Tickets – Restaurant Review | Condé Nast Traveler

cuisine

Spanish

reservations

Yes

Tell us about your first impressions when you arrived.
It’s colorful, it’s loud, it’s eccentric, and it’s full of energy. They call this place a culinary amusement park, and that’s precisely how it feels. So let the games begin.
What was the crowd like?
Tickets was ranked number 20 on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list in 2019, and by the look of excitement on the other guests’ faces, they know exactly where they are and why. Reservations at Tickets are made available online three months in advance at midnight, and all the tables are usually snapped up within a matter of minutes. There is a sense of anticipation in the air here, since the dining room is full of people who have been planning this meal for months.
What should we be drinking?
There’s a huge selection of wine, both by the bottle and by the glass. Although this is one of the world’s most talked-about Michelin-starred restaurants, we’re still in Spain, so the cost of the wine ranges from $30 for a very respectable bottle of local white, up to around $1,600 for the Dom Pérignon.
Main event: the food. Give us the lowdown—especially what not to miss.
Many people feel hesitant and unsure about molecular gastronomy, even in the hands of celebrity chefs like Albert and Ferran Adrià. However, the simple truth is that meals here deserve all the hype they get. Ferran’s renowned liquid olives are here, as are crunchy tacos with Peking-style suckling pig, eel canapés with yuzu tarama, and delicate potato cubes with wagyu tartare. Every dish somehow manages to outdo the one before it. Tickets is pure poetry on a plate!
And how did the front-of-house folks treat you?
Spanish restaurants are famous for their food, not their service, but despite this stereotype, the staff here is full of enthusiasm. Your server will give you the option of ordering à la carte or allowing him or her to create a custom-made tasting menu according to your likes and dislikes. Presuming you’re not a fussy eater or too concerned with the size of the bill, you are strongly advised to choose option two. Then just buckle up and enjoy the ride.