336 replies to this topic

[Rail Paul]

Barcelona appears in the NYT's article on inexpensive places in Europe. Recommendations for the city market, and several dining establishments.

Barcelona

Tapas would be an easy choice here — especially in the Raval neighborhood behind the appetite-whetting Boquería Market,

Carpe Diem Lounge Club (Passeig Maritim 32; 34-93-224-0470).

Try the new-school Camper FoodBall (Elisabets 9; www.foodball.com), where everything is not only free — of pesticides and genetic manipulation, that is — but also certified organic and rolled up into appetizing and easy-to-handle round balls to be eaten with the hands and washed down with fresh juices or hemp beer for less than 10 euros.

[Silly Disciple]

Those Campers' food balls are atrocious.

I really want to try percebes again, after having sampled a small amount of them in a TURBOT (hyacinth vapour) dish at Alinea.

Does somebody kno of a place that would include percebes in a dish, or serve them however they are normally served on their own? Are there any stalls in markets that might feature these items? I was reading T T Sietsama's 2004 Postcard from Barcelona and it said this:

"RIAS DE GALICIA (Lérida 7, 011-34-93-424-81-52)

"The king of all seafood!" trumpets my server as he places a plate of goose barnacles on the table. Luscious as it is, the delicacy faces plenty of competition in the restaurant's pristine oysters, head-on shrimp and garlicky baby eels (served with tiny wooden forks so the threadlike fish won't slip off the tines). The ocean-fresh ingredients represent the best of what's local, and while they come at a price, you'll be dining in grand style: The wood gleams, the chairs encourage long meals and the wine list runs rich. Entrees $20-$40."

Also, any more recent reports on Gaig and Abac?

How about Sant Pau?

Apart from Hotel Omm, is there a modern, central hotel?

Are there specific items from the Boqueria market/specific stalls that should be visited?

Several stalls in the Boqueria sell Percebes (not sure about seasonality). Check mainly the seafood stalls in the circle around the "inner" fish stalls, but don't remember seeing them served in any of the market bars, but couldn't say for sure they won't have them. Rias de Galicia is what it is, a good Galician Restaurant.

Pedro from eG and I went to Sant Pau in December and it was not memorable at all. You're better of driving a bit further to Girona and eating at El Celler De Can Roca. While you're at it, you might as well give Rafa in Roses a call and ask him if he has/can get Percebes for you.

Since most products in the boqueria market are fresh, I'm not sure what you can take with you other than the usual stuff: Ham (but you might want to get the better one at Jamonisimo), Catalonian cheese, saffron, nyoras (sort of dried peppers, good for sofrito), dried mushrooms, butifarras (sausages), fuet, etc.

[Rail Paul]

Those Campers' food balls are atrocious.
Several stalls in the Boqueria sell Percebes (not sure about seasonality). Check mainly the seafood stalls in the circle around the "inner" fish stalls, but don't remember seeing them served in any of the market bars, but couldn't say for sure they won't have them. Rias de Galicia is what it is, a good Galician Restaurant.

Pedro from eG and I went to Sant Pau in December and it was not memorable at all. You're better of driving a bit further to Girona and eating at El Celler De Can Roca. While you're at it, you might as well give Rafa in Roses a call and ask him if he has/can get Percebes for you.

Since most products in the boqueria market are fresh, I'm not sure what you can take with you other than the usual stuff: Ham (but you might want to get the better one at Jamonisimo), Catalonian cheese, saffron, nyoras (sort of dried peppers, good for sofrito), dried mushrooms, butifarras (sausages), fuet, etc.

Thanks for the heads up.

In the unlikely event you'd like to view of video of how the foodballs are made, there's a sample on the website. The script seems to emphasize more about how good they are for you, than how they taste.

FoodBall

[Silly Disciple]

had to delete myself because of unusual amount of nonsense.

[cabrales]

Any thoughts on Caelis (*)?

[Silly Disciple]

Any thoughts on Caelis (*)?

never been, heard it's not bad, but given the (large) list of interesting places, it's not high on my priority list, and I'm not sure why it should be for someone visiting Barcelona for a short period of time.

[cabrales]

Silly Disciple -- Any thoughts on Hisop and Jean-Luc Figueras?

[Silly Disciple]

Silly Disciple -- Any thoughts on Hisop and Jean-Luc Figueras?

Hisop: one of my favorites value for money restaurants in Barcelona (the other two are probably Coure, accross the street from Hisop, and Cinc Sentits).
Jean-Luc Figueras: never been, but I've heard good things about it. A friend of mine worked at their kitchen for a while and was pretty impressed.

edit: when I say value for money I imply their degustation menu. If you go a la carte, Hisop is not so much of a bargain anymore (Coure still probably is, Cinc Sentis I haven't been there in a while so not sure what their carte looks like).

[cabrales]

Silly Disciple -- Thanks. Alkimia, Hisop, Abac and Gaig are all closed when I am visiting (in August). I have my long-standing El Bulli reservation, then lunch at Can Fabes, shooting for Sant Pau (the ***), and have secured Jeac-Luc Figueras (*), Cinc Sentits and seeing if Sauc is available (limited options).

[SamanthaF]

Cabby, Sant Pau is a must. A lovely train journey along the coast.

Can Fabes was so so, and a pain in the backside to get to.

Cinc Sentis about 18 Months ago was fine.

Good luck with El Bulli again.

[Silly Disciple]

Cabrales,
I ate at Sant Pau in December and wasn't impressed. Can Fabes is always a good option, although I've been hearing mixed reviews lately. I would by all means try to get a reservation at El Celler de Can Roca (**) in Girona, definitely a must go if you are in the area.
Then, among a larger list, a few interesting options which have been getting interesting comments are Mas Pau(*) close to Figueres, Can Jubany (*) close to Vic, and L'Esguard (*) in Sant Andreu the Llavaneres.

Someone on eG recently told me Hisop was open in August, have you checked with them directly? Also do try Coure and Drolma in the city.

[cabrales]

Silly Disciple -- Hisop may be open for the early part of August. They are not sure, but strongly doubt they will be open when I go. They said I should call them in a few weeks.

Cinc Sentits gave me a temporary reservation, and told me to call back after they could be sure.

Sam -- El Celler de Can Roca is a good idea to pursue.

[SamanthaF]

Sam -- El Celler de Can Roca is a good idea to pursue.

As discussed a couple of months ago - the wine lists (literally in volumes on wheels) are amazing, with some wines way below UK and US retail prices.

Sant Pau - We loved it, as did SP.

[Silly Disciple]

Sant Pau - We loved it, as did SP.

Which was quite surprising, since he ate there in February if I'm not mistaken and raved about it, and Pedro (eG) and I ate there in December. Two months a world apart in terms of *** experience.
And it's not that we hit an off-night where execution problems existed. Clearly Carme Ruscalleda and her team are close to technical perfection, but the dishes were not inspiring at all, and for the life of me, a couple of weeks later I couldn't even remember one dish we had that night.
Then when SP posted the meal he had had, there was almost no overlap in the dishes we had with the ones they had in their meal.

[Orik]

I don't remember El Xampanyet being touristy. Maybe a bunch came out of the Picasso museum. Anyway, you should have insisted.

How things must have changed. I keep wondering where all the locals are, as every place (Xampanyet included) is fully occupied with tourists.

One minor recommendation, I think not mentioned here already - if you're around Mercat Santa Caterina (which seems to have been beautifully renovated recently), it's worth a stop - smaller than la Boqueria, but similar in composition and seemingly not on the tourist guides yet (Mercat Bern and Mercat Llibertat are both being renovated too). We snacked on some Bacala Samfina, butifarra negra and callos at a place near the entrance (Cafe Joan?), can't complain about any of them (although the callos at Quim were better)