Barcelona for 6 days- restaurant suggestions?

[idyllb]

Hello all, I'm planning a trip to Barcelona for 6 days. I love to eat and I was not a fussy eater that is until recently I had high cholesterol levels which made my doctor to put me on a cholesterol-free diet. Still since I'm going on a trip, I'll certainly bend the rules a little bit but I don't want to overdose it all the same. So, I guess for me that rules out Cinq Sentits which is really a shame but that restaurant's menu is like the equivalent of my cholesterol avoid list. So, I made a list of restaurants and I would love to hear your opinion.
-For tapas: I'm thinking Comerc24 and Quimet Quimet
-For catalan food: Fonda Gaig or Sant Joan- which one would you suggest?
-I love small restaurants with young chefs who specializes in meat- so I'm planning to try Caldeni.
-I want to go to one good classic traditional fish restaurant. I'm thinking Botafumeiro. However I'm unsure about the bill- just how expensive it is? For a dinner, three people 2 starters, 3 main and one dessert shared with a bottle of wine for example? My other option is Els Pescadors.
-My mother wants to have paella even if we know it's not a Barcelona specialty. I looked at the boards here and I've came up with three names: Kaiku, Can Ros and Can Majo. Which one should I go for paella?
-We will go to an Italian restaurant. So far I could only come up with Xemei. Is it good?
-For Basque food, I'm really not sure about it. I love Basque cuisine, I love Chez l'ami Jean and Le Troquet in Paris. But as I understand, in Barcelona it is mostly tapas what they mean by Basque? For example is Taktika Berri really different in menu from lets say Comerc24? If so, I would like to try it. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
I really need some suggestions. I will be staying at Casa Camper so some nights or for some lunches, I will grab some snack at the hotel as it is for free. Thanks!

[Parigi]

First of all, congratulations. Casa Camper is the epicenter of hip, in the hippest 'hood in the capital of hip.

"For tapas: I'm thinking Comerc24 and Quimet Quimet"

They are both good. But there are very good tapas bars all over town. If you are, say, visiting in the Borne, you don't need to go across town to Quimet Quimet to get good tapas. My advice is: keep a list of good tapas bars, which you can easily research on this board; then, depending where your sightseeing takes you, drop in on one or two or three tapas bars nearby, instead of spending time on public transport and getting similar quality food.

"For catalan food: Fonda Gaig or Sant Joan- which one would you suggest?"

Fonda Gaig seemes more reliable.

"We will go to an Italian restaurant. So far I could only come up with Xemei. Is it good?"

Why Italian?

"For Basque food, I'm really not sure about it. I love Basque cuisine, I love Chez l'ami Jean and Le Troquet in Paris. But as I understand, in Barcelona it is mostly tapas what they mean by Basque? For example is Taktika Berri really different in menu from lets say Comerc24? If so, I would like to try it. Please correct me if I'm wrong."

The Basque bars are really different. In my very biased view, they are usually better and more creative. Am especially thinking of Euskal Etxea and Bilbao Berria. I love Euskal Etxea for its great pintxos and its boisterous atmosphere. My late mum would have loved it, but it may not be for all mums. The resto does have a sitdown restaurant in the back, if your mother is taken aback by the, uh, animation.

Am sure the big boys - and girls - will answer yoru other questions.

off-topic: Am a huge fan of Chez L'Ami Jean too and am going this Friday. And PBSF is right, as usual. It is not Basque. :-)

[PBSF]

You mentioned about your cholesterol restriction. Maybe I am being dense but what makes Cinc Sentits unexceptable whereas you are considering Fonda Gaig, Comerc24, Sant Joan and Basque food?
*For tapas: Comerc24 and Quimet y Quimet; the two are extremes, both good. Q y Q is very small, very simple, standup only packed out unless you are there between 3 to 5pm. No cooking; preserved, canned, cured, cheeses, etc., only. Nothing to sneeze at because they use very high quality product and it is not inexpensive. Very smart wine list by the glass.
*For Catalan food: except for pintxos places, just about every place mentioned on this board serves a form of 'Catalan' food. Fonda Gaig or Sant Joan: you are comparing apples and oranges. They are very different, depending on what you want in terms of food, ambience, budget etc. Fonda Gaig is traditional Catalan with modern designer decor. You get the whole works. Sant Joan is everyday Catalan food (tradtional and everyday can overlap); bare bone, chalk board menu, no frill, no reservation, non English speaking; for no better word, similar to a 'diner'; don't expect a lot of finesse, just plain good everyday cooking for not much money; open for lunch only and no weekends.
*I love small restaurants with young chefs...just about all the small Catalan restaurants opened in the past 10 years have been by young chefs on a budget. They all have meat on the menu though most do not specialize in it. Cholestrol diet? Never heard of Caldeni.
*Classic traditional fish restaurant: can't get anymore classic than Botafumeiro. Haven't been there in about 5 years. My guess, 3 courses now would be about 60 euro each; wine would depend on what you want to spend, 25e to whatever.
*Paella: Kaiku, Can Ros and Can Majo. If you want variety and don't mind paying a few euros more but not necessarily better food: Can Majo. Food wise, the other two are just as good.
Italian restaurant: oh NO, NO; never been to one in Barcelona.
*Basque food: not big in Barcelona. Try the back dining room at Taktika Berri. Or eat pintxos, the Basque version of tapas but very simply presented in Barcelona. Chez L;Ami Jean in Paris is NOT Basque, it is French with lots of liberties taken. You will not find wagyu beef, roasted whole foie gras, cote de veau for two in Basque places in Barcelona. Same for Le Troquet which is even more traditional French when Patrick Vessiere owned it. They are French chefs. You are in Barcelona and not Paris. And French Basques are different from Spanish Basques.
Takitka Berri and Comerc24: they are totally different. Taktika Berri serves simple Basque pintxos mostly stand up with a few bar stools. It also have a dining room in the back that serves straight forward Basque food. Comerc24 is designer tapas with lots of El Bulli influence. Ambience and prices to match.
Below are a couple of good links that might help clear up some confusion:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/808333
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7100...

[SnackHappy]

As usual, PBSF got everything right. I'll just add that Sant-Joan only opens weekdays and only for lunch. As for what type of restaurant it is, it's a bistro in the truest sense of the word.

I'm thinking that maybe idyllb is confusing Comerç24 and Tapas24 (seems they've changed the spelling from the original Tapaç24). Tapas24 is a bit more comparable in type of dining to Taktika Berri, even though the menu and ambiance are quite different.

[idyllb]

PBSF, I've made my list reading the boards here and by looking some restaurant reviews but it still seems i've got it wrong so thank you for the useful tips and suggestions. I've been to Barcelona before but it was 10 years ago and back then we came with a tour group and went to restaurants by their choices so this time we're trying to make it right. To be more precise, they put me on a cholesterol diet but they say that I can still eat meat if it is not fried or so as I also have chronic iron deficiency, I should be eating meat. Also I love meat dishes. Anyway, I can't go to Cinc Sentits because the menu seems fixed and I couldn't find a single dish that wasn't loaded with chlosterol. In tapas bars, there are many options and I'm hoping to find something. I can eat mussels or shrimps if they're really in small portions but for example foie gras and then eggs and shrimps and mussels and creamy sauces combined together- I cannot do it. I know I shouldn't be eating them at all but who knows when I can come to Barcelona again? So I'm just trying to be careful without excluding anything and eating smaller portions of everything. I know it sounds a little crazy.
I'm beginning to think that a cholesterol diet and Barcelona are the worst pair, my bad luck really. And I didn't use to have any problems with food. This is new for me.
As for Basque food, Zagat puts Le Troquet and Jean under Basque and it seems I should not be trusting Zagat at all and this is not the first time I quoted it and I'm wrong. I know French Basque and Spanish Basque are different but you see I only know it in theory. In practice, I obviously don't know at all.
I've read about Caldeni in several newspapers and magazines. I think the chef has been award as chef of the year and that his specialty is meat and so I figured that it will be a nice change from all the sea-foods that we will consume.
Going to an Italian restaurant is just for going a day without high cholesterol intake.
SnackHappy, I was talking about Commerc24 to give an extreme example. When I read the reviews, they really all look to same but I'm now starting to understand just how different they're.
Parigi, yes I'm very happy to be going to Casa Camper. I stayed in Casa Camper Berlin before and it was one of the best trips that I took and I've heard that Barcelona one was even better so I'm really excited. I'll probably prefer Fonda Gaig also. Euskal Etxea seems like a very good suggestion and I've put it in my list. As for Taktika Berri, I'll not go for there for tapas but for the dining room to have a straight forward Basque meal as PBSF said. Have a nice meal in Chez L'Ami Jean. They make my dream dessert there (it is the rice pudding one).

[SnackHappy]

I don't want to substitute myself for your doctor, but I think it's a widely known fact that eating cholesterol rich foods does not increase blood cholesterol. It's also well known that the mediterranean diet is very heart friendly. Catalan and Spanish cuisine are just as mediterranean as Italian or Greek cuisine. I wouldn't worry so much about finding an Italian restaurant. There are plenty of healthy dishes in everyday Spanish cuisine.

[PBSF]

I am sorry if I came across as being critical of your diet restriction; that was not my intention. One great thing about Catalan food is that the cooking medium is mostly olive oil, though they use a lot of it, especially in places serving everyday Catalan food. There will be some animal fat here and there, as they use it flavor many of their famous bean dishes. And if salt is not an issue, then there will be plenty of things to eat. Cinc Sentits is one of the very few restaurants that offers only set menus. You will not have problem finding things to eat. Vegetables play a big part including many traditional salads. Wild mushrooms are in season, so those will be a big treat. Besides various paella, there are many baked rice dishes called arroz (more Catalan than paella). There are meat and poultry in most menus though they may not trim the fat as well as we are accustomed to. Besides shellfish, there are plenty of fish: bacala, hake, monkfish, dorada, and always sardines and anchovies. Much of seafood are cook a la plancha (on a flattop). You might take a second look regarding fried food. Animal food is not used in frying and a good fried food actually has less oil than sauteeing. Protein portion sizes tend to be small, therefore, a serving of scallops on the tapas menu at Comerc24 might consists of 3 small ones, piece of foie gras might be 50 grams. Or order a plate of razor clams at PacoMeralgo and share among your family. Everyone gets a taste. Keep in mind that many tapas/pintxos places are standup/stool type of places, generally crowded during prime eating hours; don't know if it is an issue with your mom. Keep reading as there are tons of posts on Barcelona, the most popular place in Spain for visitors.

[Parigi]

I agree with Snackhappy and PBSF. If you were going to Lyon, Burgundy, Alsace, then yes you should worry about eating out. But the food in Barcelona is very healthy. Lots of seafood, lots of sautées. What can be healthier than dishes like sautéed cipirones?
I also urge you to relax and enjoy your stay in one of the top culinary capitals in the world and perhaps the hippest city of Europe.