Snapshot review: Fauna Restaurant at Kimpton Vivdora, Barcelona

Last week, I purposefully left out reviewing the Fauna Restaurant of my Kimpton Vividora review. The first reason was it being excellent and deserving an article of its own to do it justice. Second, and for full disclosure, our breakfast was included within the room rate but the evening meal was provided complimentary for us to try out. So let’s take a look at Fauna - a hidden gem of Kimpton Vividora.

The restaurant space is large but split into three distinct zones - the first is the primary dining area…

…the buffet area which is only open at breakfast…

…and then a cozy, sectioned off dining area - which has a beautiful decor.

I am a little conflicted about the design, as much as it is nice, it does break up the service flow and can make it hard to grab staff attention - below is the view from the main dining area. It feels maybe this was designed by somebody who thought it looks good on paper…but didn’t think about the real world impact.

This caused some issues for our breakfast as we didn’t realise that there was an à la carte menu to order from - alongside there not being enough front of house staff on duty on both days we had breakfast. We tried out the buffet to begin with which consisted of the standard continental fare which was good but not extraordinary…

…Sparkling Wine, tea and Nespresso coffee was also available as self-serve…

…Although fresh barista-served coffee is available (including soya milk options).

Omelettes and crepes can also be ordered by walking up to the station at the rear of Fauna. These are fresh and really tasty.

The real winner for me though was that à la carte menu - which could be accessed via a QR code (which we had to wait for). The Smoked Salmon and Avocado on ciabatta bread was to die for…the flavours were so intense but balanced - I loved it so much we had it two days running.

We also tried the Turkey Club Sandwich which tasted good - thought Turkey is not my favourite meat in general so not my preferred option.

Then onto the gorgeous Jamón Ibérico ham on Spanish bread - I love cured meats like Prosciutto but the Jamón in Spain and at Fauna is on another level, it just makes your mouth salivate.

Onto the main evening meal, and it is quite amazing how the restaurant atmosphere changes into a completely different atmosphere with the alteration of lighting - it looked great particularly the small touches like the little lamps.

We started with wine, even if I’m not a big wine drinker, alongside bread with olive oil dip.

And then onto the Cantabrian anchovies with seaweed bread and olive caviar - very salty but at the same time, I could devour all of them if I tried.

Then onto the deep-fried heaven that took the beautiful Jamón from breakfast combined with a little cheese for your delight in the Acorn Iberico ham croquettes.

For mains we tried out two dishes, the rare beef fillet with a red wine sauce, fresh vegetables and an ultra-creamy mash underneath - it was cooked perfectly (for my taste) and would’ve been more than enough for a normal meal.

But no! Of course there was more! Onwards to the next main, Arroces de Barcelona or Barcelona Rice, which may or may not be a variation of Spain’s national dish of paella. We tried the Paralleda rice with baby squid, cuttlefish and red shrimp. While I didn’t get a picture of the paella pan, the waiter served up at the table - bringing along the intense aroma of the dish and out of the many we tried, this was the best rice dish on both our visits to Spain in the past 6 months. Just look at them prawns…

And finally our two desserts. Generally, I’m not a big fan of desserts - but the pistachio ice cream and the warm banana served with homemade caramel with brownie bites tasted excellent finishing off a fantastic meal.

Everything about Fauna’s on-menu items during both breakfast and dinner are fantastic. While the buffet at breakfast was not the best, and not on-par with the Four Seasons Bangkok for example, every other aspect of the restaurant make this a great place to dine at. The only disappointment was that on a Saturday evening we was only one of two tables to be dining at the establishment which is a great shame - more people should sample this great hidden restaurant in Barcelona, Spain.

Fauna’s menu can be found at this link and appears to be updated seasonally. It is open daily for breakfast to serve hotel patrons and is open at Dinner between 20:00 and 00:000 on Wednesdays to Sundays inclusive.