supposed to be. But this only leads to the fact that the wild colors and mixtures of inspirations not only make it look like a Theme Park bar, but as if all Theme Park areas and their bars had been thrown together. Of course, this works well if you combine it with a kind of adventure tourism. Even in a tourist-rich city like Barcelona, it is immediately noticeable that there is a share of exactly 100% "I want to be impressed" tourism among the guests here.
For me, on the other hand, the wild collection of themes is just too much. It actually goes from references to comics (Kriptonite) in the All-Time Classics, to pseudo-archaeological mysteries (Atlantis), to the Milky Way (Milky Way), back to the aromas of rain (Dry Storm) in the style of perfume drinks or molecular mixology. The presentation as seen below also covers a very wide spectrum accordingly, which is actually really nice in parts (especially some ceramics), but also comes across as weird and "gimmicky" in other parts. One example is the LED lights that illuminate drinks from below.
The scope is definitely impressive for such an elaborate menu, 15 signatures from the current menu, as well as 7 more "classics" in the sense of "popular drinks from the past from us". There is also an enjoyable selection of snacks, matching with the pastrami store in front of the bar. Logically, the sandwich named after it, but also smoked sea bass or a vegan "chicken" kimchi sandwich. We simply opted for the (good) toasted bread with smoked butter.
Dry Storm
| Whisky Johnnie Walker Gold
| Beetroot
| Fig Leaf Liqueur
| Mancino Secco Vermouth
| Moss Bitters
| Tío Pepe Sherry
A "nice try", very much in the direction of a Dry Martini, blindly you would actually never guess whisky as a base. The beetroot is redistilled with the Johnnie Walker, making it a spirit in its own right. In keeping with the presentation and the name, the drink aims to capture the ozone notes associated with rain or the scent right after rain, similar to some perfumes. It does a solid job, and as I said, it is, above all, very dry. The dry sherry + dry vermouth and dry fig leaves make it a little too extreme for me to really enjoy it. At the same time, it's still more drinkable (as it's less boozy) and more interesting than a normal Extra Dry Martini. For me, the idea and implementation of the individual ingredients still lacked a bit of finishing.
/rds
Tlaloc
| Tequila Patron Blanco
| Mezcal Montelobos
| Cocoa and Tamarillo Liqueur
| Green Pepper Chutney
"A cocktail inspired by the Mayan god of rain and agriculture, blending tradition and bold flavors in a spicy margarita." That's the description in the menu. And as a margarita twist, the drink works quite well. At the beginning, especially with the ice cream on a stick as a garnish, it is reminiscent of salted caramel ice cream, matching the spirits which add minerality. What I like is the particular acidity from the chutney, which is definitely something different from the usual citrus varieties. For me, it was by far the best cocktail of our visit. But that only tells half the story, especially if you look at one of our previous articles on Liquid Garden and realize that the Tlaloc, for example, would be somewhere at the bottom of the list there.
/jf
Subterranium
| Zacapa 23 Rum Clarified With Goat's Milk
| Hay Liqueur
| Celery Root
| Apple & Horseradish Cordial
One of the drinks that is the subject of a lot of PR and elaborate explanations by the bar. Which is always tricky, as it naturally raises expectations and you have to offer something exceptional, which some bars can manage (e.g., No Idea with equally nice stories behind the drinks) and some can't. In this case, it's the latter. Basically a Rum Sour/Daiquiri, where only the rum is clarified through goat's milk without the rest, and which is in its concept based on old, ancient cities underground and their supposed mysteries. The drink is appropriately served in a ceramic vessel, garnished with liquid smoke, then the lid is removed and as you drink it down, you gradually find a small ceramic city at the bottom of the vessel revealing itself — quite a nice/creative presentation.
That's why there are several ingredients that grow in the ground and are associated with it, such as celeriac and horseradish, and even insects with a goat's milk cream and sprouts as garnish/pairing, as well as olives. The latter sounds more exciting than it is, the insects (mostly larvae, I guess) taste like nothing, and/or are completely overwhelmed by the cream. Which just makes it all together taste like some yogurt with 1–2 leaves of lettuce, well … The drink itself isn't really bad, but in the end it's just a Daiquiri without the crisp acidity and freshness, or even interesting rum, but with a slightly vegetably and weird aftertaste, which never really manages to have that "exciting culinary" aspect. Meh.
/rds
Kriptonite
| MG Paradiso Gin
| Shiso
| Lemon Grass
| Sichuan Pepper
| Riboflavin
| Electric Liqueur
| Grapefruit Cordial
| Chocolate Bitters
| Kaffir Lime Essential Oil
A long, long list of ingredients. The result is almost amusing. For me, it's the weakest cocktail, despite being in one of the "all-time classics" segment of the menu. Well, maybe it's just a product of its time, or maybe it's been modified since then, but the result is a strangely unaromatic gin drink that reminds me more of having neat gin varieties with some inherent citrus notes. It's as if all the ingredients (5 of which go in the direction of fresh/lemon …) had simply been thrown together in the gin and bottled as a finished product, label slapped on, the hype does the rest. With good will, you could describe Kriptonite as "spirit forward", at least more so than the others mentioned here, but I have even less desire for the homemade gin after drinking this cocktail. The presentation with the lighting, where the coaster looks bigger than the glass and LED lights it up, does the rest to bring the whole experience back to 2010.
/jf
So what do we make of all this? To be honest, from a World's 50 bar — let alone one with the standing and accolades of Paradiso — I expect far more than 2 rather undesirable drinks that I wouldn't even finish in a "standard" bar for €12-15; plus a solid but not entirely successful attempt and a nice spicy margarita. The menu concept is quite all over the place, the aesthetics in parts of the bar and the uniforms sometimes slightly out of place. Combined with the artificial vibe and the glowing tablet menu, it feels a bit like a Theme Park bar trying to do more than it's capable of.
In general, the vibe feels more like a bar that would have ended up on lists like World's 50 & Co a few years earlier than 2019-2025. Especially with the elaborate presentation, it's reminiscent of places like Nightjar in the early to mid-2010s, with more pretense than substance, only here with more culinary ingredients. In the end, you can still pop in just to take a look, and you're sure to probably find a drink or two to suit your personal taste, but you should come through the door with as few expectations (at least for something at the "top of the charts") as possible.
/rds
