I'm back from Barcelona baby! It was soooooo nice to get away from work/London for a little bit and just rest, relax and do whatever that came to mind!
We were part tourist and part hungry hippos - I was really keen to taste some authentic Spanish food straight from the source, especially some tapas. Unfortunately our fantasy didn't turn into reality, we kept away from the tourist spots as much as possible too! The food was mainly expensive or a disappointment (and once both in a big way). There was one exception however......
Last night we decided to try out this place a few blocks away and thought that at least we might get some ok food on a Sunday night, rather than be reduced to eating in the hotel restaurant or getting food from the supermarket - we hit pay dirt! The place was called Cervesaria Catalana on Mallorca (near the corner of Ramblas Catalunya) and they don't do bookings. Hmm this gave us an indication that there just might be something to this place.... and when we got there, the place was PACKED and with mainly locals. We met some nice non-local folk there too; an American guy visiting his sister (who lives in Hungary), both wanted to holiday in Barcelona as it was his first visit in a decade. Very friendly people and they could also speak Spanish, this was a bonus because they translated some when some of the older crew were trying to talk to us :p I definitely aint no Spanish speaker, let alone Catalan...
Back to this place..... you need to put down your name with the hostess, grab a drink and then wait, wait, wait for a table. You could also try to get a bench at the bar counters but those were snapped up even faster. All in all, the food was fab (the homemade creme caramel was so nice!) and it was nice to wind up our Barcelona trip with some good food at last.
Now in terms of fresh food, the Boqueria market just has to be the best market ever! Beats anything I've seen so far and even N was amazed, we even took in a fresh pineapple juice to quench our amazement. Everything you'd ever need under the one roof and it wasn't in a shambles, we were snapping pictures as much as we could in between the crowds. All the stalls looked well maintained, the produce looked so fresh and healthy and the seafood, OMFG the seafood (see evidence below)!!!! Some of it still definitely alive & kicking......
The weather didn't last unfortunately, we spent the last two days ducking the rain spells but it was alright because we were on holiday! Surprisingly, London gave us a nice day when we got back! Here are the daffodils that have popped our their sunny heads in our local park, they make the place look a lot more cheerful (and less dodgy) that's for sure!
How odd! Today's episode of ANTM is set in Barcelona, I can relive some of the good bits now....oooh
We were part tourist and part hungry hippos - I was really keen to taste some authentic Spanish food straight from the source, especially some tapas. Unfortunately our fantasy didn't turn into reality, we kept away from the tourist spots as much as possible too! The food was mainly expensive or a disappointment (and once both in a big way). There was one exception however......
Last night we decided to try out this place a few blocks away and thought that at least we might get some ok food on a Sunday night, rather than be reduced to eating in the hotel restaurant or getting food from the supermarket - we hit pay dirt! The place was called Cervesaria Catalana on Mallorca (near the corner of Ramblas Catalunya) and they don't do bookings. Hmm this gave us an indication that there just might be something to this place.... and when we got there, the place was PACKED and with mainly locals. We met some nice non-local folk there too; an American guy visiting his sister (who lives in Hungary), both wanted to holiday in Barcelona as it was his first visit in a decade. Very friendly people and they could also speak Spanish, this was a bonus because they translated some when some of the older crew were trying to talk to us :p I definitely aint no Spanish speaker, let alone Catalan...
Back to this place..... you need to put down your name with the hostess, grab a drink and then wait, wait, wait for a table. You could also try to get a bench at the bar counters but those were snapped up even faster. All in all, the food was fab (the homemade creme caramel was so nice!) and it was nice to wind up our Barcelona trip with some good food at last.
Now in terms of fresh food, the Boqueria market just has to be the best market ever! Beats anything I've seen so far and even N was amazed, we even took in a fresh pineapple juice to quench our amazement. Everything you'd ever need under the one roof and it wasn't in a shambles, we were snapping pictures as much as we could in between the crowds. All the stalls looked well maintained, the produce looked so fresh and healthy and the seafood, OMFG the seafood (see evidence below)!!!! Some of it still definitely alive & kicking......
The weather didn't last unfortunately, we spent the last two days ducking the rain spells but it was alright because we were on holiday! Surprisingly, London gave us a nice day when we got back! Here are the daffodils that have popped our their sunny heads in our local park, they make the place look a lot more cheerful (and less dodgy) that's for sure!
How odd! Today's episode of ANTM is set in Barcelona, I can relive some of the good bits now....oooh
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