I did a lot of research before heading to Barcelona, and it was hard to decide where to eat with the limited time I had. In addition, Spain is sadly one place were solo eating is at a disadvantage. My stomach can only fit so much, so ordering everything on a tapas menu just wasn't feasible. Still, I managed to see a lot, and eat some delicious food.
I arrived at the Barcelona airport right before 2pm in the afternoon. As lunch is considered the main meal of the day there, many places were still open for business. I already had a place in mind, and so madly dashed to the train that took me out to city center. By 3:15 or so, I was tucking into this plate of beauty:
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| Grilled prawns, clams, and teeny octopi, all topped with lemon and a divine parsley oil. |
La Paradeta is a local casual eatery that pretty much only sells seafood. When you arrive (and there's usually a line!), you stand behind a counter very much like one from the supermarket. An array of fresh seafood is arranged before you, and a helpful lady behind the counter grabs and slices portions of what you want. She sends it to the kitchen then, to be grilled or cooked in marinara sauce, and off you go.
The seafood I received was extremely fresh, and cooked perfectly. The shrimp was sweet with a firm bite (I hate overcooked mushy shrimp with a passion), and the octopus had the most delicious little charred bits on its tentacles. The clams were good too, but not as great as the other two (maybe the Chinese part of me just wanted some black bean sauce). I kind of wish I picked something else as my third choice, as the clams ended up being pretty pricey.
At the end, it wasn't the best deal I've had in seafood (the meal, as seen above along with a hunk of bread to sop up all the lovely lovely juices, cost just under 19 euro). But as a first meal in Barcelona, it was a delicious way to start the trip.
For lunch on another day, I had plans to visit a place I found online that was supposed to have a great set menu for 10 euro. When I got there though, I felt a little blah about their day's menu, and ended up next door instead. Of course, I now wonder if I would have had a better meal at the original spot, but alas, one can't eat everything.
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| Set lunch at Miriot. This was described as 'supreme salmon on crispy sesame squid and cuttlefish paella'. The fish was flaky and cooked well, though the paella fared a little less well, being rather greasy. |
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| Set lunch dessert, mango 'soup' with ice cream. This ended up being quite good and refreshing. |
For 10 euros though (12 after tax and a marginal tip), this three course lunch was a steal.
In addition to visiting restaurants, I was naturally interested in some of the food markets that dotted the city. The most famous of these is La Boqueria, located near the touristy Ramblas. Frankly, I don't think I saw many locals at this market (and the few I saw were insanely annoyed at the rabble), but this didn't diminish the market's charm one bit.
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| La Boqueria! A hungry hoarde descends.... |
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| Okay, I don't care that this mainly is aimed towards tourists. Look at all the Spanish ham for sale! |
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| More ham. There must have been a dozen vendors, all selling meats. The hardest part was trying to figure out which place to patronize! |
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| In addition to ham, there were lots of stands selling fresh fruit. |
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| Fruit juices, in dozens of delicious combinations! Should I get the raspberry kiwi? A classic pineapple coconut? Ooh, but strawberries are in season. I ended up getting a refreshing strawberry mango juice. |
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| It really seems like everything in this market is brightly colored! Here is a candy stall. Look how cute some of these candies look! Now I wish I bought some! |
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| A combination meats AND cheese vendor. |
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| Okay, I had to get some meats. There were many options, but I stayed away from the lighter-colored, thinly sliced Serrano ham, and got this thicker cut. It was great; there was a sweetness to the meat (which, is supposedly from the fact that the pork was acorn-fed), and it wasn't too salty. Many of these little portions were sold in paper cones, but this particular vendor sold them in what hilariously looks like french fries containers. This was PLENTY of ham for a snack, and only cost a little over 2 euros. |
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| Shrimp/prawns seem to be huge in Spain... so many options! |
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| I guess locals also shop here for their seafood! |
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| Too bad it was a chilly day; otherwise, these fruit pops look like they would be so good! |
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| The European version of 鹹魚. Salted, preserved fish... probably a staple protein for many many cultures, many many years ago. Now, they're a delicacy! |
Besides the meats, I ended up grabbing a few small bites to nibble on while wandering the market. It was extremely crowded though, so I didn't take any pictures.
Finally, I was able to stop off at a small eatery for a few pinchos/pintxos before leaving Barcelona. Many of these small bites were displayed right on the counter, leaving me manymany options to choose from. It was so hard to decide!
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| On the left, a piece of pan tomate topped with ham. The sweet saltiness of the ham was paired perfectly with the tomato, and the crunchy bread provided an additional texture. On the right, some poached shrimp served cold. It was very light and refreshing. |
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| Toast topped with a soft Spanish cheese, an anchovy, and a small pepper. The cheese was mild and reminded me of ricotta, which set off the salty anchovy and pickled pepper perfectly. |
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| On the left, a salted cod (bacalla) fritter. On the right, potatoes with an aioli. While tasty, these last two dishes were a little heavier, and made me wish I stuck to the cold pintxos instead. Overall, the meal wasn't expensive, costing about 10 euro total. |
Looking through these pictures again makes me hungry! I wish I could describe in better detail, just how different the ham tastes in Spain, utterly different than anything I've had before in the states. I got curious, and so looked it up on the internet. Apparently, jamón ibérico (or pata negra) wasn't available in the U.S. until as recently as 2007. The highest grade, jamón ibérico de bellota, was sold in the states starting from 2008, and costs almost $100 a pound. No wonder I haven't had this before!
But the jamón ibérico de bellota is indeed something special. There's a complexity of flavor that elevates it from being just a piece of salty dried meat. Luckily, traveling within the E.U. means that I got to bring some back with me to France (at the relatively low price of about $40 a pound. Also, I snagged a bag of bits of ends for just 4 euros)! My favorite kind of souvenir. :)
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