Barcelona Adventure
My boyfriend and I recently returned from a food filled trip to Barcelona. This board was invaluable to helping plan my trip. I hope I can offer a small bit of assistance to anyone planning a trip by giving a few mini reviews of some of the high (and not so high) points of our trip. By the way, we stayed at the hotel Casa Camper which I highly recommend. It was a really unique hotel with exceptional service.
Lunch in the MERCAT BOQUERIA. We tried for Pinoxto but it was packed and we were starved at this point. We were able to snag two seats at the counter of the Universal Cafe on the side of the Boqueria and had a really wonderful ‘first meal’ in Spain. Grilled octopus, razor clams and vegetables. We each had a glass of cava (the first of many to come on our trip). The food was simple but really fresh and flavorful. The Boqueria market itself is pretty surreal (especially when you’re completely jet lagged and running on 2 hours of sleep). I loved watching the women at the food stalls (all with perfect make-up, hair and nails) carving into huge slabs of meat and fish. It was like walking through an Almodovar movie.
CINQ SENTIS- After walking about 20 blocks the wrong way (whoops) we arrived 15 minutes late for our reservation but they couldn’t have been nicer or more accommodating. It has been written of often, but the opening ‘shot’ of sabayon, cava, maple syrup and salt is really wonderful and weird… it definitely put us in the mood for the rest of the meal and, in a way, for the rest of the trip. Other standouts included chicken rollotini with black truffles.
TAPAC 24 – I was really expecting to like Tapac 24…. Maybe they were having an off day but I was underwhelmed. We probably could have made better choices in the food we ordered: ham croquettas, bikini, patatas bravas. We went WAY overboard on the fried foods and neither of us are huge fans of fried food in general. It didn’t help that our server was pretty distracted and uninterested.
INOPIA –Ironically, after reading many of the mediocre reviews I had lowered my expectations of Inopia. I was half expecting (but certainly not hoping!) for overpriced, boring food. Instead, we had one of our favorite meals of the trip here. We arrived a few minutes after they opened and got a prime spot at the end of the counter. We asked our waitress to order for us and she seemed really delighted by this. The food she brought us was all so delicious… anchovy wrapped olives, tiny open faced sandwiches (montaditos) with tuna and salmon, the smallest fried fish you could imagine served with a fried egg on top which you broke open and used the yoke for a sauce and perfectly cooked prawns (gambas). For dessert we had pineapple pieces with lime zest & molasses and crema cataluna. So delicious.
CUINES DE SANTA CATERINA –Nice, open, airy space attached to the Santa Caterina market. It reminded me of the type of restaurant you would find in Northern California. The menu is divided into different cuisines: Tapas, Sushi, Mediterranean, Asian… it sounds like this might be confusing, but it actually worked really well. I had a beautifully cooked piece of hake with sautéed spinach and an apple tart for dessert. An added bonus is that they are open on Sunday, when many restaurants are not. They also have a bar area in the front which is a good spot to have breakfast (the actual restaurant is only open for lunch and dinner)
QUIMET Y QUIMET –Located on a side street, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, we went here for lunch on a rainy day. I could have eaten every meal here and have been completely happy. The tiny place is standing room only and all of the seafood that they serve is preserved in tins (a specialty in Spain). We asked the bartender to make us some of his favorite montaditos. My two favorites: salmon with truffle honey and another with a soft Spanish cheese & candied chestnut.
LA VINYA DEL SENYOR – Great wine bar with a huge selection. Very cozy atmosphere.
CAL PEP –Glad we went, but doubt I will feel the need to go back. We went right when they opened and sat down right away. Clams with bits of ham was a standout for me. Everything was good but nothing special.
CAFÉ in EL PALAU DE LA MUSICA – Great pintxos in a relaxed, casual atmosphere.
BAR LOBO – Good food (tuna tataki with guacamole; penne with mozzarella, mint & lime; arroz con gorgonzola) – bad service. But the setting was so lovely you could almost overlook the fact that it took half an hour to get your check.
SANTA MARIA – Loved this restaurant. Relaxed, funky atmosphere. Really friendly service. Interesting, exciting flavors. We had the tasting menu which started off with a lhasi followed by a soup of calcots (Catalan spring onions). Another stand out were the frog legs. But my favorite part of the meal was dessert (which had three different items) including the ‘Dracula” which had pop rocks in it. I can’t remember having a dessert that first made me shocked, then made me laugh and finally filled me with happiness at its wonderful, creamy taste. Santa Maria gets a big thumbs up.
LA PELLERESSA – Old school coffee shop near Placa del Pi in the Barrio Gotic. Great for people watching over a café con leche and pastry.
PACO MERLAGO – Our final dinner in Barcelona. Not only was this place delicious, it is also open on Sundays which, as I mentioned earlier, is not all that common. The place was packed so be sure to make a reservation. One of our favorite dishes of the whole trip was served here… what looked like two huge meatballs, were actually made out of cuttlefish. The crema Catalunya was also delicious. It was a great meal to end our trip. I’m already planning our return!
By jlawsonny
on Mar 16, 2010 02:49 PM
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Thanks for the report. My sisters, niece and I are headed to Barcelona in May. I am in charge of food so this will help.
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Thanks for the report. So sad you were disappointed by Tapaç24. We've had one great meal and one less so, but still very good, there. I do believe it depends a lot on how you order as there are quite a lot of fried or oily items on the menu. On both of our visits the service was very friendly and attentive.
And just to add a precision, La Pallaresa is a granja: a place specialised in chocolate and dairy products. Their crema catalana and flan are very good and their chocolate isn't bad either. My suggestion when going there is to get a chocolate and an ensaimada: a Mojarcan yeast dough roll covered in powdered sugar. They have some of the best ensaimadas I've had in Barcelona.
http://www.lapallaresa.com/La_Pallare...
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Great report!! I am going to Barcelona in July with my wife and my 12 year old daughter who are both seafood fiends!!! Now I look foward to it more than ever.
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You ate well! Thanks for sharing your info. We're going in late June and look forward to eating at some of the same places. Do you remember what the bill was at INOPIA, given the fact that you let the waitress order for you? I've read that they have a tasting menu for 35 Euros. What things did you like best there? Inopia and Quimet Y Quimet are so high on our list (and my 11 yo is so new to the idea of dining after 8 pm and stumbling home close to midnight!) that we chose a hotel based on its proximity to these 2 eateries. We must be the only travelers who are not interested in staying in Barri Gotic or Las Ramblas! During part of our trip, we'll stay near Placa d'Espanya (to eat at Inopia, Quimet and Paco Meralgo). For the other part, we'll stay near Passeig de Gracia (to eat at Fonda Gaig, Gresca, Tapas 24 and Taktika Berri). On the day we visit La Sagrada Familia, we have a booking at Alkimia.
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