Sunshine, sangria and a tapa or two

When you call a restaurant Bar Celona, after the vibrant Spanish city of Barcelona, capital of the Catalonia region, wouldn’t you think there’d be at least something Catalan on the menu? At the new Spanish restaurant and tapas bar in Pasadena, think again.

Nor does the music playing overhead hint at the fact that in Spain, flamenco fusion from groups such as Ojos de Brujo or flamenco vocalist Diego El Cigala singing old boleros with the Cuban pianist Bebo Valdes are all the rage. Here, although the restaurant signage touts “Modern Spanish Cuisine” the soundtrack tends more toward the Gipsy Kings, who can also be heard down the block at the Italian restaurant Mi Piace.

Forget the modern. The kitchen doesn’t have a clue what chefs are doing in Barcelona or San Sebastian where some of the most innovative cooking on the face of the planet is coming from these days. It’s not enough to display the words “Modern Spanish.” Someone has to know what the term means.

Too bad the owner Jack Huang, who also owns nearby Villa Sorisso, doesn’t get it, because there’s a lot to like at this Colorado Boulevard newcomer. The place is lively and fun, tables spill out onto the sidewalk, and it’s open all through the afternoon, should you be feeling peckish or in need of a glass of sangria, which inevitably leads to tapas.

The design does reflect a thoroughly modern and hip sensibility, borrowing elements from design icons Philippe Starck and company and throwing in bold splashes of color and dotting the room with dozens of votive candles. Put it all together and what you’ve got is Spanish Moderne with a luscious palette of reds, oranges and yellows combined with exposed brick walls and huge, slightly tilted mirrors that reflect the scene.

Renderings of bulls decorate the walls. And in the bar, singles dressed to kill perch on persimmon-colored leather stools, sipping tall glasses of sangria.

The restaurant has just added a second bar and lounge which features sofas to sprawl on and leather stools that can be regrouped to accommodate a changing demographic. At night a DJ puts on the music. Plans are to add live music soon. And down a few steps is another room with a giant projection television screen.

Olives aplenty

It looks like fun, and it is. As soon as you sit down -- anywhere -- a waiter will bring you bread with a spunky, green olive tapenade, which is something different for once. It quickly disappears. You can order a bowl of mixed olives, which includes wrinkly, dark oil-cured olives, vinegary green ones and the huge sort we all know as Spanish olives, usually stuffed with pimentos. They’re pitted, though, which I think takes away from their flavor and part of the pleasure.

The other bar classic is, of course, almonds fried in olive oil. Curiously, these are not the irresistible Marcona almonds that are so much the rage for their rich oily flavor, but regular almonds fried in olive oil with skins on. Some are crunchy, some are not, which tells me they’re probably not all that fresh. But still, they’re the perfect nibble with sangria. Or some fino sherry, which, oddly enough, is hidden away on the dessert menu as a dessert wine.

The sangria actually is pretty good, poured from a pitcher into a tall tumbler filled to the brim with ice. A garnish of wine-steeped fruit floats on top. Its main virtue is that it’s not too sweet, which makes it easy to drink glass after glass. And from the number of pitchers of sangria stored in the bar’s under-counter fridge, I’d say it’s a dead-on hit. The table next to us, albeit a large one, went through six pitchers before they were halfway through their meal.

Ah, Spain and sunshine and sangria. Fortunately, for those who are not sangria fans, Bar Celona’s wine list offers a couple of cavas, or Spanish sparkling wines by the glass, and even a bottle of Roederer Cristal for $300 a bottle.

They have some interesting Spanish whites, including several Albarinos from Galicia in northwest Spain and a rose from Navarra. Among the reds: Tempranillos from Ribera del Duero and Rioja, some of which are available by the glass.

Spanish wine aficionados may be disappointed in the selection, but for those just getting into Spanish wines, it’s an opportunity to taste some they’ve only read or heard about.

The servers still seem a little uncertain about the tapas concept. Though the idea is to share everything with the table, they’re too often trying to figure out which plate goes where when the answer is simply in the middle of the table.

If you’re only one or two, you can enjoy the tapa experience by ordering surtido de tapas (tapas platter). It’s not big on looks, but does offer a small selection of the little Spanish dishes.

Flaky half-moon empanadas, filled with lamb or chicken, are particularly successful. But they could easily do without the sweetish pomegranate allioli or the chicken’s lemon-garlic allioli (a relative of aioli, but without egg).

At its best, tortilla espanola is a simple earthy dish that tastes great any time, any place. The kitchen must have felt it was just too plain on its own and added Idiazabal cheese and more of that garlic allioli to fancy it up. Mistake. It looks like a mess and muddies the flavors.

Standouts on the tapas menu include fluffy little albondigas (meatballs) in a sauteed button mushroom and wine sauce. Button mushrooms also appear as a separate dish sauteed and presented in a green sauce.

Of course, there’s the classic gambas al ajillo, shrimp in garlic, but the garlic is off-putting: It tastes oxidized, as if the kitchen is using the kind that comes already peeled. The shrimp don’t sing with freshness either.

Main courses disappoint

At Bar Celona, the most generic of ingredients are used over and over again, which makes it difficult to achieve food with real personality. The tapas, at least, are diverting and fun to eat, but main courses are more like something a college cafeteria would turn out on a Spanish theme night. Braised meats -- boneless short ribs, New Zealand lamb shank -- have been simmered to oblivion, completely falling off the bone, smothered in a sauce so dark it’s almost black. The only difference between the dishes is that the lamb has some red chard sauteed in that same stale garlic tucked beneath, while the short ribs get limp spinach.

Grilled salmon is acceptable, though more baked than grilled, and served with roasted Brussels sprout halves. The chicken is overwhelmed by so much garlic that it leaves a taste in your mouth for hours. Parrillada mixta (mixed grill), though, manages more interest with a bit of that chicken, some grilled chorizo and decent flatiron steak.

There is, however, paella valenciana, and it’s very credible. Any of the three versions (all seafood, mixed seafood and chicken and pork, or just chicken and pork, along with the usual peas and bell peppers) could easily be more than that if the restaurant used better ingredients. None of it sparkles with extraordinary flavor or freshness. But for those who hanker for a taste of the famous rice dish, this one will do.

Couldn’t the dessert menu at least have crema catalana, the lovely lemon-scented custard that’s served all over the region? There are chocolate empanadas, with the same flaky pastry as the savory empanadas, a Spanish “cheesecake flan” that’s just a regular cheesecake, nothing like a flan. Guess the Cheesecake Factory down the street has everyone mesmerized into thinking cheesecake is obligatory. A real flan would be something to celebrate, not this ordinary dessert.

I can’t help but think that with the right recipes and with better ingredients, Bar Celona could be really good. No one appears to have done much research into Spanish cooking.

Some of these dishes taste as anonymous as the recipes my nephew finds on the Internet. Generic. Without a spark of passion or real curiosity about what constitutes tapas and Spanish cuisine.

What’s sad is that it doesn’t take much effort to find easily available resources. A visit to Cook’s Library on West 3rd Street in Los Angeles might be a good place to start.

Bar Celona’s owner has created a fun and inviting atmosphere that feels a little different than the other spots along Colorado Boulevard. Some people will be happy with a new and lively place to have a drink and a tapa or two. But for anyone serious about food, it’s not enough. A little passion for real Spanish cuisine in the kitchen would go a long way.

*

Bar Celona

Rating: *

Location: 46 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena; (626) 405-1000

Ambience: Spirited tapas bar with sidewalk tables and soon-to-be live music venue, seating in the bar and a series of colorful dining rooms.

Service: Pleasant, but sometimes clueless about the food or the wine.

Price: Tapas, $4 to $10, salads, $5 to $15; entrees, $16 to $19; paella, $21 to $23; desserts, $7 to $10.

Best dishes: Fried almonds, meatballs, clams in white wine and garlic, lamb empanadas with pomegranate allioli,

Spanish cured meats, parrillada mixta, paella valenciana.

Wine list: To match the theme, a small collection of Spanish whites and reds. Corkage, $10.

Best table: In the front window of the main dining room.

Special features: Sprawling bar and lounge with DJ, multimedia setup and soon, flamenco guitar and other live music.

Details: Open Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to midnight; Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; bar open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Full bar. Valet parking Thursday through Saturday, $5 with validation; $7 without. Other nights, parking on street or in public lots.

Rating is based on food, service and ambience, with price taken into account in relation to quality. ****: Outstanding on every level. ***: Excellent. **: Very good. *: Good. No star: Poor to satisfactory.