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Mercat de La Boqueria is a place that you should never miss when visiting Barcelona. This is like common sense for most people. Before I came to Spain, everyone has been telling me how amazing this market is. Surprisingly, it is actually very easy to find as it is on La Rambla, very near to the central of Barcelona - Plaça de Catalunya.

By walking from Plaça de Catalunya to the coast along La Rambla, on your right you will first see Burger King, Amorino Gelato, La Poma, Carrefore and many other hotels and touristics venders and restuarants. Once you see Starbucks, for another 2 minutes walk, you should see a tiny restaurant called Wok to Walk. That will be the side entrance of La boqueria. Or you can walk 1 minute more to the direction of the coast and enter the market through  the main entrance with Dunkin Donuts on the side.

Warning: it is veryvery touristy at the main entrance and BEWARE OF PICK-POCKETS as the market is rather crowed.

It is a fascinating experience to walk around La boqueria because it is so huge. As I have been going round and round the market for zillion times after I start staying in Barcelona, I have figured out some short cuts for visitor who are in a rush but wish to do the most in limited time to search for what they want.

IF YOU WANT THE CHEAPEST DELICIOUS FRESH JUICE, fruit venders located between the main entrance and the side entrance near "Wok to Walk" sell their juices for 1 euros only.  As you go further in the market, they start selling for 1.5 euros or more.

They normally offer a wide variety of choices and no additional sugar is added. My favourite one is "Mango y Coco" (Mango and coconut).

IF YOU WANT GOOD SEAFOOD, I would recommand you try "Kiosko Universal" near the side entrance at the far left. For more details please see my review on "Kiosko Universal".

IF YOU WANT HOT SNACKS, most of the venders are located on the right of market if you are walking it from La Rambla (where the main entrance is). There they serve French Crepes (from 3.5 to 7.5 euros), Meditearean salads (from 2.5 to 3.5 euros), burritos (4.5 euros), Pizza (3.5 euros), Calzones (from 2 to 3.5 euros), Croquettes (normally less than 1 euro per unit), vegetarian omelet (2 euros), etc. There is also a few shops that serve cheap seafood. They are located at the right side but behind the central circle where or the fish stores are. Try the Bocalao Fritos (Cod fish ball). They are very fluffy and fishy, very different from fishballs in HK. Roast Chicken and portions of Paellas will be on sale near the back on the left side (please see the map for more details).

IF YOU WANT TO TRY SOME GOURMET CROQUETTES AND DUCK PRODUCTS, I recommand this place called Avinova Selecció. For details, please see my later posts.

Almost every tourist knows the fame of the seafood served in Mercat de la Boqueria. I personally would like to recommand this seafood bar Kiosko Universal, S.L. . It is very easy to find because it is on the far left aisle if you are entering Boqueria from La Rambla. They serve all sort of grilled seafood like any other seafood bar and at reasonable prices.

Normally we would order the Mixed Seafood served here (25 euros) because it is at a good deal and you get to try all types of seafood in one dish (except fish). Each dish includes 2 huge razor clams, 2 massive red prawns, 3 pieces of squid, 2 langoustines, and tremendous of muscles and clams. They are simply seasoned with salt, garlic and grilled in olive oil, but they are just so so fresh that all the natural sweetness of the seafood really stands out in the mildly aromatic olive oil and the garlic.

The best thing is the Bread comes free, but you have to ask for it. "Tienes Pan?" you can ask, and they will give you. Everyone asks for it because you just need it so soak all the juice and olive oil at the buttom of the plate. The bread is served cool like any other cuisines in Spain. They are crusty and but a little tought for soaking. Though trust me you would never want to waste any of that essence if you are a fan of seafood.

The Mixed Mushroom is also very tasty, but it's quite pricy I must say because a plate of muchroom costed 10 euros! The mushrooms are earthy and delectable too. Nevertheless I would not recommand ordering.

Usually in any tapas bar, you will find our Spanish Croquettes. The most common ones are Spanish cured ham, cheese flavours, and sometimes you do see some special ones like Roast Chicken ones in Tapas 24, Smoked Salmon ones in Ciudad Condal, etc.

But in this little shop hiding at the corner of Mercat de la Boqueria selling duck products, they actually have some really distinct and marvellous croquettes being served here.

Actually I was first attracted to try the Duck Ham because it is so rare to have duck ham on sale. I came and ordered a portion of Pa amb Tomaquet Pernil Anec (3.50 euros) and a glass of red (3.70 euros) just to chill for a while. The Pa amb Tomaquet Pernil Anec (Duck Ham on Tomato Bread) was absolutely very tasty. It was my first ever experience to taste duck ham. Thy smoked duck flavour is so strong that you will immediately know it is duck even with a blindfold on. The duck fat was flavourful and honestly it just dissolve in your taste buds immediately. The only thing is that with the fiber of the duck meat being so different from pork, the duck breast meat can be a little chewy. The tomato bread is served cool but the baguette slices are extremely fresh that it is crunchy on the crust but really fluffy and airy inside. It definitely worths a try.

For the croquettes, they have so many amazing flavours including gourmet series priced at 0.90 euros each such as Foie and Mushrooms, Rabbit and Mushrooms, Gorgonzala and Walnuts, Faisan and Truffle, Spinach and Goat Cheese, Blood Sausage and Maho Cheese, together with homemade series priced at 0.70/unit such as Roast Meat, Spanish Iberico Ham, and Cod and Mushrooms. They just have so many!!!! They have a deal where you can pay 2.95 euros and enjoy two gourmet and two homemade croquettes. I was so attracted to try the gourmet ones and I was only going to order 3 gourmet croquettes. Though the lady taking my order was so friendly to me that she let me choose one of the homemade croquette and she would let me do the 2.95 euros deal too. How lovely!

(btw I was so shocked to find out that they charge around 2.5 euros (HKD 25) for one iberico Ham Croquette in Catalunya Hong Kong. I guess I must try it out one day to see how wow it is.)

So at the end I ended up with Foie and Mushroom, Rabbit and Mushrooms, Faisan and Truffle and Spanish Iberico Ham.

For the Foie and Mushroom one, the mushroom kind of dominate the flavour but you can taste a hint of the foie. Faisan and Truffle has an outstanding truffle aroma and you can see tiny bits of black pots inside the croquette. I was so nervous to try the Rabbit and Mushroom one but it actually turned out pretty good. The rabbit meat has a roasty flavour and it is a little like a combination of chicken and lamb to me. I left the safest Iberico Ham one as my last one just in case I didnt like the rabbit croquette. I was not expecting much surprise but in fact they ham was so flavoursome, mouth watering  and meaty. The distinct flavour of Iberico Ham stands out so much that you know it must be Iberico and not any other cured ham. Also I must say the texture of all the croquettes are perfect. The crust is so crispy, light and fragile, where potato inside is really fluffy and soft. They were seriously finger-licking good. It has to be the best croquettes I have tried to far!

The Curry Seasoned Almonds came free and it was very nice to have it with my wine.

Don't miss this place out!!

This Petitllao served in llaollao frozen yoghurt place only costed 1 euro! If you want extra toppings on top, you only need to pay 50c extra. And look how cute it is...

The yoghurt is just tart enough to my likings. It is not icy at all and it does not melt easily. It works best for a pre-meal snack for definite.

Not a huge fan of desserts and cakes, I can just never resist icecreams, gelatos, frozen yoghurts.

In Barcelona, Gelaterias are all over the place, especially along La Rambla. They even sell them in Boqueria! You can get them for as cheap as 1.90 euros per scoop at a store on La Rambla, still yummy, or some fancy flower-shaped cone in everyone's favourite Amorino.

However I would like to recommand Dine Gelato. The texture of the Gelato that Dino is just perfect. Very very sticky, creamy, with no air or ice cube pieces in the gelato, it is so far the best gelato texture I have tried in Spain. I had my favourite pistachio and hazelnut flavours. Having the same "Extra Pistachio", the pistachio flavour is very rich, with a lot of chopped pistachio pieces inside. The Hazelnut one was also nice and nutty. Though may find the hazelnut flavour slightly too sweet. The cone is crunchy as normal. One thing to note is that usually the waffle cones served here are usually thicker, more crunchy and starchy than the ones served in Haagendazs or Tezukuri No Mise in HK.

The smallest size you can buy is 2 scoops, costing 2.90 euro. The scoops are always of generous size, and the staff usually tries to push the first scoop down to the interior of the cone. So if you get bored of Amorino's flowery gelato one day, why not give it a try to Mr. Dino?

Panelles Donat seems very famous for its nougats and icecream.

And for me, of course I am only coming for the icecream. Their icecream is comparatively the cheapest in town where they only charge 1.50 euros for one scoop. And for that one scoop, you can select 2 flavours and they will combine them into a single scoop for you.

As a big fan of cinnamon, I always wanted to try the flavour Milk, Lemon and Cinnamon. It turned to be more icy than I expected and it is not creamy at all. Though the lemon and the cinnamon went very well together but the milk flavour was not too apparent. You can taste the milk for sure, but surely you can not compare to ones you get in Cha Cha Sweet House and Milk Top in Hong Kong. Nevertheless I reckon they are serving  the best cone in town. Their cones are very light and crispy, like a slightly thicker version of those french crepe dentelle you get in supermarkets, which compared to the thick and chunky cones you get in most gelateria in Barcelona, this is so different. They have a mild eggy and caramel flavour.

I wouldn't think their icecream is really worth trying but you are obsess with icecream cones lol this is the place you want to visit.

If you want to enjoy a cup of delicious, traditional Spanish hot chocolate and churros, Granja la Pallaresa is a must visit place.

Spanish hot chocolate and churros are traditional food that Spanish people eat for breakfast where everyone dips their churros into the chocolate to taste. By using the word "dip" I guess you gauge the idea of how thick the Spanish hot chocolate is.

In Granja la Pallaresa, they served mainly chocolate, catalan desserts and churros. We first ordered the Swiss Hot Chocolate (3.10 euros) which is Spanish thick hot chocolate with a gigantic slob of fresh whipped cream on top. It just looked so evil-like, attractively fatty and tempting! There is so much cream that we can even share a huge amount of cream with another cup of Spanish Hot Chocolate (We ordered Large, 2.70 euros. There is also a smaller size available priced at 2.10 euros). The chocolate was so smooth and dark on its own, way better that then ones served in Caelum. The fresh cream was light and fluffy, and the coolness and milky, creamy flavour just  went so well with the dark, thick hot chocolate. It was ingulging and scrumptious.

The Churros (1.5euros) were not bad neither. It was surprising not greasy at all. They were slightly crunchy on the edges and they are served cool. Although Granja is also famous for its churros, I prefer the ones with tremendous amount of cinnamon sugar on top (I guess they are the not so orginal ones served in Camden Town in London. I just love my cinnamon.) But this one is not bad at all. Definitely worth a try!

But note that the place is usually packed especially at around 16:00, even on week days. If you want to avoid the crowd/queue, better go there at 12pm ish in the afternoon.

For our individual art presentation, we had to talk about a place in Spain that we have been before. And no doubt, for foodie like me, surely I would talk about restaurant!

I chose to talk about Caelum for 2 main reasons:
- most importantly the cakes you see from the window look absolutely delicious
- I overheard a tourguide talking about the interesting history about this little petite tea room

and then I thought hmmmm... contributing to this amazing art presentation... what a good excuse for me to pay a visit and have a try at their goodies!


Caelum is a tea room located in the Gothic Area of Barcelona. The word "Caelum" means HEAVEN in Latin. And indeed, this tea room is a very religious place. All the pastries are made by nuns, and they still provide cakes and pastries for the monastries today!

There are two floors in this tea room. The ground floor consist of a cozy tea room and a shop at the entrance, selling goodies from the monastries like chocolate, fresh jam, Catalan biscuits etc.

The underground cellar has an interesting story. It was once a medieval Jewish bathhouse for women. Nowsdays Caelum regularly organise mini jazz and folk music concerts down there, which only cost around 3 euros per person for entry, and the latest info will be posted on their facebook page. So if you interested in folk music of Catalunya, it definitely worths a visit.

Anyway back to the food! Almost in every cafes they serve alcohols. That is no surprise at all. In here, they serve some super strong traditional spanish shots. Of course I did not give it a try as I could have died I guess. They also serve the "famous" Spanish Cafe con Leche (which is just coffee and milk, normally steamed milk), cappuccino and Spanish Hot Chocolate. Just like Granja La Rellaresa, you can choose between a small and a big size, but they don't have the option here to choose the evil version - Swiss Chocolate they call it in Granja, with the huge slob of fatty, gorgeously whipped cream on top.

I went for the small chocolate, as I would like to save my space for desserts and savoury food as well. The Spanish Hot Chocolate is thick as it usually is and it is very rich as well. Unlike Angelina in Paris, where they melt chocolate into semi-skimmed milk to make it all rich, creamy, awfully and sickly, in Spain they melt chocolate with hot water instead. Therefore the flavour is still very indulging and dark, but anyone would be able to finish their own cup easily as it doesn't feel as heavy as ones from Angelina. However I can't deny that the one in Granja is way better because the texture the chocolate they serve there is so much smoother. I found the hot chocolate served in Caelum a little lumpy for me.

For sweet tooth, the cute looking strawberry tart has caught my eyes, AND IT WAS SUCH A BAD CHOICE! The strawberries on top were all fresh and lucious, which we see the problem!! Because it made the tart all watery and soggy. BAD CHOICE. Don't go for that.

(actually I am pretty sure I overheard the tourguide saying that the chocolate cake is the best. And my friend told me that the cheese cakes are pretty good. OH GOD kill me please... I need to come back again then)

As the tart was sooo disappointing, I decided to give it another chance on the savory item. (And at the same time trying to cheer myself up a little bit. We all know food is the best medicine on earth.) So I ordered this Garlic Toast with Melted Cheese from the monastries and tomato jam on top. What really made me chose this one is mainly due to the noun "JAM". Tomate jam! The toast turned out beautifully done because there is a tremendous amount of cheese melted on the toasted bread. The bread was still soft and airy inside and the jam went really well with the generous amount of cheese! The tomato jam tasted very sweet but with the flavour of tomato. It was an interesting experience.

Although the tart really really disappointed me so much, I think this tea room is definitely worth visiting. It is very contrasting yet heart-warming to see this cozy tea room in the Gothic Area of Barcelona.  I would recommand you to visit during the afternoons on weekdays because the UG cellar will only be opened in that period.  Also one important thing to keep in mind is, as this is such a romantic, religious, cozy cafe, they have pretty candles everywhere and making the place all warm and sweet, for everyone but especially for ladies, BE CAREFUL NOT TO BURN YOUR HAIR! I managed to have a few of my hair burnt ( I was like ... oh what's that smell and the suckling sound... lol) but gracias a dios it wasn't obvious.

There are plenty of all you can eat chinese buffet restaurants in Barcelona. Before visiting any, I have been doing research and I got my eyes on this Wok Yutaka Buffet Restaurant as the reviews on the internet is quite impressing.

The restaurant and buffet area ia actually quite small, a little similar to the style in the UK. However you can not compare it with the size of the ones in HK of course. Nevertheless the variety of food is great! Ranging from sushi, tempura, chinese soup, dim sum, wide variety of salads, gummies, nuts, cheese, cured ham, to 9 flavours of Walls Icecream, Icecream cake, Slices of cakes, Fresh and canned fruits, chinese sweet soup, they have basically everything here! And the highlight of the buffet is that there is an area with fresh seafood, all sorts of veggie, mushrooms, steaks, where you can grab whatever you want and the chef will teppanyaki everything in front of you! And the most exciting fact is... you only need to pay 9.50 euros for all you can eat from 13:00 to 16:30! (the price for dinner is 14.50euros but I am guessing the variety of food will be fairly similar).

The Salad bar is the biggest. They have all salad vegetables, seafood salads, russian salad, boiled eggs, olives etc. At the corner of the salad bar they have different types of gummies and nuts, which I think it like a mini "Pick n' Mix". The Salad is of fair and normal quality. They also have some sushis and some japanese tamagoyaki.

The cured ham and cheese were of fair quality with regards that it costed less than 10 euros per person. The Chistorras were hot and juicy, flavourful with a smokey, spicy flavour.

For the tempura, surely you can not expect to have the same quality you get in Hong Kong. Though the deep fried food is not bad as the batter costing is not too thick. Just try to forget that they are named "tempura" and you will be happy with regards to the price you paid.

The highlight of the buffer, which is the a la cart seafood bar, has quite a range of seafood offerings. The most I like are the razor clams because they are as huge as the ones served in Universal in Mercat de la Boqueria! They are double the size of the ones we normally get in chinese restaurants in Hong Kong! They have massive red prawns, Salmon skewers, etc. and they also have plenty of asparagus, aubergens, shiitake mushrooms which I love my veggies as always. They are all cooked in teppenyaki with tariyaki sauce. I must say the slight sweetness of tariyaki sauce somehow overwhelmed the natural flavour of the seafood a little bit. The garlicy grilled style adopted by Universal worked much better with the seafood but these are not bad too. And think about it. You are paying less than 10 euros and you can eat as much as seafood as you want in 3.5 hours! It all worths it doesn't it?

For the dessert, I have only tried the icecream which is forever my favourite sweet treat on Earth. For sure there will be no haagendazs and movenpick but icecream from Walls are very delicious too! And there have 9 flavours which you can help yourself to as much as you want. It's HEAVEN!

In short, Wok Yutaka's food is of great quality and great taste. The whole 10 euros you will definitely be justified as you won't even be able to cook these food by yourself with 10 euros.

When it comes to Spain, everybody will say Tapas is a must try. So Mum and I did some research beforehand we found out that this Tapa Tapa Tapas Bar is quite popular and it was very near to the hotel we are staying at. Therefore we decided to go there and grab something to fill up our stomachs after a long flight from Hong Kong.

In Tapa Tapa, all the dishes are fairly reasonably priced. The prices range from 2 euros to 10 euros, while they also serve regular (R) size other than just Tapas (T) size for certain popular dishes. As we all know, Spanish People have their dinner comparably late in the Evening. Some restaurants open at 20:30 in the evening to serve dinner, but most of the time tapas bars open all day, especially the ones in central Barcelona. For Hong-Kongers like us, we went to Tapas bar at 6ish in the evening which finding seats was easypeacy.

As both of us were not really alcoholic, we ordered a regular glass of Sangria to share which costed us 5 euros. This glass is so huge, and to my surprise, it is very YUM! It tasted more like a mocktail and you may not even notice how amount of alcohol in it. You can go seriourly tipsy on that. Anyway it was of great value and we both enjoyed it very much.

Like the practices in many other European countries, they don't serve free water in the restuarants. If you want to order water, you normally have two choices: Agua con gas (frizzy water) or Agua sin gas/Agua Mineral (mineral bottled water without CO2). They serve Vichy Catalan frizzy water here which is about 1.25 euro for 250ml. Vichy Catalan Water is a renowned brand in Barcelona but I must say French Perrier or Italian S. Pellegrino is so much nicer because Vichy Catalan Water has a slight salty taste which after a while you will be feeling like drinking sea water that makes you even crave more beverage to drink.

Each of these Canapés cost 2 euros each to order, but for a combo like this one, it only costed us a little more that 8 euros. On the plate, they have  with Spanish Tortilla (the famous Spanish Potato Omelette), Brie and Truffle, Jamon Iberico (Spanish Iberico Ham), Russian Salad with Prawn, and Crab Salad.

My favourite one is the Brie and Truffle. Not only that I am obsessed with cheese, the brie was of great quality. It's rich but never too salty, with its smooth and indulging texture that melt on the tongue. The truffle essence was slightly vague but it was not disappointing at all.

The canap with the Iberico Ham was not bad neither. The meatly flavour was stronger Italian parma ham and it was very thinly sliced.

The Russian Salad tasted just like the ones from Pizza Hut but the one served here has its potato pieces mashed into mayo which I prefer as it was easier to eat.

The one crab salad was out of expectation since only artificial crab meat. But of course, what's more can you ask for at this price?

We also shared those Fish Fritters which costed around 4 euro, but it was no surprise at all. The fritters are served cold which is disappointing enough. There is no seasoning what so ever but there is no taste to the fish neither. I must admit that the ones you find Tai O are so much better than this. Don't Try.

Calamaris (< 6 euros) were very delicious. At first I thought, how good can it be? I mean it's just battered squid rings, isn't it? Why is everyone all crazy about it? But It proved me wrong. The batter coating is very light and the squid was so much tenderer than I expected. It was slightly seasoned with salt but the flavour of the squid was outstanding.

The tapa size Paella was very cute. This was actually the first time I tasted proper Paella other than the ones with only chicken that you can get in Camden Town in London. Although the portion is very petite, they have several kinds of seafood in there including fish, prawns, squid and mussels, but no chorizos. The rice is slightly chewy than oriental long grain rice, and it is slightly crispy at the edge like the "Rice in Pots - BO CHAI FAN" we get in Hong Kong. For only around 5 euros, this is way above expectation.

Afterwards, I came here again in early september with other exchange students and we tried their croquettes. Croquetas de Jamon Iberico (Croquettes with Iberico Ham) and Croquetas de fromage (Croquettes with cheese) were both very tasty. Croquettes are like potatos balls with a creamy, mushy texture inside. The croquettes here are served pipping hot and it is a must try.

If in the middle of the day you seriously craving for good tapas at a good deal, and if you are around Pl. Espanya, you must visit the Tapa Tapa Arenas!

With almost exactly the same menu, Tapa Tapa at Arenas offers an exclusive lunch menu at the bar that the one at Passeig de Gracia does not. By only paying 8.50 euros (IVA inclusive), you can enjoy a canape, 3 tapas, a drink and a coffee. Although you can not choose from everything on the A La Cart menu, with less than 9 euros you can basically have 4 tapas in total PLUS a drink PLUS a coffee. How brilliant is that? If you go with somebody else, you can taste many more dishes too!

I went with two girls after researching for our history project on Montjuïc. We were seriously served to death!!!!! (well at least I was) And after arriving Tapa Tapa, it was like heaven to me! Each of us ordered a lunch menu at the bar. For the canape, you can choose from Tortilla or Crab Salad Canapes. I went for the  Tortilla because I just love Spanish Tortilla and as mentioned in earlier post, crab salad in Tapa Tapa is made of crab stick which I don't really fancy. The Tortilla Canape served here was as good as the one served in the other Tapa Tapa on Passeig de Gracia. The potato is soft and it absorbed all the delicious eggy flavour.

Then three of us ordered some tapas to share including Goat Cheese and Lettuce Salad in Vinaigrette Dressing, Triple Cheese Risotto, Triple Cheese Croquettes (Don't we just love cheese hahaha), Crispy Shrimps and Trio Mini Burgers.

Goat Cheese and Lettuce Salad in Vinaigrette Dressing is in fact not too heavy and greasy afterall. The strong goat cheese went amazingly well with the slightly sweet Vinigrette Dressing and the raisins, while the lettuce really reduce the guilt. At a salad, it was far from watery as well. I would prefer more lettuce though it is a nice salad indeed.

Three Cheese Risotto is so delicious if you love cheese as much as I do! In the risotto, they have gorgonzala, emmental and brie. It's more of a French style I would say, but brie and emmental are definitely few of my all-time favourite cheese. The Risotto is just sososo cheesy, and they have some gooey brie bits mixed inside the risotto which made it even more evil-like. The texture of the risotto was also fantastically chewy but NOT RAW! The portion is pretty huge as a tapa size too.

Three Cheese Croquettes is also nice and mushy. The cheese flavour is quite outstanding as well, but I can not really distinguish what types of cheese are there. Anyway there were served pipping hot and it was yum.

Crispy Shrimps is the only tapa I have doubt with. The Batter Coating was light and crunchy, but the shrimps were absolutely tasteless. Minimal seasonings, not to mention the natural sweetness of fresh seafood. I would not be surprise that tapas bars use frozen seafood, but I guess with a little more seasoning it would help lifting the flavour. I just needed the Tartare sauce so much.

Trio Mini Burger were juicy and flavourful. The taste was beefy and it went very well with all the toppings on top. My favourite one is the mustard. Well mustard and beef are always best friends, aren't they?

Once we are done with tapas, we were already so stuffed. For the coffee, I was solely expecting espresso or our Spanish "famous" Café con Leche (which is just Coffee with milk). However we actually got to choose from quite a range and I got my capuccino! In Barcelona, when you order Capuccino, unless you are in Starbucks for the world's more watery-tasted Cap, usually they turned out to be espresso with layers of froth on top. If you are not comfortable with such strong coffee like me, make sure you give your cap a good stir, an INTENSE STIR. Because otherwise you will end up enjoying all the fluffy and sweet froth with the chocolate power on top, and then finding yourself ended up with a cup of "24 mai" (Chinese most bitter herbal soup) in front of you. I am so going for the safest Café con Leche next time!!!!

Anyway it was a lovely tapas lunch experience. Go there if you need cheap and quality tapas during the day!

La Fonda is one of my favourite place to dine. Their food never disappoints. I have been there twice for lunch, and it was really amazing experience.

Menu of the day is EUR 10,30 which includes bread, a drink and 3 courses. For the drink, you can choose between mineral water (still or frizzy - Agua sin/con gas), Soft drinks (refrescos), 250ml of red or white wine (vino tinto/blanco). Supposing 3 courses should mean a starter, a main and a dessert to wrap up. However my recommandation is not to touch the bread roll, as you will really be feeling regret and sinful!

One thing to note is that normally in Barcelona, you are normally charged for bread, unless otherwise stated like in the menu del dia here. However If you go to the seafood bar in Mercat de La Boqueria, bread usually comes free but you will need to ask for it. Also, don't get disappointed if the bread served are not warmed because this is normal in Barcelona. The bread restaurants served are usually quite fresh.


The dishes I tried for the first course includes Salmorejo con Sal de Jamon (which was the lightest I tried so far lol),  Croquetas de Espinacas con Ensalada and MIXED PAELLA(!!!)  can you believe it? That plate of paella you see is just the "starter". So now you understand why you shouldn't touch the bread even though it's tempting (I understand).


Salmorejo is a well known cold soup in Spain that is served in daily Spanish meal. Unlike Gazpacho with its wide variety of veggie ingredients, Salmorejo is made of only 4 key ingredients: Bread, Tomato, Cucumber and Garlic. The cold soup is quite thick but extremely refreshing. The cucumber flavour really cools you down. The best part of the soup is the crisp bites of Jamon sprinkled on top. The jamon has gaven the cold soup a slight kick that trully lifted the freshness of the vegetable. Highly recommanded!

Croquetas de Espinacas (Spinach Croquettes) are lightly breaded, crunchy but mushy in the interior. They were not greasy but quite filling as it is made of potato and Spinach. The croquettes were so far so good but I prefer the ones with cheese or jamon.

Mixed Paella is just so huge! In fact before I visited the restaurant, I knew that La Fonda is famous for its Paella and Arroz Negro (rice with sqid ink and calamari hoops, more like a squid risotto). I was really struggling to choose between Menu del Dia or Paella. In La Fonda, for all rice dishes, it is on a per person basis but the minimum amount you order must be at least a portion for two people. Though I quickly realised that they are serving Mixed Paella as "starter". Paella costs around 9 euros per person, depending you are ordering fish paella, mixed paella (fish and meat) or vegetarian paella. Yet with Menu del Dia I managed to try the mixed paella PLUS 2 other dishes, bread and wine for 10,30 euros. Madre Mia! Anyone I was expecting a tiny portion... you know, like one of those served in tasting menu, but here it comes. I mean, this can be served easily as a portion for 2 for girls like me. I get hungry easily, but I get full super fast too so I need frequent meals lol.

In this Mixed Paella, there is a lot of seafood like mussels, prawns, squid. There was no sign of chorizos, but fried pork was not bad at all. The pork pieces are like fritters which are crispy but very lucious and flavoursome inside. The seafood were not over cooked. The prawns (shrimps rather) were of all most disappointing though. They were sweet, but too twiggy that the texture is over tender. The rice was well cooked, chewy but far from raw, and it fully absorbed the delectable flavour of the sauce.

The main, well - "main", I tried 4 dishes. The braised veal I first tasted was absolutely gorgeous. The meat is so tender and flavourful and the sauce went well with it. It was like a country braised veal without wine or any other complicated ingredients. Simply chunk of veggie and veal meat. It was so so yum.

The Grilled Squid was also very tender and fresh. However after trying the ones from Universal and the baby squid served in Tapas 24, this one is slightly lacking the surprise.

The Porklet was also nicely seared with a texture similar to grilled pork meat around the neck. It is meaty and very tasty. Another highlight of the dish is the sliced pan fried potato on the side of the dish. The slices of were lightly spiced and cooked just right. I finished the entire dish even after having the plate of Paella... (Gosh what a piggy I am...)

For Dessert, they usually offer 3 choice. One of which would be cakes/floury pudding, another one would be something like pear stewed in red wine, and finally they will have an icecream (sundae, gelato, etc.) to choose from.

However so far I have never tried anything other than gelato because I was always far too full for anything solid lol But the gelato here is not bad at all! Especially the chocolate and the coconut flavour. The chocolate one is very rich, while the coconut was nice with the bits of coconut sheds inside.

In short, LA FONDA IS A MUST VISIT!!!!!!!

But one thing to note is that normally there is a queue outside and it  takes around 20 mins to get in. If you wish to avoid it, I would suggest you to go between 15:15 to 16:30.

There I was, tasting the gourmet of Comerç, 24 at Tapas price! Trust me - The food is FAB and the queue is longggggg.

I was going to go with my boring Rosé but turned out that four of us ordered 1L of Sangria con Cava (Sangria with Champagne) to share to start with. I actually fancy Sangria with red better but it was an interesting experience. (Side-tracked) Though I seriously think that the longer you stay in Barcelona, the more you can drink because you can drink basically everywhere (cafes, restaurantes, etc. we are not allowed to drink on the street though.) and you crave for your alcohol from 9am til late night.

The four of us shared the famous Bikini Comerç 24, Pa amb tomàquet, McFoie, Chicken Wings in Sweet and Spicy Sauce, Grilled Baby Squid and Patatas Bravas, plus Xocolate amb Pa, Oli i Sal for dessert.

We get Bikini all over the place in Barcelona. Bikini simply means grilled sandwich with ham and melted cheese in between. Though in Bikini Comerç 24 they use premium ingredients for a sandwich like mozzarella cheese, Iberico Ham and Black Truffle. It was simple but very tasty with the aroma of the truffle. I suppose you could probably imagine the taste of it. The only thing is it was only served warmish and the mozzarella wasn't stringy at all. So as the biggest cheese monster on Earth I was a little disappointed.

But of course, it is still delicious.

(Actually I was being nosy the other day, looking through the reviews of Catalunya Hong Kong and I found out that they actually have the exactly same thing served there! But they charged such a premium price! And they have a couple more dished being exactly the same as what is served in the Ticket Bar in El Bulli... What an inspiration...)

Pa amb tomàquet is like the basic bread served in Catalan cuisines, which is basically toasted bread with tomato pate on top. But the ones here are very gorgeous, eventhough it is a little pricy for bread. The bread is lightly toasted, crisp and the tomato is natually sweet and fresh, and what impressed me most is the tremendous amount to aromatic olive oil on top. It is so simple, like everyday food, but they just made it so beautifully here.

McFoie is a beef burger served with foie ganache. The Burger is made of a really light flat bun, more like English-Muffin-Shaped, lightly toast with juicy, medium cooked beef patty inside. The burger on its own was delicious enough. The foie ganache was actually not so impressive as expected. It was creamy but the taste was flvour was rather weak. Don't have too much expectation on the ganache, but the burger itself is quite nice afterall.

The Chicken Wings in Sweet and Spicy were boneless which really same as a surprise and I must say the chef is quite considerate since not everyone would like to get their hand greasy and suck bones in front of people around them. Though I found that the meat was slightly dry and actually you can't taste any of the meaty flavour of the chicken. All you can taste is the sweet and spicy sauce. It may be scrumptious for people who like strong sauces, but I didn't like it.

The Grilled Baby Squid was definitely one of the highlight of the night. Not being a big fan of squid, it was far from marginally impressive. It was so tender, smokey, flavoursome. SIMPLY MARVELLOUS. I think they kind of kept the organs and everything inside the baby squid (I am not sure if there is a better name for that)which is why there is still squid ink coming out of it when you squeeze them with your forks. But it wasn't gross, may be just a little creamy inside which I quite liked it.

Patatas Bravas is a common dish you get in tapas bar. It is simply fried potato pieces with spicy and Alioli sauce, which is like a garlicy mayo, on top. Since it was the first time I tried it in Spain (as I normally turn my head back to starch other than breads) I can't really say if it is of good quality or not. Normally the patatas bravas I see in other tapas bar use fried potato in cube, while the ones served in Tapas 24 use fat chips like the ones from fish n' chips shop in the UK. The Patato was not crunchy at all but work really well with the sauce. You may be able to get better patatas bravas elsewhere, but I quite like this one in tapas 24 so far!

Xocolate amb Pa, Oli i Sal is a must try FOR DEFINITELY. Indulging chocolate mousse in the mildly aromatic olive oil with sprinkles of sea salt giving the flavour a kick served in Tapas 24 (Barcelona). The balance between the rich, creamy scoops of chocolate mousse and the olive oil was impressive, while the crispy baguette slice enhanced the texture of the whole dessert. The bar was also generous enough to give us 4 scoops of chocolate mousse, which for most the photos I saw before when I was doing my 'pre-visiting research', they normally only have 3 scoops.

In general, the food is very delicious and the presentations are nicely done. It is overall a little more expensive than ordinary tapas bar but I think it all worths it. The only problem is that the most exciting daily menu is not available in Catalan! Thankfully the waiters are very friendly to explain every words on it. Also to avoid the long queue, better come at or before 7am for dinner.

上酒店的網頁看到大減價, NZD 110 便有一間4 星酒店房一晚, 就二話不說BOOK 了。位處於市中心以為很方便, 原來應該選一些遠離市中心的酒店才是上策, 因為市中心的路, 很多都封了, 巴士不達, 餐廳食肆又不在附近...

這是一個由CARDBOARD 搭成的臨時教堂, 暫時代替受影響的CHRISTCHURCH CATHEDRAL. 待CHRISTCHURCH CATHEDRAL 重建完成後, 便會拆卸, 並會RECYCLE 那些CARDBOARD, 十分之環保。

我地去到參觀的時候, 教堂內剛好有競選的侯選人在演說, 不能入內參觀, 很可惜呵~ 

CHRISTCHURCH CATHEDRAL 原本是一所很美的教堂, 是每個到CHRISTCHURCH 的遊人必到的旅遊勝地, 可惜, 2011 年大地震, 令到教堂及市中心一帶的建築物倒塌, 大部份的建築物都正在努力重建中。

雖然, 重建工作還有很多未完成, 但是, 在CHRISTCHURCH 裡, 你不會看到消極的氣氛, 你會感受到每個在這裡居住的人, 都會用他們的才能為這城市作一點貢獻, 有的會在破爛的牆上畫上打氣的圖案, 有的會到博物館做義工... 總知, 你會感受到他們對這城市那份熱誠和盼望, 深信終有一天, CHRISTCHURCH 的發展會比過往做得更好! 

 

朋友介紹下, 認識到兩個在CHRISTCHURCH 土生土長的KIWI, 他們都好友善, 還帶我地去試一下CHRISTCHURCH 的日本菜。

朋友推介試了很多該餐廳的招牌菜, 如軟瞉蟹及天婦羅壽司, 味道都很好, 不錯呵!

地震令到好多商店都倒閉, 有見及此, 市政府用了幾十個貨櫃搭做一個商城, 入面有名店, 有食肆, 有銀行, 郵局, 總知應有盡有~
 

去英國或法國旅行, 無論點樣慳旅費都好, 一世人總要坐一次GONDOLA... 若果GONDOLA 代表了北半球, 那麼CHRISTCHURCH 的PUNTING 應該是南半球的代表了。坐在PUNTING 上漫游AVON RIVER, 沿途細看兩旁的林蔭樹木, "應該"是多麼的休閒自在.... 可惜, 時間不合, 不能坐在船上暢遊CHRISTCHURCH, 只能用腳和相機記下這種感覺, 希望總有一日, 可以了卻這個心願啦~

沿著avon river 一路行便到了canterbury museum, 在閉館前15 分鐘到達, 本應不可以入內參觀, 好好人的義工嬸嬸著我地快快的看一圈逛一下, 博物館不大, 但都有很多具新西蘭歷史的展品, 不過, 比起auckland museum, 好像少了一點內涵。

在BOTANIC GARDENS 內再次比花海包圍, 在河道上走走, 過了一個寫意的下午, 亦為到今次CHRISTCHURCH 之旅劃上一個完美的句號~

 

入口很隱閉, CABLE CAR 站為處一條後巷入面, 要小心找呵~
上到山頂之後有個cable car museum 是免費入場的, 可以一看n 年前wellington 的cable car 是那樣子呢 

若果平時去開旅行有住過ibis 的話, 對ibis 應該不太陌生, 屬於平價的酒店, 入面提供的都是不太花考, 最基本的用品。若果對酒店無什麼要求, 這個價錢在city center 已經是一個十分不錯的選擇

CABLE CAR 的總站就是BOTANIC GARDEN 的入口. 你可以選擇一條合適的路線去暢遊BOTANIC GARDEN, 今次我地選了一條行大約1 小時的路程, 由山頂一直行回市區。要留意, 選擇了路線後要沿著地上的顏色花花路標走, 不然很容易會迷路呢~ 

要提醒大家, 若果比較怕行經墳場的話, 千萬不要選由公園到CITY 這一段路呵, 因為最後是會經墳場到PARLIAMENT HOUSE 的

作為新西蘭首都, PARLIAMENT HOUSE 就是政治的核心地方。差不多每小時都有導賞團可以入去參觀, 但是保安非常嚴密, 就像機場入境一樣, 要X-RAY CHECK 行李及室內是不可以拍攝的。

很喜歡這裡的海岸線, 很長很美... 沿著海邊行是那麼寫意, 生活節奏隨即慢了下來, 讓心去感受下那一種寧靜的氣氛~

City Gallery 比我想像中小, 但是內裡的職員非常親切, 若果時間足裕的話, 不況到此感受一下藝術氣息

Wellington 其實真的是一個不可多得的地方, museum 和gallery 都是免費參觀的. 今天是星期天, 很多家長都會和子女一同參觀museum, 幫他們增加一點課堂外的常識

說回這個museum, 它的面積非常之大, 有室外和室內兩部份, 室內還有不同主題可供參觀. 若要仔細看每一個展品, 真的要花上一整天的時間呵~ 我最感興趣的地方就是館內收藏了一隻超大尤魚標本, 無錯, 是"尤魚", 除了標本外, 更有video 以及3D movie 講解一下為什麼這隻尤魚會落入人類手上, 電影生動有趣, 一定要看呀!

講飲講食, 一定要來這條WELLINGTON 的食街CUBA STREET, 街道上非常熱鬧, 有不同的餐廳食肆林立, 總知, 一定會有一間合心意的~

今次, 我地隨便找了一間泰國餐廳來試, 門口貼了很多得奬的POSTERS, 但是內裡很冷清, 不過, 本著大無謂的精神試它一試吧! 我點了一個冬蔭公面, 老公叫了一個PAD THAI, 估唔到是這麼的好吃呵 冬蔭公湯很鮮美, 飲得出是用了蝦頭去煲的, 不一會, 已經給我湯連面全部吃下... 呵呵~ 很可惜, 没有拍一下照才吃... 我太心急了~~~

坐車坐了差不多半小時才到達, 山上風景非常優美, 整個WELLINGTON 都好像在你腳下一樣。不過, 風亦都很大, 在市區和WATERFRONT 都已經很大風, 上到山上就更加大風了, 大風的程度就如陳豪早排電視劇十號風球反地心吸力般行路吧 

在這個時候, 真的好想唱一下"吹也吹, 讓這風吹..." 

PACIFIC COFFEE COMPANY ??? 噢!! 搞錯了!不過個logo真係好鬼似~~

花漾咖啡係北京機場有多間分店, 不過除了正門這間是24小時營業之外, 其他的到晚上就會關門, 對於我呢d需要過夜等機既人來講, 呢間店間直就係正~

菜色唔多, 主要以飲品為主, 以三文冶, 熱狗, 蛋糕等東西為副,可能有其他吧? 或者因為是凌晨而收起其他餐牌吧?

我目的是以快食完東西之後就係檯上小睡一會過夜, 所以就叫左個金槍魚三文冶來食, 味道一般沒什麼亮點, 只是金槍魚唔係哥d吞拿魚撈沙律醬哥d, 而係剌身式一片片金槍魚肉, 食起上來幾有口感, 這點我很滿意. 也覺得RMB 28 有這樣的三文冶算不錯了.

除了我坐窆一般檯子之外, 這裡有很多4人包箱可以坐, 而且有幕可以隔開外界既視線, 可是我來遲了一點沒空位了, 不然我就可以在裡面小睡一會了....

酸菜肉絲米粉其實同我地食開既雪菜肉絲米粉差唔多，口感沒什麼特別突出既感覺，米粉爽口煮得可以，不過平凡的湯底

係Pakuranga Plaza 的地庫停車場每個星期六都有一個night market。大家可以搵到一啲女人街類型的小物品。不過來嘅重點係食！！！呢到有好好美嘅西色甜點，亦有良心中式食品～～～大家可以盡情吃喝！！！只因我和朋友要到市中心食晚飯所以只係試咗的甜品

這間泰國餐廳最出名就係flaming chicken，可惜今晚無得賣，令我非常失望。其實呢幾年係Dominion Road有好多不同的餐廳， 大家如果去紐西蘭住係城中心附近也可以過去飽餐一下！！