Busy Saturday in Barcelona!

Today (June 11th  2016) you have a lot of gastronomic activities to choose if you are in Barcelona!

Assaig General (June 11th): Popular event to recycle food, with Ada Parellada in Poblenou.

Hotels rooftops week: (until June 12th) Last days to enjoy of different activities (music, activities for children or for the whole family, swimmingpools…) and showcookings or gastronomic tastings in the rooftops of 66 hotels in Barcelona. Our visit to one of the hotels: https://notonlyeating.wordpress.com/2015/07/14/afternoons-in-barcelona-in-the-rooftops-of-the-hotels/

Tast a la Rambla (until June 12th): In Las Ramblas, a lot of options to taste small dishes of some of the best restaurants in Barcelona. Also workshops. Our visit to the first edition: https://notonlyeating.wordpress.com/2014/06/21/tast-a-la-rambla-2014/

All those food market (until June 12th): Inside the historic building of Barcelona University, fresh products, street food, tastings…A unique option to enjoy of food and one of the most beautiful buildings in city center. See our visit on June 11th: https://www.facebook.com/notonlyeat/posts/1089452914463520

Matsuri – Japanese Festival (June 11th and 12th): In Barceloneta, next to the sea, Japanese culture, activities and Japanese food tastings.

And next weekend:

Born Street Food (June 17th to 19th): best xefs and gourmet food of the area together in Pla de Palau to show the  gastronomic offers in El Born.

Enjoy your weekend!

Artisan bakeries and pastry shops in Barcelona

These rainy weekend, with BCN&Cake and following the Thanksgiving day, it is a good moment to write about pastry in Barcelona.

There are a “golden square” in Barcelona, next to Hospital Clínic (Eixample Esquerra) where there are 3 pastry shops very interesting almost togheter:

Cloudstreet Bakery (Roselló St. 112): It is an old bakery reinvented by Tonatiuh Cortés, a mexican that makes artisan bread, meaning that he creates the bread dough (from wheat, rye, spelled,etc. All organic cereals) and he uses an old wood oven (from 1926). So, every piece of bread is unique. And he also offers different and international pieces of pastry, from cinnamon rolls,  lamington cakes, mexican Pan de muerto,etc. We tasted the red velvet cake, made from corn, very tasty and with a fantastic flavour. We’ll come back, for sure, in order to taste more new combinations of this artisan. A place where food means culture. 

Strata Bakery (Provença St. 158): In this pastry shop, you can find artisan cakes. A quiet place to taste these pies and cakes and a complete brunch on Sunday.

Pastisseria Serra (C/Villarroel 171) Serra means tradition in Barcelona. With a sort of pastry shops in Barcelona, they offer tradional quality pastry. 

And another classical place in Barcelona, that now has 2 shops in Barcelona:

Forn Baluard : Artisan bread  and a sorted pastry pieces: croissants, pastry, cakes. They offer Sicilian cannoli (recommended) and an awesome white chocolate croissant. The shops are in Baluard St 38, in front of Barceloneta‘s market (highly recommended if you go then to Barceloneta beach) and inside the Hotel Praktik Bakery (Rosselló 112, near to La Pedrera), where there is also a coffee shop. Perhaps the Barceloneta is shop a most charming place for us, but quality of pieces is the same in both shops.

The place of creative pastry in Barcelona:

La Pastisseria Barcelona in  Aragon St.228 (Eixample Esquerra) and now also in Via Augusta 166 (Sant Gervasi), offer creative artisan pastry. We dedicated a post to La Pastisseria Barcelona  https://notonlyeating.wordpress.com/2014/05/21/la-pastisseria-de-barcelona/. Here another of the pieces they offer, the Mojito:

And a place we have visited since we were kids:

Forn Mistral (Ronda Sant Antoni 96): more tradition in Barcelona and one of the favourite places of one of us. Sorted pastry and, if you want to seat and have a quiet coffee in city center, you have the coffee shop in Torres i Amat St, 7.

Have a sweet Sunday!

Can Solé, tradition in Barceloneta

A few days ago, we visited  Can Solé. This traditional and historical restaurant is placed in Sant Carles St.,4, an interesting street (see our post https://notonlyeating.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/barcelona-barceloneta-i-tapas/) next to the the Fratenitat Library and the Barceloneta market.

It has 2 floors. Downstairs there is a small dinning room and a particular open kitchen. The walls are plenty of photos of the owner with famous people.

The strong point of this restaurant are rise (mostly paella), shellfish and fresh fish. The starters we chose were a salad with peppers and onion soup with cheese Brie and bread (delicious!).

As main courses, we tasted the monkfish, cooked in oven, one just with  potatoes and onion and the other with potatoes and romesco and all-i-oli  (traditional Catalan sauces). Both dishes were very tasty.

Monkfish with potatoes and onion

Monkfish with romesco and all-i-oli

Desserts are varied and following Catalan traditional. Prices are high (main course at 25-30€), like most restaurants of the area offering high quality raw materials.

Detail of the Can Solé menu, with a traditional Catalan “auca” explaining the restaurant history in verse.

The maître Carlos, very kind, recommended us the dishes and explained us interesting things about the restaurant philosophy,  like the way they buy the fresh fish to the Barceloneta fishermen (and fisher-women!), betting for the local trade.

On the other hand, and following the Barcelona Negra 2014 and Pepe Carvalho’s spirit, we discovered it was one of the favourite restaurants of Vázquez Montalbán to eat “arròs amb espardenyes”. You can see an special article here.

Manuel Vázquez Montalbán’s dedication to Can Solé

This is an example of the tradition of Barcelona since 1903, a classic place to go at least on time. We recommend you!

It was our first visit following the recommendation of Time Out’s Gourmet Passport. We hope it was the first of much more!

And if you go to Barceloneta, other options and routes: https://notonlyeating.wordpress.com/2013/05/23/barcelona-barceloneta-ii/ .

And if you are looking for tapas there, see the post https://notonlyeating.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/barcelona-barceloneta-i-tapas/.

Barcelona: Barceloneta (II)

In this post we mix classical and new recommendations if you are in La Barceloneta. What can you eat there? Paella and fish are the stars of that zone. There you can find classical restaurants in Barcelona. Remember name and quality means high prices. Some of them:

Salamanca (Almirall Cervera St,34), classical seafood restaurant; El Suquet de l’Almirall (Passeig de Joan de Borbó, 65), tast the paellas; Cal Pinxo , with two restaurants, one in front of the port (Pau Vila Sq,1) and other in front of the sea (Baluard St. 124) , both very good rise.

Inside the streets of  La Barceloneta:  Lobito ( Ginebra St, 9), restaurant with good quality food, Sheriff (Ginebra St, 15-17), restaurant which specialties are paella and fish, Can Ramonet (Maquinista 19), fantastic rise and the little brother,  El nou Ramonet (Carbonell St.5) and Can Solé (Sant Carles St.4) (see our visit to Can Solé here: https://notonlyeating.wordpress.com/2014/02/09/can-sole-tradition-in-barceloneta/)

• Alternative recommendations:

If you want an original ice cream, visit Eyescream and Friends (Passeig Joan de Borbó 30), where you can choose your own monster ice cream.

Forn Baluard (Baluard St.38-40), an old bakery. There you can find a fantastic wood oven bread or learn making your own bread!

Nass restaurant (Judici St.5), great cuisine beyond fish and rise. And good prices.

A little pleasure: a breakfast in Buenas Migas, in front of the sea.

At night, you have very different options:

– If you want to go to a bar to have a drink or listen live music  you can go to St Carles St (see post Barceloneta I). To taste a cocktail, you can go to Cafe de los Angelitos (Almirall Cervera, 26).

– During the summer, you have the option of going to the beach bars (chiringuitos)

– And if you are fashion and a disco lover, you can go to Eclipse ( at the top of Vela Hotel) or Opium, discos in front of the sea.

Enjoy!

Barcelona: Barceloneta (I) – Tapas

Nice weather  is coming, so Barceloneta is a good option to go.  It was an area of old fishermen and preserves its own identity: narrow streets, old little houses and the clothes hanging.

There you can find a variety of bars to taste authentic tapas. Some of them:

La Cova Fumada (Baluard St. 56): classic an famous bar of tapas, “bomba” (breaded meatball) is the most important tapa there. It is said that “bomba”  was invented here. Probably it’s true;)

Bombas. Photo from Craig Nelson (https://www.flickr.com/photos/22719747@N05/)

Bar Electricitat (Sant Carles St., 15): good place to have a home-made vermouth, good tapas and all kind of sandwiches. Before you leave the bar, waiters come to your table with pen and paper. A quick add and you have the bill!

Cal Papi (Atlántida St, 65): next to the previous bar, a sailor’s atmosphere bar with a broad offer of tapas. They recommend “buñuelos con bacalao”

Can Paixano (Reina Cristina, 7): an old bar, where you eat right, under hams and sausages hanging from the ceiling. Sandwiches and sparkling wine are the specialties. You can’t find beer there!

And if you want to discover more authentic bars, with musical surprises (Bar Leo) or cultural café (Bar Absenta), take a walk across St.Carles Street.

Finally,some recommendations of typical bars for foreign people: Jai-ca ( Ginebra St, 13), tapas and well placed terrace, El vaso de oro (Balboa St.9), or “gold glass”, whose name refers to the broad offer of beers and La Bombeta (Maquinista St.,3), all kind of tapas.

We invite you to discover the area wandering through the streets.