K & L's Travel Blog

We love the food in Barcelona, and thus far we’ve had an amazing range of meals. Our staple is the local restaurant with their weekday “Menu del Día.” These offer surprisingly elevated fare at very reasonable prices (general range 10-15 EURS for three courses and drink). Our meal at Sensa Nom in San Antoni was a good example: basic café that catered to locals. I enjoyed beer, lentil soup, pork cutlets and flan. K had tuna steaks and salad and coffee. Nothing spectacular to write home about, but satisfying, local cuisine. There are also lots of international restaurants to choose from. We ate Dim Sum today at a place just two blocks from our local market, and had an amazing Italian meal at Disio Café on an earlier blog post. Last night we had empanada carry out. We love the variety.

One of our first days we ate lunch at a local vermuteria, La Raspa de Mandri. These places are often more about the Vermouth than the food, but most offer basic tapas. Though we hadn’t expected a full meal there, after the mushroom and ham croquettes, a bomba, potatoes and fried eggs, we were more than satisfied. The vermut costs about €2.00 a glass and the food is an equal bargain. As you can tell, we are getting our share of fried fare, but luckily walking 10,000 steps or more daily in hilly terrain.

Kitty had spotted an interesting restaurant just around the corner. SHE Bistro was recently opened, and employs and trains neuro divergent folk as cooks and servers. It was a bit on the pricey side with a 17EUR menu del día, and the service was a bit uneven (as we’d expected!), but it was all for a good cause. It had a feminist vibe. They convert the venue to a music hall in the evenings.

Mexican food here in Barcelona is uneven at best, yet we love it so much we always seek it out. We were lucky to find a new place, Cresta Colorada, just under our old apartment in Eixample. We had been heading for a new restaurant, but there was no getting in without a reservation. Cresta Colorada was more expensive than we’d pay in the US for Mexican food, but it was great fun none-the-less.

We typically start our day with a piece of toast at 7:00 and don’t eat lunch until 2:00 or later. That means we often add in a late AM snack. Our tradition for years has been to make an early stop every trip at Mauri, a chic café on the Rambla de Catalunya. They serve great little savory pastries called “Lorena.” And sitting there takes you back in time. Most days, we’ll share a sandwich or bocadilla. 

We had an amazing meal at Compartir! We arrived 10 minutes early and lingered in the entryway while the staff huddled. Slowly, other diners, largely international crowd, gathered in the space with us. The staff were kind and professional. When the hostess directed me to the bathroom, she said “I will speak to you in Spanish because I see you want to learn.” The entire staff was attentive and they worked as a team. One of the owners made a bit of a fuss. 

The space was large and there was good spacing. It slowly filled, but never to capacity. Their décor recalled Cadaqués with its colors of blue and white. Some people came in dragging bags from the airport or station. Near the end of our meal, a young Japanese man came in breathless, dressed super casually, but supremely confident and enthusiastic all at once.  They welcomed him with as much ado as they did the big shot “General” seated at a nearby table. 

Our waiter advised us to order half portions and share everything, so we managed to stay under €130.00 including a very nice €25.00 bottle of wine (Cap de Creus white garnacha). Their menu is a clever riff on Catalan standards: croquettes, bombas, Gildas, etc. We focused on seafood and loved everything. We are actively working to learn to like anchovies, and this was an excellent start. One could easily spend hundreds of euros at Compartir, but I appreciated that they make world-class dining accessible to us. Disfrutar means to enjoy and Compartir means to share and we did both. Absolutely satisfying! Highly recommended.