Guru, lounge club, Barcelona

...have been.

Guru, lounge club and cockteleria (using the Spanish word) is a wonderful, eclectic visual delight. And the drinks are great too! We literally dived into this lounge bar in the late afternoon on our first day in Barcelona (I'm afraid to say whilst I was in search of a lavatory again) and were so taken with it we kept going back. We were greeted by a member of staff and shown to a seat which was novel and rather special. ...
...to admire the surroundings. There is so much to catch the eye you're not sure where to turn first, it is a visual feast, and because of the excellent environment, even more so than the drink, this bar really stands out.

The outside of the building (located in the Gothic quarter) is fairly non-descript and you could walk past the grey exterior and dark windows without even realising it's a bar. When you stop to get a better look you ... more

There are a huge array of bars to chose from in Barcelona, catering for everyone but I thought I'd write about this one because I like to read up on places to visit in my guide book and then go off and find them and this bar wasn't in our guide book and should have been.

Guru, lounge club and cockteleria (using the Spanish word) is a wonderful, eclectic visual delight. And the drinks are great too! We literally dived into this lounge bar in the late afternoon on our first day in Barcelona (I'm afraid to say whilst I was in search of a lavatory again) and were so taken with it we kept going back. We were greeted by a member of staff and shown to a seat which was novel and rather special. We chose a nice little table and sat back to admire the surroundings. There is so much to catch the eye you're not sure where to turn first, it is a visual feast, and because of the excellent environment, even more so than the drink, this bar really stands out.

The outside of the building (located in the Gothic quarter) is fairly non-descript and you could walk past the grey exterior and dark windows without even realising it's a bar. When you stop to get a better look you can see a huge Buddha sitting in the window, peer further in and you can see lots of colourful orangey/yellow wall hangings and a huge screen with images being projected onto it. It's a strange mix of the oriental with a splash of modernist art in a bar that looks like its been converted from a small shop. At one end of the room is a huge, disturbing modernist painting of what looks like a version of the Leda and the Sawn myth (Zeus appearing to Leda in the guise of a Swan in order to seduce her in Greek mythology). Disproportionate female figures, a huge swirling red cloak and green man/swan figure hold huge connotations and it's hard to tear your eyes away from the painting once you really start exploring it. There's also a clever use of lighting over the painting which changes colour every few minutes highlighting its different aspects. With the aid of some strong cocktails you could sit for hours contemplating it if you didn't have the projector screen at the other end of the bar near the window. This seems to represent modern disturbing imagery as much as the painting depicts ancient. There is an endless stream of silent clips from mainly old black and white horror movies but seems to change at night to clips of robots and automatons. It particularly appealed to both of us as we love old movies and it seemed very well put together. The seating and sofas are comfortable and exotic, the chairs and tables all being made of dark wood with sumptuous bright cushions everywhere. The lighting is all subdued and ambient making it a big chill out area in between the art with some nice chill out music.

Things subtly change the later it gets, the nice soothing atmosphere livens up later on with the resident DJ and house music but you get the impression that many people use this bar as a meeting place to go on somewhere else once the night really gets started or perhaps return here to chill down at the end of it. It's open till 3am.

Having looked for this bar on the net I discovered it's part of the Sikkim restaurant based on Plaza Comercial, Barcelona. I would definitely like to give this a visit next time if it has the same visual effect as the bar, the site is: http://www.sikkimbcn.com/ Look at the Guru page for the bar details.

Clientele: Guru seemed to attract all sorts, depending on the time of day. It's a good place to just relax and quite fashionable. It's the kind of place you make an effort to go to as you wouldn't know it's there otherwise. The speciality here are cocktails although you can order beer and wine as well. We sampled a few (of course) but top of the list for me was their excellent Mai Tai (a blend of rums). I believe they have about 20 different cocktails. They run a happy hour early on at about the time we arrived but generally the cocktails are about 5 euros each which seemed pretty reasonable in this city. The staff are friendly and helpful. The toilets are clean although one of the locks wasn't working but it didn't matter.

Guru has got a great atmosphere, once you walk in the outside world melts away. A lot of effort has been put into this bar as with so many in Barcelona to create a complete atmosphere as well as providing excellent service and drinks. It's about so much more than just the drink here. If you get a chance give it a visit.

Location:
C/ josep anselm clavé #15. Walking down La Rambla towards the sea look for a left turn when you're almost at the bottom just after the Wax Museum.
Nearest Metro:Drassanes
Open from 9pm to 3am
Tel: 93 342 6422

One final note, when chosing the boxes below there wasn't an option to say not applicable to whether the standard of menu was good or not. I didnt see anyone at Guru eating but there may well have been a menu so ive put good - perhaps i was too busy staring at the painting... 

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