Doesn’t everybody, everywhere, chow down on squid and beans for breakfast!?!
That looks incredibly delicious, as does everything else. I imagine I could take every meal within one of the markets and be very happy.
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After viewing the Michelin gala on Tuesday, I’ve been going through the list of the new Bib Gourmands (not announced on stage) both here in Madrid (La Barra de la Tasquería, In-Pulso, Manifiesto 13, Trèsde) and in other parts of the country,
and I remembered that the meat centric Bardeni-Caldeni in Barcelona (easy walk from Sagrada Familia) is one that we enjoyed a great deal.
The chef, Dani Lechuga, calls it a “meat bar”.
The décor, the work of restaurant designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán, is that of an old butcher shop.
Stand out menu items: Angus steak tartare, a pepito sandwich of solomillo, dry aged meatballs with Romesco sauce.
It’s on Carrer Valencia in the Eixample.
And it’s also recommended by the professional food critics (Jolonch, Capel, Regol, etc.)
Hi @erica1, I highly recommend a lunch at La Cova Fumada, no reservations. Also, it’s a tasting menu, but some of the most creative food I have ever eaten anywhere in my two visits to Besta–not sure how diffiucult to reserve, but I reserve early. I am also not such a fan of tasting menus either, so I’m not going to overload you, but I have found in Barcelona, tasting menus are often the only possibility at some of the best restaurants. If you want some overload in this area, I could add more.
Bar Canete is somewhat touristy, but real people go there too! Food is excellent and worth a stop, in my opinion. I have usually booked and gone at lunch.
Ninkat: Much appreciated! I’d love to be overwhelmed by more of your recommendations! The two you mentioned are now on “the list!”
My “issue” is that when the hotel breakfasts are a so good and my self-control so low, I fill up in the mornings and rarely have any appetite for lunch. But I like the idea of going to the beach on a sunny morning, walking and poking around, and putting my name on the list for LA COVA FUMADA. Looks like my type of place. I promise to do a report once I get home!
Hello Chowfriend!
To refresh your memory, here’s my 2024 posting on Bar Canete
For a great value Michelin 1* fare, HISOP was a great choice!
Charles Yu, favorite Chowfriend. Your report on Barcelona was wonderful! I do remember the gastro mishap and that you were able to pull out of it, thankfully!
I’m going to re-read it this afternoon, and will keep BAR CANETE on my list.
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La Cova Fumada is open for breakfast! I’ve gone on my first morning all turned around and eaten little fish (sardines maybe) and toast slathered with aioli or tomato ( or one of each), sitting informally with workers before they head to work with a little mulled wine. Just sayin’…
Will look at my notes and think about other spots. I think I have kept up with writing up reports, so you might be able to find those and see if something else appeals!
Thanks, Ninkat! I’ve read everything but have to refresh now that the trip is coming close.
I have an opera at the Palau de Musica on Saturday night, beginning at 6:30. I’d rather eat something before the event although I realize my options would be very limited at 4-5pm. Or should I forget that and either have a big lunch or get something quick after the event?
Hm, I would do a tapas crawl at lunchtime first part interrupted by opera and then whatever you want after. The tapas joints will be jumping late on a Saturday night in Barca. Bar del Pla, Tapeo and El Xampanyet on Carrer de Montcada and all within a 10 minute walk of your opera. I double-checked and Tapeo does take reservations all day for a Saturday, and I recommend the reservation no matter what you decide. I don’t know if Bar del Pla takes reservations, but I never have reserved there. El Xampanyet I have found very difficult to get into, but they also may serve all day on a Saturday…It’s busy in Born on a Saturday!
Ninkat, thanks!
I think I’ve come to my senses about this and will (try to) hold back on breakfast on the Saturday of the opera, and have a good lunch and then a tapa or two after the show—as you suggested!!
Here are the restaurants I booked subject to change since trip is in March:
MONT BAR
BAR CANETE
PUR
SUCULENT
PA COMER ALGO
COMPARTIR
So that leaves space for tapas here and there in some of the places I could not allot a full meal to and also a snack at QUIM, etc…plus a calcot lunch–maybe at one of these two, both central and both old-line Catalan:
Have any of you been to, or heard trusted comments about, this new-ish restaurant; seems to be pure product, no embellishments.
They call themselves a bar/asador and much of the food is grilled.
Many poor reviews along with the good ones, but I’m intrigued.
Chef/owner cooked at Extebarri. And at Noma.
ULTRAMARINOS MARIN
For Maribel, if you happen to see this, and for anyone else who knows their seafood:
I’d like to have some snacks at one or two of the market bars, either in La Boqueria or Sant’ Antoni.
I will be eating a lot of seafood in Andalucia after my week in Barcelona, so while in the city, I ought to concentrate on seafood particular to this region, or unique to this region. Where does Catalonia shine with regards to seafood/shellfish and fish?
Those escamarlans I see on online menus…are those imported from Scandinavia or local to the waters here?
I’m curious to try the espardenyes (sea cucumber). What else should I seek out here, besides prawns from Palamos?
Thanks!
Gambas de Palamós certainly, espardenyes, anchovies from L’Escala (it’s the catalán anchovy town, as Santoña is the anchovy town in Cantanbria)…, but I would also order an arros caldós with crustaceans and the very traditional suquet de peix.
An escarmalà would be a cigala here in my neck of the woods.
Maribel, Feliz Navidad to you and yours, and thanks so much for the quick response. I’m getting pretty excited about this trip…
Do you like the espardenyes? I have a vague memory of trying them at PA COMER ALGO years ago but cannot remember the taste, or whether I liked them…no memory either way. Since I’ve not seen them on non-Asian menus outside Barcelona, I should at least try, but since they are very pricey, do not want to order something that would likely be a very acquired taste.
Let me know, also, if you know the scoop about ULTRAMARINOS MARIN; they do NOT take reservations online for one person.
Maybe a chance to get a bar seat if I phone or have the hotel (Majestic) phone?
We just came home from our family Christmas Day lunch after a very copious and festive Christmas Eve dinner also with family and I’m soooo very full! Not to mention all the mantecados (our patriarch gets his sent up from Estepa), roscones, panettones (as popular now as a roscón, sorbete de cava, etc!
Yes, I do like espardenyes. They’re available here sometimes at Pescaderías Coruñesas and calçots are already available at Mercado de la Paz and on the menu at Can Bonet.
I wouldn´t hesitate about Ultramarinos Marín since it’s on the 50 Best Discovery list and gets a nod from Michelin and Repsol plus Macarfi gives it a rating of 8.5.
Gracias, Maribel! I think I will skip COMPARTIR and plan on ULTRAMARINOS MARIN for Saturday lunch before the opera. If I cannot get in to U MARIN, maybe LLURITU…sounds like a similar proposition: Unadorned seafood on the grill.
Sí, Lluritu, una marisquería sin florituras, como El Boquerón aquí en Madrid.
I have to remember to try their arroz negro con sepias, sepionetes y salmonete at Lluritu 3 next time.
Pero tengo que practicar mi Catalan antes de irme al Lluritu 3!
Fulles de tonyina?
Lluritu?
I’m going to try to find a basic Catalan guide; I know I don’t need it but it would be fun. I do notice that quite a few restaurants have menus only tin that language, although I’m sure all the staff speak Castellano, as well as English.
Yes, this always surprises us, yet it shouldn’t, the menus only in catalán, which is the first language of Catalunya, of course. But the wait staff has always been very kind to translate what I haven’t yet learned in catalán into castellano. We have a castellano-catalán dictionary in our library, which has helped.
Question about ULTRAMARINOS MARIN, and about other restaurants that do not offer booking online for a single diner:
Has anyone here gotten around that by making a reservation for two persons and, close to day of reservation, phoned and said they would be one person only?
If I book for two and show up alone, I imagine they might turn me away…or charge a cancellation fee for the second, phantom, guest.
How to get around this? I’ve read before about restaurants that do not take bookings for one on their sites, but I’ve never encountered it myself, until now..
