barcelona for fussy eaters?

[katxyz]

Hi everyone,

I've trawled through the many helpful Barcelona posts as my husband and I are going for the first time for a long weekend at the end of March. We are into our food but have a number of dietary restrictions which usually present no problems for us but I think might in Barcelona where there is a lot of shellfish(I am allergic).

I'm sure we'll find stuff in tapas places, etc, but I wanted to know whether it is worth going to places like Cinc Sentis or Commerc 24 (i.e. molecular-type places) as it is hard to tell from those websites whether there will be anything for us to eat. I am also not eating meat... (I'm pregnant and have funny tastes!) so really I want vegetarian/fish only. Are those restaurants accommodating to allergies/issues - i.e. will they modify items on their menus? Would the a la carte menus in those restaurants that have them have things I could eat?

So far I haven't made any reservations other than at 41 Degrees as I read somewhere else that reservations there and Tickets were going fast, and indeed there was no availability at Tickets by the time I tried.

Any other veg/fish-friendly restaurant recommendations in Barcelona would also be gratefully received.

Thank you!

[PBSF]

Restaurants such as Cinc Sentits and Comerc24 will be able to accommodate your food preference. When you make your reservation for any restaurant, tell them about your allergy and preferences. Cinc Sentits will tailor a tasting menu and at Comerc24, one can always order from the long tapas menu if their Festival de Tapas tasting menu does not suit you. You will eat well with plenty of variety regardless. Same for other good restaurants and tapas places.
Barcelona has such a wonderful and varied dining scene with so many places with good food; one never has to flock to the newest and hottest places such as Tickets. For a long weekend, if you only do Cinc Sentits, Tickets, 41 Degrees, Comerc24, you are missing some of the most authentic and atmospheric eating in Barcelona. You will be rubbing elbows with mostly visitors or the see and to be seen crowd.

[katxyz]

Thank you, that is helpful. We aren't intending to eat only at Cinc Sentits-type places - I really only want to go to one of those. I just wanted advice on that because I feel like everywhere else we'll find stuff to accommodate us. But with the "molecular" type places I don't even know what is in most of the creations so I would not feel comfortable ordering anything from the menu unless I knew that the restaurant knew of the allergies/preferences.

[PBSF]

There will be plenty of good vegetables at the end of March: local asparagus, artichokes, wild mushrooms, peppers, might still be some calcots. They will be in all the good eating places. If you eat eggs, Spanish chefs do wonders with them. The last time I ate at Comcerc24 in the spring, the menu has a salad of micro greens, soya, herbs, etc, asparagus with mandarin and Parmesan, wild mushroom tart with truffles, a take on coca, Huevo Kinder (molecular egg), tuna (raw or rare if that is not a problem), salmon two ways with vanilla, a small fish stew called suquet. There will also be shellfish and meat for your husband. You will find their menu and at most molecular restaurant full of vegetables and fish (sardines, anchovies, bacala, monkfish, tuna, rouget, etc). Not eating meat and shellfish are allergy and food preference issues that are easy to address. The 'fuzzy eater' part is more difficult since there will be ingredients that one might be familiar with.

[katxyz]

Thanks, this is really helpful. I think I will be eating a lot of eggs (and vegetables, hopefully), as all the fish you listed I am allergic to as well, unfortunately. (I realise I wrote that I am allergic only to shellfish but I am also allergic to a lot of fish - I guess I was hoping that the fish available would be fish I could eat so I said that fish was fine, but it so happens that all the ones you've named are fish I can't have! Fish that are OK for me are seabass (mediterranean, not Chilean, striped, etc), sea bream, halibut, and flat fish like plaice, flounder, sole.) I'm sorry for not being clearer in my first post, I guess I just thought that Barcelona, as it is down the same coast that I live on (I am near Marseille) would have similar fish - we have a lot of seabass and sea bream here.

Having now explained in more detail about the fish, do you think that I will find fish I can eat in restaurants like Els Pescadors? I have seen sea bass on the menu online at La Dama so that might be a good choice for us too.

Finally, we are staying at a hotel called Grand Central (http://www.grandhotelcentral.com/) which has a restaurant in it called Avalon. Information on this restaurant seems to be quite limited - just wondering if you've been or seen it and have any idea what it is like and whether it would be worth going (maybe as a lazy option if I am feeling too tired to go far).

Many thanks again for all your help!

[PBSF]

Grand Central is on via Laietana, the broad avenue that separates the Barri Gotic and Ribera-Born, smack in the center of old Barcelona. I don’t know anything about the hotel restaurant Avalon but there are zillions of places to eat right outside the hotel door.
Types of fish that you mentioned are quite common in Barcelona but finding them in a restaurant is not always easy. Many of the molecular restaurants are small chef own places that do not stock a wide variety of foodstuff. They buy only what is best and in season. There are some good Galician seafood restaurants that will have a wider selection of fish, ie Rias de Galicia (probably the best in Barcelona) and the less expensive El Gallego and the old historic Botafumeiro, which I haven’t been in many years. No molecular cooking but freshest seafood simply prepared. Or one can slum it and eat at La Paradeta where one pick out ones seafood from a large display and tell them what method to cook it. Grab sauces and drinks and enjoy. And there are many places, especially in Barcelonetta, that specializes in seafood and rice dishes such as paella. They will have a wide variety of fish on their menu. I have not been to Els Pescadors but I am sure it will have a wide selection. Before your trip, it would be a good idea to get the Spanish and Catalan names of the types of fish you want to eat. Cod and hake are very common also.
I have not been to Cinc Sentits for more than three years. I understand that they have dropped the a la carte option and only offer two tasting menus. Most of the molecular restaurants are very accommodating and posters have reported back that Cinc Sentits does a good vegetarian menu on request. Vegetarian can mean many things, therefore, one should be specific, otherwise, one might find meat stock in a rice dish, etc. And with shellfish and certain fish allergy, might avoid anything that uses fish stock as in some sauces.
I think one has to separate food allergies from food preferences. By putting a lot constraints on a restaurant, no matter how talented and accommodating the chef is, chances is that the meal will not as good as one can hope for. I wish I could be more helpful. Maybe other posters can chime in with some better advice and recommendations.

[Parigi]

"I think one has to separate food allergies from food preferences."

Hallelujah, tell em, Brother PBSF !

[Aleta]

Avalon is Ramon Freixa's restaurant in Barcelona.