Hola de Barthelona!

Barcelona has been named the best gastronomic city in the world. Boasting restaurants with nine Michelin stars in Barcelona alone, it’s easy to see why visiting is a must on any die-hard foodie’s bucket list. Catalan cuisine relies heavily on local Mediterranean produce such as vine-ripened tomatoes, garlic, eggplant, local fish and seafood such as anchovies, tuna, salted cod and sardines and of course its legendary small goods like chorizo and aged jamon serrano. Just about every restaurant in Barcelona make their own desserts. Traditional favourites include crema catalana - the famous yellow cream made with yolks, milk and sugar, xuixos - fried pastries created in Girona and stuffed with crema catalane or one of my favourites, pets de monja - small nipple-shaped and sized biscuits also eaten at coffee time. At first they were called pits de monja (nuns' nipples) but time has changed their name to current pets de monja (nuns' farts).

I began my culinary adventure of Barcelona on a good recommendation at La Boqueria market just off the very fashionable avenue Las Ramblas which leads down to the port. Bustling, colourful and vibrant I felt like I had walked into Willa Wonka’s chocolate factory for adult gastronomes. Fresh fruit and berries piled high, stacks of freshly squeezed juices in every colour of the rainbow available for 1 euro, hams hanging from the ceiling, international cheeses, seafood and freshly baked breads, cakes and filled empanadas had us salivating. 

While La Boqueria has some landmark tapas bars, we found them very crowded and opted for a little family run tapas bar that was less frequented. We ordered a range of small tapas dishes including potato tortilla, pa amb tomaquet (bread smeared with tomato and oil, and sometimes garlic), meatballs with prawns and escalivada – a selection of grilled vegetables which included aubergine, red peppers, boletus mushrooms, spring onions and asparagus. The tapas were delicious – if this is what the locals are eating at home, we got an insight into what we were yet to experience at some of the more well known locales. A couple of other memorable tapas spots we tried were Bar del Pla in the Ciutat Vella (old city) and Paco Meralgo, in Barcelona’s upmarket Diagonal area. 

Bar del Pla is a lauded tapas joint hidden off an alley way in the old, historic part of Barcelona. If I hadn’t read about it, I would have surely missed it given its hard to find location. The menu was really interesting with dishes such as octopus bombs, Iberian pig and mushrooms with goat’s cheese and wasabi. We were a little sceptical of the rave reviews as we had tried their new sister restaurant Pla a few days earlier which was underwhelming. We ordered a 400g t-bone steak, a serve of patatas bravas (deep fried potatoes with a romesco and aioli sauce) and a grilled vegetable flatbread with grilled goat cheese. After a lengthy wait, our dishes arrived. Overall, the food was less flavoursome as their other restaurant and definitely not worthy of the glowing write-up. Luckily for us, Barcelona is not short of choice. Next! 

Paco Meralgo was our next tapas destination and a real find outside of the usual tourist-heavy areas. We sat at the bar and shared some real winners. The highlights were the bombas – a potato and jamon serrano crumbed ball of tasty, crunchy ooze topped with a delicious romesco sauce. We also had succulent chunks of medium-rare sizzling peppered beef fillet and grilled, garlic razor clams. Tapas were a little pricier than at the holes-in the wall we had gone to previously but well worth it. Service was fast and very friendly.

This is a well run operation. When we left the restaurant, there was a line up to get in that went around the block. On an evening where it was pouring with rain, there’s no greater testament to how good the food is at this place. 

Perhaps the highlight of my Barcelona dining experience came at a fabulous little restaurant I found in the Gothic quarter of the city called L’Antic Bocoi del Gotic. Housed in an historic building flanked by ancient roman walls this charming restaurant serves up some of the best Catalan cuisine without use of an oven. The design of the space does not allow for cookers yet for fifteen years this restaurant has been serving up some of the best cold delicacies in the city. 

At this restaurant I indulged in by far the best grilled goat’s cheese salad I have ever had in my life. Warm local grilled goat’s cheese sitting atop a bed of mesclun greens, smattered with pinenuts, plum raisins smothered in a dressing of local mille-feuille honey, evo and sea salt. This was a simple and sinful dish that was truly one to savour. As sides we ordered a platter of ruby red, unctuous serrano ham and sampled the traditional coca – a Catalan speciality of grilled flat bread, pork sausage, pork loin, aubergine and manchego cheese. Washed down with a glass of vino tinto de casa (red house wine) the entire meal cost about 40 euros for two. 

What I have noticed about dining in Barcelona is that there is not one restaurant that has consistently great dishes. That is also part of the fun. Trying lots of different places and discovering their signature dish is really a better way to dine, if you can wait until 8pm to go eat your dinner. Restaurants in Spain don’t really open until after 8pm so if you get hungry best have a snack and then hold off until dinner. It’s well worth it! 

A great business opportunity in Barcelona would be to start a restaurant hopping tour where guests go out to 5 or 6 different restaurants just to eat their signature dishes. Five days in Barcelona is not enough to even scratch the surface of a culinary destination that is world class. Barthelona, hasta luego!