Before heading off to Barcelona, I had a long list of restaurants to try out (thanks to recommendations from friends and extensive Googling!). Luckily, we loved most of the places we ate at and I wanted to share my favorites here.
This was a recommendation from
Ksenia! It was the first tapas bar we went to and a great way to start off the trip. It's an eclectic looking spot with Marilyn Monroe paraphernalia on the walls. My favorite was the foie gras with white chocolate, coffee and hazelnut. It sounds like a strange combination but the mix of sweet and salty was delicious.
This was a lucky find. We had to be Park Guell by 10am and there weren't many places nearby open before then. Except for
Brunch & Cafe, which happened to be right around the corner from our hotel and it was amazing. Super cute and open with huge windows, it was the perfect brunch spot. I would've love to go back at least one more time! (Or more.)
Not only was this one of the prettiest breakfasts I've ever had, it was also one of the tastiest. It was interesting to eat salad so early in the morning (although it had strawberries!) but the corn waffles and eggs were so good.
This was probably the biggest restaurant we ate at and it filled up pretty quickly. We sat at the bar which was perfect for us because we kept asking for food suggestions and checking out everyone else's plates. We ordered tapa after tapa but my favorites were: Cuttlefish “Obama” croquettes, fresh salmon tartar with soya sauce and Catalan custard (Barcelona's version of creme brulee). We really enjoyed our dinner here!
We did the
Gracia Neighborhood Food and Market tour, which was a great way to learn more about the culture while trying out local places we probably wouldn't have found on our own. But of all spots we checked out, my favorite was this bakery. It was our first stop for coffee and almond croissants but I easily could've stayed longer to try out all the different breads and pastries they had on display. Everything is made fresh and the bakers were definitely laughing at us a bit while took photos and videos of them at work.
One of the locations for this bakery is a part of a hotel called Praktik Bakery. If you love the idea of having pastries very close by, I'd look into staying here.
This was my favorite dining experience and unlike any I've ever had. First of all, there was no seats. It's this tiny space with no real doors, which is good because this place gets filled up fast. You basically have to grab whatever table, bar or open area you can get and shout your orders at the bar. It's hectic and slightly claustrophobic and yet, so so worth it. I don't know if I'd go multiple times since I'm not a fan of crowds but I'd recommend that everyone should go at least once because the food was incredible. In fact, I barely have any pictures because I was so busy eating! We ordered the razor clams twice, which I had never had before coming to Spain and now I'm obsessed. Other favorites include: salmon with yogurt & truffle honey, sea urchin & tuna belly, Iberian pork cheek (anytime you see Iberian pork anywhere, order it!) and oysters.
The Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria, better known as just La Boqueria, is a large public market filled with stalls of fresh seafood, fruits, candy, meat, ice cream and more. They also have mini restaurants located inside and there are two we tried and loved: Pinotxo Bar and Quim.
At
Pinotxo, I'd recommend lobster, razor clams, tomado bread, bacalao and fried ribs. And at
Quim, all we got was the baby squid and eggs because it was highly recommended on TripAdvisor and it was very easy to see why!
But honestly, you can't go wrong at this market. Just walk around and try as much as you can (without getting sick!).
Our last dinner in Barcelona! We'd been eating dinner at spots within walking distance to our hotel but for our last night, we ventured back out into the Gothic Quarter. It's on a very hidden side street that was difficult (for us!) to find. It's also the only place where we needed a reservation so I'm glad we were able to get one. Again, we ordered a bunch of tapas but my favorite dishes were: the veal burger and "Fideuá" seafood pasta (Catalan version of paella). It was a great meal to end the trip with.
***
Just looking at these photos makes me hungry!
(I kind of miss Barcelona's second breakfast.)
Have you been to any of these restaurants?
All of the food looks I N C R E D I B L E. I wasn't really able to explore places to eat all that much when we were in Barcelona (since we had so little time and I was already getting sick), but your post totally makes me want to go back and check out some of these spots when I do!
ReplyDelete