We were lucky to have fantastic weather in Barcelona; the rain originally forecast for part of the time was limited to a couple hours one night.
Compartir Barcelona
This is another restaurant from El Bulli alums. The first Compartir (Spanish for “to share”) was opened in Cadaqués; the one in Barcelona has only been open for a few months.
Lots of interesting things on the menu:
I started with a couple of their oyster specialties. The one with Ajoblanco cream and black garlic was fantastic. One of the best bites I had over the course of our 3 week trip. I wish I had gotten more of those.
The anchovies with truffles were very good.
The iberian ham croquettes with red tuna was that rare dish where the sum was worse than the parts. When eaten as served, didn’t like it all that much; the gooeyness of the croquette with the raw tuna didn’t work at all (and we are both folks who love the Nobu fried rice squares with spicy tuna). When eating the croquette separate from the tuna, it was a fine piece of sashimi and a well above average, quite enjoyable croquette.
Prawn with garlic and parsley air.
Hake with saffron aioli and picada.
We saw the table next to ours order the scallop dish so we decided we had to try them and asked to replace our other fish dish. Wise choice; really good.
For dessert, we split the creme brûlée foam with strawberries and orange sorbet - also really good.
Since the Chateau d’Yquem 2005 was only available by the bottle, not the glass, I was spared any difficult money-vs-pleasure decision… 
Compartir Barcelona is on the expensive side, but more than half the dishes we tried I thought were worth their price, and there were several other dishes on the menu I’d still like to try. And some day we will go back, if only for those sublime oysters with the Ajoblanco cream.
El Quim de la Boqueria
Went early to la Boqueria the next day, Got a seat at El Quim, where I’d also eat on our only other Barcelona visit 5 years ago,
The fresh anchovies bathed in oil and vinegar - excellent - along with a fantastic baguette that would be top 15%-20% by Parisian standards, and a nice glass of rosé cava.
Wild mushrooms with seared foie gras (and onions, plus a fried egg that I didn’t eat) - very very good.
A bowl of El Quim’s famous oxtail risotto - very good, but not a must.
It may be a standard touristy thing to do to come here, but sometimes all the tourists get it right!
L’Antic Bocoi del Gòtic
My wife wanted a “pizza break” from the French and Catalan food we’d been eating, so we returned to this place that we discovered on a food tour when we were here last time.
We had two different Coques de Recapte (“pizza”). The tomato mozzarella (cherry tomatoes, not too much cheese) with basil oil that was added only after cooking was particularly good. [Apologies for the blurry pic].
The escalavida and goat cheese one was also nice.
An inexpensive and quick meal before going to a Spanish flamenco show that night.
Bar Cañete
The next day for lunch we went for tapas to Bar Cañete, where they take no reservations.
We loved the room. We sat at the bar.
Since we had not had a big meal the night before, I over-ordered, but not by too much 
.
- fresh anchovies in sherry vinegar - really good (as a relative newcomer to fresh white anchovies, I’m making up for lost time…)
- Belotta ham croquette (excellent) and lobster croquette (very good)
- salt cod fritter - just ok
- green bean, parmesan and pine nut salad
- Galician baby scallops with belotta ham - very good
- the potato omelet (I’m not an omelet person, but my wife really enjoyed this)
I’m sure I wasn’t the only one there who liked this sign:
For dessert we shared the Crema Catalana. Orange liqueur flavored, very good.
There were many more things on the menu I would have liked to try.
Not cheap, but prices fair. We will definitely return.
Besta Barcelona
For our final night in Barcelona, I chose another fairly new place. It’s definitely on the “adventurous”/creative side. Too adventurous for my wife, who unfortunately didn’t like it at all. Just about the only place all trip where they weren’t at all interested in trying to accommodate her food preferences.
I really liked the “small bites” at the front of the menu. The razor clam was particularly good.
I thought some of the bigger dishes worked, others didn’t. The rice was ok. I forgot to take pics of the other 2 dishes.
Prices perfectly fair. We won’t return. But it could well be a great place for others.
