10/7 – dinner at El Vaso de Oro. Our third time here, we wanted to be sure to get there one more time. Great, as always. And, since we were coming back from our beach bar, it was a two-for-one hit!
The food is great, but the atmosphere
makes Vasa de Oro golden!
10/8 – lunch in Girona. I don’t know the name of the restaurant, and it doesn’t really matter. It was a place to eat near the basilica. We had pork loin and cheese sandwiches, and our waiter really got confused the first four times we asked for the bill. The fifth time, Carol just went to him and made him take our money. Verdict: Skip it.
10/8 – dinner at Cal Pep. One of the top restaurants in Barcelona, it’s not far at all from the apartment. And yet, every time we walked past it, it was either full with a long waiting line, or it was closed. Finally, we made it.
Cal Pep has a small back room, but you need to be at least a group of four to get there. Besides, the real action is at the counter, where there are maybe 20 seats.
It opens for dinner at 7:30, so we got there around 7:15 and got in line. It looked like it was hit or miss whether or not we would get a seat. Our big break came when one group of four ahead of us headed into the back room. We were gold! Actually, we would have gotten the last two counter seats, but it’s more dramatic this way.
Anyhow, you can order tapas as you wish, or you can tell them how many tapas you want, and they give you the first four, five, six, or eight things that they prep. The kitchen is right in front of you, and it is a controlled mad house of cooking and serving. Our waiters were pros, and the food started coming within a few minutes of ordering.
Along with pan con tomato (which doesn’t count as one of the tapas plates) we had fantastic calamari, sausage and pinto beans that was fabulous, clams with bacon, razor clams, and the best Spanish tortilla we’ve ever had. The place was fun, and you definitely need to add this to your list. Verdict: Highly recommend.
10/9 – lunch at Tapas 2254. Just around the corner from the Block of Discord (three modernisme houses, including Casa Batllo), this place served excellent food. We had some really well-prepped cod, suckling pig, and Padron peppers. Verdict: Very good.
10/9 – dinner at Sensi Bistro. We met Katy there for dinner. She’s the daughter of our college friend Sue. We hadn’t seen Katy since maybe her second or third birthday party in Delaware. She’s doing her quite interesting post doc work in Barcelona, as a bio chemist trying to unlock a deadly disease. She was very interesting to talk with, and we were relieved to find she loves Barcelona as much as we do.
Dinner with Katy.
Anyhow, this is about the food, and Sensi does it really well. As noted in my review of Paz 19, one of Sensi restaurants, they do tricked up tapas, which is great. Verdict: Highly recommend.
10/10 – dinner at Oizy Dumpling Bar. We walked all over lower Barri Gotic looking for a Vermut bar to have dinner, but one was closed and the other didn't serve food. So we popped into a dumpling place Carol spotted, and chowed down on some excellent dumplings. As you can tell, we love tapas, but this was a nice change of pace. The people working there could NOT have been nicer. Verdict: Very good.
We normally don't take pictures of our food, but
Carol took one of the dumplings, so here you go!
10/11 – lunch at Cal Pep. Carol was feeling sick, so as we came back from Colonia Guell, I continued on the red line Metro to the Marina stop, while she transferred to the yellow line to go to Barceloneta and the apartment. I found the wine store that sells L’Infernal Priorat, a wine I used to be able to buy in the US but have not found for any number of years.
Walking back the 1.5 miles to the apartment, I decided to pop into Cal Pep, figuring that at lunch time, and as a single, it shouldn’t be too hard to get a stool at the counter. And, I was right! Another fabulous meal, including the best Spanish omelette I’ve ever had. The clams are to die for. I felt bad for Carol, but truly a foodie bonus lunch for me!
10/11 – dinner at Bar Brutal. We hadn’t been in three weeks, but we are making this last week a combination of places we haven’t been, and our favorites. Bar Brutal qualifies. I had smoked oysters for the first time. They were good, but I think oysters au natural are better. But, it was fun to try something new. The best dish, however, was a lamb and clams combination with vegetables.
10/12 -- breakfast at Brunch and Cake By The Sea. Our third time there, and it never disappoints. My high school buddy, and lifelong friend Mark Ganung earns major kudos for recommending it!
Brunch for Carol.
My brunch. And my feet, which
I obviously was oblivious to!
10/12 -- lunch at Parc de la Ciutadella. With Katy Brewer and her new puppy Julia. That morning, Carol and I walked the mile to La Boqueria, where we got fruit cups, chocolates, and empanadas. I went to my wine store in Barceloneta and got a bottle of chilled Cava. The picnic was grand. As great as it was to hang out with Katy (who is quite a good sport for being 28 and willing to hang out with people twice her age), Julia was the highlight of the picnic. She played and fussed and grabbed an empanada. She charmed us, and charmed some kids who were playing soccer in the park.
As we were sitting down to picnic, there was quite a heavy police presence, including helicopters circling. There was a march to protest the impending sentencing of Catalan politicians on Monday. Hopefully the sentence won't be announced until we are in the air, so our trip home is not affected by any kind of strikes or traffic blockage.
That just added to the atmosphere, although it was nicer once the helicopters and marchers went away.
Katy's four month old puppy,
Julia. She approved of the
empanada she chowed down on.
10/12 -- dinner at Cocina Hermanos Torres. It turns out I had saved the best for (nearly) last. Our fifth Michelin star restaurant (it has two), it was the best food AND the best experience. It's hard to believe something could top Disfrutar, but this place does it. We went with the short tasting menu, and a great bottle of Priorat. Every one of the 16 dishes has very intense flavor. Best shrimp dish I've ever had, for instance. And the suckling pig? I could have eaten all 16 plates of that!
Wow -- what a show -- the tables are arrayed all around the totally open kitchen. There are three long work/cooking areas. There had to be 10 chefs of varying responsibilities, and the waiters are among the best I've ever seen. . .and they are not snooty about it. One of the twin brothers who is the owner/head chef, came over to our table to welcome us. We loved every minute of it (well, maybe except the bill, but at some point you have to pay the piper!)
Oh, and yes, they cook with induction cooking, for those wondering! (Editor's Note: I don't believe anyone is clamoring for that information. Blogger's Note: Hey, democracy dies in darkness!) All in all, it was a great birthday of meals, starting with brunch, the picnic, the beach bar, and finishing up with one of the best dinners we've ever had.
The view from our table of the three kitchen
workspaces -- see all of the chefs, and those
are not all of them!
Birthday dinner selfie.
Very intense food preparation!
10/13 -- final lunch at De Tapa Madre. We ate here ten years ago on our family trip to Barcelona, so it was fun to go back to a place we remembered fondly. It's on a street corner in L'Eixample, and we were in the area today. We sat outside and had some fine tapas. Carol surprised me by ordering a Tinto De Verona, so I had a beer with lunch. For those who don't know, loosely translated, De Tapa Madre means "Yo Mama's Tapas." Verdict: Very good.
10/13 -- our final dinner on the trip was back at El Vaso de Oro for the fourth time. Carol got three of the hot Padron Peppers, and I got two. That's a record! The rest of the dinner was great -- it was the fourth time we went. We tried to go to El Xampanyet -- since that was the restaurant we went to our first night here, but it is closed Sundays. So, we went to plan B, and that's a great plan too!
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