Gourmandizing Barcelona

When I was resizing the photos for this journal, I kept thinking, man, I was just there. I'm still not over the warm chickpeas dish from Pinotxo which has inspired me to cook and replicate it at home twice already. I certainly can't get over our night at Cal Pep where we sat next to two Germans (father and son) whom we ended up befriending after the father picked one of his deep-fried jalapeño peppers and put it on our plates to share.

There are more and more small-plate places opening up in New York City, but Barcelona just has the culture down. Where else but in Spain can you eat a decent bowl of stewed tripe for breakfast? Where else will you be spared a quizzical look when you order razor clams for a snack? And toasted bread rubbed with a grilled tomato and garlic? Thank goodness for those Galicians. Red wine with every meal whether it's 9am or 4pm? Bless their hearts.

Quick Tips:

Like the rest of Europe, tipping your waiter is expected. Unlike New York City, however, it’s not a requirement. Leave some coins when you get your change back but add some more if you truly appreciated the service. It’s good karma.

Dining alfresco is tempting but you will be charged extra if you choose to sit outside. Sitting at the bar is even better because that’s where all the action happens.

Best Way To Get Around:

It’s easy to get around Barcelona using the metro. We bought the 3-day City Card from one of the tourist information booths peppered all over Barcelona for €28 each and we were able to hop on and hop off the metro and buses. Each card also comes with a discount book and we used a few of them to see some of the more popular tourist attractions. Even if it wasn’t worth it, having the City Card saved us time from queuing to buy a fare each time. [Check out Barcelona.com for more info.]

When we first arrived in Barcelona, we had a few hours to kill before we had to catch the 6-hour bus ride to Vielha, the nearest town to where we were supposed to begin our hike up the Pyrenees [View that journal: http://www.igougo.com/travelcontent/journal.aspx?JournalID=59688]. Our first meal of the day was at El Quim.

Everything they have to offer was written on the chalkboards. Specials are updated daily and we learned to ask for the price before ordering because a plate of mushrooms drizzled with balsamic vinegar cost us €16. We later saw the fresh mushrooms being sold in one of the vegetable stalls and they were really going for at least €8 for half a pound. The sausage was fried and when I took a bite, its crunchy skin snapped and I was rewarded with that kind of heavenly taste only sausages and bacon can give a human being.

We returned to the boqueria two more times after we came back from our hike. While still in New York City, we ended up talking to a bartender who is also an expat. He recommended Pinotxo, or Pinocchio, so we couldn't fly back without trying. It's always packed because it's the first eatery you will see when you walk in the market.

Some dishes I definitely recommend: white anchovies in good olive oil sprinkled with paprika, stewed garbanzos in fatty goodness, beef with white beans and flan for dessert.

The staff is so used to tourists that they're very accommodating towards those who have no qualms about eating whatever they have to offer and to those who make a face when they suggest something. The oldest man working there is like the Geppetto--talk to him if you want a beer with your food.

It was a Monday and because fishermen do not go out fishing on Sundays, there was shortage of fresh seafood in the market. At Kiosk Universal, we were finally able to get our fill of razor clams. I've never been a big fan of them because no matter how much you clean the diggers, they will always be sandy. They were still good, though, and any excuse to have more good olive oil and bread is acceptable to me.

We didn't always go to the boqueria for lunch. After a long day of sight-seeing, we stopped by Costa Gallega on Passeig de Gràcia. They have several branches in the city and is definitely a tourist magnet but we had some nice tapas there which kept us going until dinnertime.

Under the hanging hams, we sat at the bar and pointed to several things in front of us: anchovies with peppers and olives, prosciutto-wrapped mozzarella balls and croquettes, a truly European treat.

During lunch time, service might be a little slow because you are competing with other people at the bar who want the same things. But remember, good food comes to those who wait. The tables outside might tempt you but an extra service charge is added to your bill if you choose to dine alfresco.

We also couldn't skip on having some paellas while we were in Barcelona. There's several fast-food type of places serving them around the city but we ended up at Xador in the El Born neighborhood.

We tried three kinds when we had dinner with another German couple we met while hiking the Pyrenees. We actually followed them during a hike from one refuge to the next and we crossed paths again on the bus back to Barcelona. Between the four of us, we ordered the langoustine and the squid-ink, but paella to me is like risotto--it's harder and harder to find people who can make it from scratch without it being soupy and mushy.

Dinner at Tapelia was more rewarding. At one of the refuges, we talked to a French family living in Barcelona for ten years and they recommended it for their more-adventurous tapas and paellas. The pig’s ears were crunchy and additively chewy. We had wine with our plates but it would have been perfect with a nice pint.

The octopus with mushrooms and potatoes was tender and delicious. The squid was as good, if not better than the octopus. I could have eaten the anchovies with aubergines the entire night.

We went on a Saturday night at prime dinner time (10:30pm) but it was still under-staffed. It took a while to get the menu, have our orders taken and get our final check but it also made for a quiet first night in Barcelona.

I read about Chef Pep and how he still cooks at the bar and entertains with his cigarette-smoke voice as if he's known them for years, but no one seemed to know where Plaza de les Olles was until a local overheard us ask a waiter at the Boqueria for directions. The waiter didn't know either so the local sketched out a street map for us. He was curious as to how we heard about Cal Pep because he told us it's one of Barcelona's foodie secrets. (Maybe that's why no one wanted to tell us where it was!) This got us even more excited and a 40-minute waiting time spent standing behind the bar stools (with champagne, natch) didn't seem to be an inconvenience.

When we were finally seated, we noticed that the printed place mats matched the art hanging on the walls. They are sketches from different artists and they randomly give a different one to each customer. The more you make a mess, the more you get it replaced.

So we sat at the bar elbow-to-elbow with everyone else--there is a dining room in the back but the action happens at the counter--and let one of the bartenders serve whatever he wanted us to eat (omakase, Catalan style!) while we started with the traditional toast rubbed with grilled tomato and garlic. The next three hours was pretty much heavenly. Everything was made with passion and you could watch the chefs toss, sauté, grill and fry different ingredients with gusto.

The almejas, or clams, quickly fried in olive oil and parsley were so fresh, you really didn't need much with them. The purple taint inside was so nice to look at, too. The chipirones, or small squid, were the size of my thumb and cooked with garbanzos. The dish changed my distaste for chickpeas. We sat right next to father-and-son Germans who ordered deep-fried pimiento peppers. The father noticed us looking so he picked up two from his plate and put them on ours. Unfortunately, Cal Pep ran out of peppers by the time we tried to order our own. The langoustines came next and we spent so much time peeling, eating the meat and sucking the juice out of their heads. A lot of work always pays off because I don't think I've ever seen my dining companion as happy.

We could have ended our night there but we really wanted to taste the way Cal Pep cooks fish. It was almost 1am and they've ran out of monkfish so they served us sea bass instead. The bartender showed us a fresh piece of fish and asked for our approval before cooking it. Before serving it to us, he filleted it for us.

And it was at Cal Pep where we ended our vacation in Barcelona. We were full, drunk and happy as we stumbled back to our Hostal Goya room. After seven days of rigorous hiking, Barcelona meant to be our reward. It was just that.

Tapas, or pinxtos, is a Basque concept of eating. Any small, bite-size food could be classified as tapas, but the term has extended into small plates. It’s my favorite way to eat because I can order several plates and taste for myself the range of the chef’s skills without being too full too early. It’s also a less expensive way of eating in Barcelona, but if you eat the way I do, prices add up.

At the buzzing boqueria, or the central market, produce sellers co-exist with hungry shoppers and camera-happy tourists. Walk around and you can buy the freshest fruits and vegetables. Fish, clams and lobsters are around the corner. The store across the way has all kinds of meat and dried sausages. Stand behind those eating to make sure you get the next empty seat because we ate some of our best meals there.

One note about the service in the following eateries: service is brisk. While you’re waiting for a seat, check out the boards and decide on what you want to eat so you can just order by the time you settle on a bar stool. Otherwise, do what I like to do and just tell the bartender to serve you whatever he thinks you should try. La boqueria is open everyday except Sundays from 9am to 4pm.

Please see separate entries for each boqueria food stall: El Quim, Pinotxos, Kiosk Universal.

The Santa Caterina Market is the new La Boqueria. There's more space in between the stalls. It's more airy and better lit. The stores take credit cards and can deliver your orders. There's even wireless Internet connection. Of course, it's known for its Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue (EMBT)-designed flying carpet roof than anything else, but its location is so central it's hard not to do your shopping in there, too.

We had breakfast in one of the food stalls by the entrance. We couldn’t help but order the stewed tripe with our eggs. The Catalan way of cooking it is absolutely delicious. If you don’t know what you’re eating, you wouldn’t know it’s tripe because it doesn’t give you that offal taste at all.