Better than good, this delicious Spanish food

With a long weekend in Barcelona ahead of me, there was actually just one thing going through my mind all the time. Tapas, sangria, tapas, sangria, tapas, sangria, tapas..

For three nights I had dinner at three absolutely appetizing restaurants, where I kept smiling even after receiving the check..

Taller de Tapas

Pl. Sant Josep Oriol 9, Barcelona

Only a few minute walk from La Rambla (the famous, very touristic street, between Plaça de Catalunya and the old harbor), you find this restaurant on a little square near a church. You should be aware that you’ll probably have to wait for a seat, since it’s also a popular spot for locals to enjoy their tapas. You can sit at the bar (and take your own tapas from the platters in front of you), or at a table in the back. The sangria is a bit (to) sweet, but it’s filled with fresh fruit. You should definitely try the pan con tomate y jamon Iberico (crispy bread smeared with fresh tomato and  Iberian ham on top of it), the fried artichokes, the green asparagus and the shrimps soakt with garlic oil, ‘cause all of it is finger licking good. 

Remember to leave room for dessert, because at Taller de Tapas they serve great crèma catalana and profiterole.

Bar Lobo

Pintor Fortuny 3, Barcelona

Photo: Anne Egberts

Bar Lobo is located on a side street of La Rambla. The restaurant is light, with a high ceiling and an open kitchen. They have these large wooden tables with a kinds of different chairs around it. You can also sit outside, on a little square, facing the other restaurants on Pintor Fortuny. I recommend the wine of the house from Sevilla. The portions are a bit smaller in this restaurant, but the plates are nicely decorated and all the taste are well adjusted to each other. Don’t forget to other the patatas bravas, again the fried artichokes (here the serve them inside crispy dough), the chickenwings and the cheeseboard, because they all taste uniquely good. They also serve this great chocolate cake, but I recommend you share one piece, since it’s so filling.

           

Catalana

Mallorca 236, Barcelona

When you think you can just walk by around eight and grab a table, forget it. Though, when you notice how people wait for about forty minutes for a table in this restaurant, you know for sure you picked a good one. In my list of favorites, this one really makes it to the top, mainly because the quality price ratio is very good. Catalana is a big, trendy restaurant where waiters run around to serve plates of tapas on every table. On the menu you can find of course the regular tapas, but also some special side dishes. Like mini hamburgers, with sweet baked onions. Jummy! The best thing on the menu is definitely the escalivada, a delicious combination of grilled goat cheese, tomato and egg plant. For the measly sum of four Euros you get a cheeseboard, suitable to eat with about four people or more. Don’t forget to try the plate with meat as well, with excellent jamon ibericá which melts on your tongue and different kinds of chorizo. 

            I didn’t try the desserts at Catalana, but I couldn’t resist a scoop of caramel brownie and strawberry cheesecake at Haägen Dazs around the corner…