Barcelona {The Food}

7/12/2019

Earlier this year I visited Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain. Join me in reliving the trip, recapping the very best parts, and the things I'd do differently if I ever visit again.

This is the final of four posts about Barcelona. First was Barcelona {Overview}, second was Barcelona {The Sights}, third was Barcelona {Via Gaudí}, and today I give you my favorite of them all, Barcelona {The Food}.

I hope this will serve as your own little getaway to Barcelona and a useful guide if you'll soon be visiting there.

I arrived in Barcelona ready to eat. Before visiting I'd read this article about the Traditional Foods to eat there. We'd booked a Tapas, Tavernas, and History tour for a for some formal exploration and I was curious to learn about jamón, Spain's famed and expensive meat, and discover what tapas really was.

While you relive this culinary adventure with me, keep these three traditional foods in mind: crema Catalana, churros con chocolate, and tomatoes.

Let's do this! The short list of Barcelona {The Food} contains:

Taco Bell and American Fast Foods
The Food Tour
La Boqueria Market
Coffee Shops, Breakfasts, and Balboa Bakery
Two Exceptional Restaurant Dinners
The BEST Desserts: Crema Catalana and Churros con Chocolate

One of my happiest Barcelona moments: eating a veggie sandwich on a fresh baguette on top of a mountain!

Taco Bell and American Fast Foods

When I saw a Taco Bell next to Sagrada Familia, I had to go inside. Once I was inside I had to get something to eat! While the cheese quesadilla was basically the same as those I've had before, there were so many differences between our Taco Bells in the USA and the one in Barcelona. To name a few: ordering yourself via touch screen, over the top desserts, and boozy mojitos. I love Taco Bell, it was important research and a quick snack! The only regret I have is not trying the boozy mojito!

While that was the only American fast food I'd enjoyed abroad, there are Burger King and KFC stores everywhere in Barcelona! We did see just one Starbucks and one Dunkin Donuts in the city and they happened to be next door neighbors, just outside the heavily trafficked La Boqueria Market.

This American gal can always eat Taco Bell!

Snacking on my cheese quesadilla outside Sagrada Familia in Barcelona!

The Food Tour

The Tapas, Tavernas, and History tour was excellent. We went to tiny and historic spots in Barcelona's Gothic Quarter that we'd never find on our own. Our guide was amazing and walked us through the city, explaining the history along the way, then popping into a restaurants where a table was set aside for us. We'd file in, sit down, and the food and drinks would start arriving. I always love a food tour in a new place for the simplicity. Book it in advance, pay once, then be delighted, surprised, and fed all along the way. I always bring some cash to tip the guide.

While I can hardly recap everything we learned and ate, here are the highlights:

La Pineda - It's a true xarcuteria (meat vendor), one of the oldest in Barcelona, and I'd guess one of the smallest. The meat and cheese plate was to die for. The carnivores devoured the different meats and I loved every single type of cheese. While that seems like an always true statement, I didn't like French cheese very much. Spanish cheese > French cheese!
La Plata - Called the BEST tapas bar in Barcelona, La Plata was my favorite of all of the stops. You may remember the name because it is one of my souvenirs mentioned in Barcelona {The Sights}. This tiny restaurant was packed with locals when we squeezed in. There are exactly six items on the menu! The food is so simple and so delicious: pescadito - fried sardines, ensalada - tomato salad with onions and olives, pan con tomate - bread with tomato, and a few more. We liked the vibe and food at La Plata so much that went back again a few days later! On the first visit I was hesitant to eat the sardine heads. By the second time, I was eating them whole like a PRO.
Bodega la Palma - This spot was hoppin' when we visited and every single time we walked by throughout the week. It's a little larger than the other two tour stops and we tried many dishes during our visit. The stand out item were the fried potatoes, called patatas fritas. Now these little fried potatoes are topped with mayo a tomato sauce and they can be found all over Barcelona. The patatas fritas at Bodega la Palma are a stand out because the tomato sauce is smoky. I'll never forget them! We tried to eat here again later in the stay, but they were totally full!

We learned about the bread and tomato combination in Barcelona. First, they do not use butter to top bread, but rub it with tomatoes before eating. It's mild and delicious! A few places served it also with olive oil drizzled on top. Second, Spain proudly claims to have had tomatoes before Italy, based on the trade routes at the time of the tomato's first appearance. OK, you win Spain! Make a mental note of this for when we get to Crema Catalana because Spain will again get a little bossy and confident!

3 of La Plata's 6 menu items, so simple and delicious!

The best of all of the Patatas Bravas in Barcelona, at Bodega la Palma

La Boqueria Market

One of my favorite places to visit in a new city is a giant food market and in Barcelona it's La Boqueria! We could feel the buzz of the market from a few blocks away.

This market is HUGE and has everything you could wish for. The celebration of fresh fruits and fruit smoothies is like a big, healthy, colorful party. I found fresh figs immediately upon arrival, which is a great sign and a little victory for me.

We tried empanadas and smoothies, bought candy bars for our pet sitters, eyed the many types of seafood, and searched high and low for the best place to try jamón.

Jamón is dry cured ham from Spain and a national specialty. The pigs are spoiled and fed a diet of acorns to create the rich and desirable taste. You can purchase an entire leg of jamón, then slice it thinly piece by piece. When we lived in Hawaii we'd tried a bite when a roommate of ours bought a small amount at $99.99 per pound! While I don't regularly eat meat, I do make an exception on special occasions a few times a year. Trying jamón in Barcelona was one of those occasions. We bought a little cone of jamón, cheese, and bread and dug in. It was rich and delicious and totally worth the exception to my rules! Jamón is not limited to the fancy freshly sliced stuff, don't miss the jamón flavored chips and Pringles!

Welcome to Barcelona's La Boqueria Market

Tourist alert!

You can see this stand in the previous photo, I found figs here right away! They were ripe and delicious

Tiny and fresh fruit smoothies at La Boqueria Market

Jamón being sliced right in front of us

Bryce excited to have some meat: jamón

A few times a year I will have a bite of meat, this was the day. Jamón in Barcelona was delicious!

Coffee Shops, Breakfasts, and Balboa Bakery

Black Remedy in the Gothic Quarter - On our first day before our bicycle tour, we needed a filling breakfast and hoped for something healthy. We stumbled upon Black Remedy in the Gothic Quarter and it was the perfect way to start our day. The cappuccino was HUGE and so delicious. Our breakfasts were beautiful, healthy, and tasty. The vibe inside is so funky cool, you will love it just like we did. My avocado toast was piled high with feta cheese and toasted sesame seeds. The banana bowl, for Bryce, was filled with greek yogurt, bananas, kiwi, oats, and honey.

Costa Coffee - We called Costa Coffee the Starbucks of Barcelona. They're everywhere and the menu is extensive. They've got donuts, sandwiches, treats, and dozens of types of coffee. We stopped here for a late breakfast one morning and had one savory item, a caprese sandwich, and one sweet, a Nutella donut, plus some giant bowls of mocha and cappuccino! Of all of the things we ate in Barcelona, this was the most modern and un-traditional!

Balboa Bakery - We found and fell in love with Balboa Bakery early in the trip, it's located just down the street from where we stayed and we walked past it several times a day. The smell of the bakery alone is enough to make your mouth water. We tried so many things and it was ALL delicious: bread, pastries, donuts, and so on. Nothing beats a European bakery. We visited several times but my favorite has to be the day we went to Park Guell and the Bunkers del Carmel.

We popped into Balboa Bakery to grab something to-go before our adventure. We picked a few sweet treats to share. They had little ham and cheese sandwiches pre-made and when I asked for one without ham, the girl working there offered to make me a veggie sandwich. How nice! She took a WHOLE baguette and stuffed it with veggies, greens, and cheese and added it to our order. We took our bag of goodies and went on our way. We ate the sweets within the first hour of the day but weren't yet ready for the sandwich. Later, once we'd checked Park Guell from the list then climbed up the hill to the top of Bunkers del Carmel, I dined on my veggie sandwich from the top of Barcelona like a hungry, hungry QUEEN! It was an amazing day and moment that I'll always remember.

Note to self: always bring something to delicious to enjoy at the top of a hike!

Black Remedy is a perfect stop for coffee and breakfast in the Gothic Quarter

Costa Coffee is the Starbucks of Barcelona

Balboa Bakery, our favorite

Deciding what to order and how many items to get is the challenge

Our sweets to-go, eaten on a bench in Park Guell

All future sandwiches will never compare to the Balboa Bakery one made just for me, eaten on top of Barcelona

Two Exceptional Restaurant Dinners

Bryce, my husband and Travel Buddy, loves to be the one to find a restaurant. He tells me that he searches using Trip Advisor and Yelp and looks places with high reviews and low cost! His hunting and gathering skills came in handy often during the trip, especially on these two particular occasions.

El Vaso de Oro - On our very first night in Barcelona we arrived hungry and in the dark. Just down the street from our "home" and Balboa Bakery is El Vaso de Oro. We walked in excited, hungry, and ready for a drink! The place was filled with locals and is decorated in beer steins of all sizes. We sat belly up at the bar and were assigned the one waiter who kind of spoke English! This is where I learned what tapas is: little plates of just about everything! Many of the items were just in front of us behind a class partition, helping us to make our selections: olives, patatas bravas, Manchego cheese with Marcona almonds, smoked salmon, Russian (tuna) salad with toasts. We rolled home back down the street, fat, happy, and ready for bed.

Restaurante Somorrostro - On another night we ate at Restaurante Somorrostra in Barceloneta, near the beach. As soon as I realized it was a Slow Food restaurant, I knew we were in for a treat. The menu is a large board that's hand written and travels around the room! Because of that I can't tell you exactly what we had but I can tell you this… We drank sparkling wine and ate like a king and queen! Everything was delicious from the seafood to the veggies, the pasta and the desserts. It was a perfect little dinner and date in Barcelona.

Our first drinks and meal in Barcelona @ El Vaso de Oro

Tapas is (quite literally) everything! At El Vaso de Oro

Barcelona = jet lag + cheese + olives + smiles. At El Vaso de Oro

Just one snapshot of our meal at Restaurante Somorrostro: tomato bread, bubbles, seafood, and veggies

The BEST Desserts: Crema Catalana and Churros con Chocolate

OK OK OK let's talk about SWEETS.

Crema Catalana is the dessert in Barcelona and Catalonia. It's most similar to the French Creme Brûlée but you will be told over and over again that it came FIRST, before Creme Brûlée! Instead of the vanilla in the French dessert, Crema Catalana is delicious custard with cinnamon and citrus. It's still creamy and torched on top, but even more delicious! we had it all over Barcelona and have aspirations to make it at home, too.

Churros con Chocolate is the other dessert in Barcelona. We all know what a hot, sugary and cinnamon-y churro is. I remember the first time I had one, at the Settlers Park Wavepool in my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA! In Barcelona the churros are hot, fresh, and tiny. They're paired with a coffee mug filled high with chocolate sauce for dipping. If you thought churros were perfect by themselves, which they are, just wait until you dip them into warm chocolate sauce. Your life will be forever improved, as mine was. We had these all over the city but the best were truly at the tiny and infamous Churreria Laietana.