Boldu is a great place for breakfast . They have 2 breakfast deals but you have to ask for it! They don't show it on their menu.

For 2.95, you may enjoy a coffee, a pastry and a small fresh squeezed orange juice. For the pastry, you may pick a plain croissant, a donut or a Ensaimada, which is traditional puffy sweet Bread from Baleares.

If you want something more than just a piece of dough, you may pick the 3.95 euros set, with the pastry being replaced by the small sandwich. For the sandwich, you may choose between Fuet from Vic, cheese, ham, ham and cheese. Since I am highly unlikely be satisfied by a piece of bread on its own, I chose the ham and cheese sandwich, while my friend Kitty went for a tuna panini.

After choosing which sandwich I wanted, I asked the lady if she can heat it up for me, which she kindly said yes. the bread was fresh that the crust was nice and crunchy. It was rubbed with tomato, like the Catalan Pa amb Tomaquet. The cheese inside was not as gooey as I expected after grilling, but it was very soft that It blended very well with the bread and the york ham.

My friend's Tuna Panini had tremendous amount of tuna on top. And as the biggest tuna addict, she expressed that she enjoyed it a lot.

The orange juice was so fresh, with plenty of pulpe that I felt like I was having an actual orange in liquid form! I ordered my usual Cafe con Leche, but it was slightly too strong for me. I guess I should order one with more milk next time.

Anyway, great deal to enjoy fresh bread in the morning. Straight out from the oven!

Website: www.boldu.es/
Address: 

Carrer Provença, 233 (amb Rambla Catalunya), 08008 Barcelona

Carrer Gran de Gràcia, 132 (amb Rambla Prat), 08012 Barcelona

Carrer Balmes, 149, Barcelona

Carrer Mora d’Ebre, 64, 08023 Barcelona

Passeig Mare de Déu del Coll, 146, 08023 Barcelona

I have never been to Txapela for tapas before, but it is definitely an ideal place to have a light breakfast before heading to the airport because it is only 3 mins away from the Passeig de Gracia station for Renfe R2 Nord train to Barcelona El Prat Airport!

For 2.25 you can have a coffee and a pastry or a mini sandwich, which is flauta. There were more choices in terms of both pastries and sandwiches than Boldu. For pastries, you may choose from xuixo, croissant, chocolate croissant, donut, chocolate donut and muffin. For sandwiches, you may choose from ham and cheese, Manchego Cheese, fuet from vic and  Spanish tortilla.

Although the sandwich was served cold, the the flauta was very fresh. I tried the one with fuet sausage, which there was a generous amount of fuet pieces inside. I love fuet because it is flavourful but not as salty as other Spanish sausage like chorizo or chistorra. The cheese and ham sandwich was also very tasty. It is served with fresh cheese instead, which has a mild cheese flavour and its texture is a lot like tofu.

Cafe con leche here was not as strong as the ones in boldu, but the milky taste was not very apparent either. Anyway for the price I paid, I was totally satisfied.

 Address: Passeig de Gracia, 58, 08007 Barcelona

 

The advantage of living in Sant Cugat instead of central Barcelona is that I can always visit this bakery near the train station. It takes 25 minutes from Pl. Catalunya to Sant Cugat. Whether or not it is worth visiting depends on how much you value quality bread/ pastries/ cakes, but if 25 minutes can take you to food from heaven, I believe it is definitely worth going.

 (There is a monastry in Sant Cugat too so now you have an excues to go there!)

The perfect way to start a day is with a great coffee. In Serrajordia they serve Illy Coffee. The way they make Cafe con Leche is like Caffe Latte, where the milk foath is so soothing and the temperature of the milk was just right that the milk foam nicely blended in with the coffee. It is never disappointing. Sometimes it would come beautiful latte art on top which delighted me in the mornings.

The first ever pastry I tried was the chocolate croissant. I have always loved chocolate croissant a lot and I have been going around town, searching for the best chocolate croissant. One thing to note is that the Spanish uses a lot of lard in their pastries production. Therefore it is hard to find buttery and flaky pastries in most bakeries. The worst I found is they often put a sugar glaze on top of croissants. I mean... may be some people like that... but for me, it just make it soggy and sticky and ehhhhh no thanks.

In Barcelona many bakeries had their chocolate croissants filled with tremednous amount of rich chocolate cream, have both ends dipped in chocolate and topped with chocolate sprinkle. I mean... how awful is that? I was so satisfied with all these sickly chocolate croissants in random cake shops I found, until I went to Serrajordia and bought my first ever pastry there.

The croissants in Serrajordia was surprisingly crunchy even when I bited into the part it was dipped in chocolate! It was buttery, really crispy on the exterier while it is extremely moist and fluffy inside. Both the chocolate cream filling and the dipped-in chocolate was really strong. There is also white chocolate version availabler. It is definitely made for all chocolate addicts!

(well I must admit you can basically skip lunch after having this for breakfast. Better treat it as a dessert!)

Bikini Croissant was not bad too. The croissant was as buttery and flaky as they were, with cheese and ham filling inside. Though I think the sweet ones were more outstanding.

Palmier was really amazing! It was so crunchy, buttery, with a caramelised layer on both side which made it sweet and even crunchier. It was baked perfectly given the size of it. (bigger than my face!lol)

Sandwich were pretty good too. They were made to order with the fresh bread they made in store everyday. I had this smoked salmon and manchego cheese sandwich in their signature Spanish coca bread. It was served with spinach, tomato and mayo. For 2.85 euros, this half-portion fresh sandwich was too huge and there were sooooo much fillings! The coca bread was toasted and it had a slight chewy texture while it was crunchy on the exterier. The fillings were amazingly fresh and there was so much smoked salmon!!!! Gosh how could you ever find this in Hong Kong?

Cakes were impressive. My favourite two were 70% flourless chocolate cake and Lemon Meringue Tart.

The chocoalte cake was seriously so rich and indulging. The cake had a meringue-texture layer on top, while it was moist and velvety inside. It seriously melted in my mouth! A MUST TRY!

Unfortunately I didn't manage to take a photo of the Lemon Meringue tart. It had a genersous amount of tangy, creamy lemon curd, and the meringue had a fluffy texture similar to how Paul Lafayet used to make it when they still serve Lemon Meringue Tart. The tart base was not over buttery but still crunchy enough for my liking.

They also have take-away frozen mousse cakes and mousse cups. One evening I invited two other exchange friends, Kevin and Sophia to come over to my place and have dinner after class. Kevin bought me some lovely wine and Sophia bought us these cute little dessert cups! They were absolutely incredible. The texture was almost like icecream as they were frozen but they were so smooth and the mousse was layered with some chocolate crispy balls which made it almost like parfaits! My favourite was the lemon ones as they were really refreshing.

There were much more on offer. Go find out yourself!

Website: www.serrajordia.com/
Address: Passeig de Valladoreix, 08172 Sant Cugat del Vallès, Barcelona, España

Els Quatre Gats is one restaurant mentioned in almost all tourist guide in Barcelona. It is an artsy place where in the 1900s, this place used to be where artists like Picasso hanged about.

Els Quatre Gats has their A La Carte menu pricier than places like La Fonda, Can Culleretes. If you wish to pay a visit and are looking for the best deal, the weekday lunch menu is what you need. Mind you this place is incredibly packed so make sure you reserved seats beforehand.

During the weekdays, a set lunch will cost you around 16euros per person, including three courses with wine, mineral water and bread.

Since we went there in a group of five, we were lucky enough to get to try everything on the lunch menu. For the first course, there were spinach and cheese lasagne, vegetable and Parmesan, House Paella and goat cheese Salad available.

Spinach and Cheese Lasagne was of a massive portion which I was not surprise at all. There were plentiful of creamy spinach which was awesome or my liking, but slight not cheesy enough. There was a hint of truffle aroma, but sadly the flavour was rather weak. In general a lovely vegetarian lasagne. Just don't expect much from the truffle sauce.

Vegetable and parmesan was served in a small portion. Being simply vegetable strips bake topped with parmesan, it was exceptionally tasty. The crunchiness of cooked vegetable was delighting. The veggie tasted sweet and fresh, while the rich parmesan gave some extra credits to it. Although ingredients used are simple and common, and the presentation of the dish was nothing amazing, it was flavourful and delicious.

House Paella was also surprisingly well done. Of all the paella I tried in barcelona, some of them have the rice too soft, almost congee-like. One good example would be the disastrous paella in Can Culleretes with the long grain rice. Some are too dry, and the rice is tough and somehow not thoroughly, a texture that is beyond al dente, chewy, like the ones from Tapa Tapa. Some have the flavour of seafood all soaked into the rice but nothing left in the seafood itself, like the fish paella served in La Fonda, which was tragic. House Paella in Els Quatre Gats (well in english translations they call the rice "Mountain and Sea Rice", almost like Surf and Turf rice, but as "Paella" in Spanish menu) is lucious but have slight chewiness to the rice. It absorbs the sweetness of seafood and meat, but the seafood itself inside still tasted lovely and fresh. I am guessing they might have used two lots of seafood, one for the broth to cook the rice, and one for garnish. Anyhow it is the best paella I have had in Barcelona after Cheriff. Though I mean, I pay more than triple the price to enjoy a premium paella in Cheriff. Els Quatre Gats should be proud to serve such an outstanding paella. The only thing worth critising is that there was not a lot of seafood in the paella. But I mean who cares? You eat paella for the rice that takes up all the goodness of the seafood. If you fancy to eat more seafood, order a mixed grill!

The goat cheese salad was also beautifully done. The salad leaves were fresh and crunchy. The cheese was fresh, creamy and strong, which its flavour was nicely balanced by the honeyed tomato jam. It was a light start but definitely finger licking good.

For the Mains, the steak was the best out of all. It was cooked perfectly, with the centre being nice and pink. The meat was tender and meat flavour was dominating. It was only seasoned with salt which made it tasty enough. The jacket potato was mushy, but it would be even better if the potato skin is a little crispier.

 

Stew Fish with Potato and Clams had become the favourite of Kevin. There was a generous amount of fish on the dish. I would say it's a little similar to some Chinese style stew fish in a pot. Though to me the sauce was a little too flavourful to have covered the natural sweetness of the seafood.

 

Despite its inappealling look, the duck casserol had the duck falling off its bones, extremely tender and it worked well with the mushy artichokes. It was a pity the dish was slightly salty.

 

Swordfish was similar fried fish fillet. The fish itself tasted bear but fresh and sweet on its own. I believe the highlight was the veggie strips in the slight tangy sauce, which helped reducing the greasiness of the dish.

 

For dessert, we ordered apple cakes and pinaapple kebab.

 

It turned out that the apple cake was thin layers of sponge with the custard used to make Crema Catalana in between them. It was slightly too sweet and creamy to our liking, or it was just a little out of expectation that we did not fancy it wholeheartedly.

The Pinapple Kebab was simply pinapple pieces on skewer , and served with custard. Although there was not something wow and surprising, it was actually quite refreshing after this huge, satisfying lunch.

 

One thing to point out that prices on menus are not including VATs. It was around 17-18 euros per person at the end which we believe it was still reasonable given the quality, the portion and the experience in such an ancient artsy place. Worth going!

 

Website: http://4gats.com/es

Address:

C/ Montsió Nº3

Barcelona 08002

Can Culleretes is one of my favourite restaurant in Barcelona. It is the oldest restaurant here where Gaudi used to come here every year to dine with his friends. That will be his only time dining out in an entire year!

To dine in this place, you must make reservations beforehand to secure a table. The best thing about restaurants in Barcelona is even a tiny bakery cafe in your village could have its own website that you can make reservations easily.

In general, booking for dinner with a small group (2-4) should be done at least one week in advance, while booking for more people should be done at least 2 weeks in advance! In general it is easier to book for lunch, but the chance booking for dinner the day will depend on your luck.

Catalan Suckling Pig is definitely a must try. It is freshly roasted, so it usually takes a bit longer than other dishes to arrive at your table. It is served with a sweet sauce made with a variety of dry fruits which leverage meat flavour of the suckling pig. The skin was so delicate and crisp that it cracked straight away when you lightly poke your knife into to it. Underneath the skin, there was the meat with thin layers of pork fat in between. The meat is usually very tender while the fat simply dissolve in the mouth that it is total heaven! However you never know which part of the pig you will be given. Some parts are meatier and less tender than others so you would have to bet on your luck.

Goose with Apple was another excellent meat dish. The goose meat was so tender and flavourful. It simple fell off the bones. The apple was cooked perfectly. Soft, but not mushy was its texture, and its sweetness went marvelously with the goose meat. It is a must try along with the suckling pig!

Canelones (Cannelonis) is also a common Catalan cuisine. There are Canelones with mince and liver, and Canelones with cod and Spinach. The traditional one with mince and liver was served with a creamy, cheesy white sauce. The amount of cheesiness was just right and overwhelming as an antipasto. There was tremendous amount of filling inside, meaty and flavourful. The cod and spinach one was also nicely done. The sauce was creamy, with plentiful spinach. The fishy flavour of the cod was not too apparent. In general both canelones were simple and delicious.

Fish soup has a really outstanding fishy flavour, but I would say it is not a soup for everyone. Perhaps for Chinese, we are so used to having the ginger there in fish soup to eliminate the unwanted, sharp fishy taste. The soup was watery, thin and mild tasted which made it not the best for breads to soak if one doesnt fancy soggy, tasteless bread. Surprisingly the 3 pieces of bread slices on top was still crunchy after being soaked. This is seriously the biggest highlight of the soup. Nevertheless as I have not had any other Catalan fish soup elsewhere, I guess I am the most appropriate person to judge how good this soup is.

Paella was pricy and out of expectation. For 17 euros, the size is smaller than the normal size you usually find in most restaurants. There was no doubt that a lot of seafood was put into it, and the rice has absorbed some of the goodness from the seafood. However instead of paella rice from Valencia, long grain rice was used instead which was very soggy, almost in Japanese congee style. The seafood was overcooked that the texture of the shrimps was rather mushy. There were really so many squid pieces in the rice, and luckily they were nice and tender. But since I am not a big fan of squid, i would appreciate more rice than squid pieces. There was also this huge chunk of chicken breast on top which silly us thought it was a piece of fish instead. It was dry and tough and tasteless. What disappointing paella.

Grilled rabbit and Fries was served with alioli. And I would say the rabbit was rather bare on its own, which I understand why they put the alioli there. With this dish, I found out that perhaps I am really not a huge fan of rabbit meat when the meat is not marinated. Surprisingly the (rare) muscles of the rabbit had a chewy texture. The fries were crunchy enough to my liking.

The Ratatouille was rich in the veggie flavour, quite sweet, which was lovely on its own. However the chicken drumstick was dry and there was not much taste to it. Another item to avoid.

For dessert, whisky tart was one of the best we have tried. It is like icecream cake like Viennette but with a light whisky flavour.

Apple sorbet was smooth. It tasted just like one of those apple flavoured sweets. It was rather artificial for someone who doesn’t eat sweets like me.

Irish coffee was quite a disaster, no offense. There is not much coffee to it but the liquor was seriously too overwhelming. We were guessing the proportions of coffee and whisky were not right as the drink was so strong that it really burnt our throats when we were only having sips of it.

Can Cullerestes is definitely worth A visit in your trip to Barcelona. There are also set menus during lunch and dinner. There is one thing to note that this restaurant can have sneaky charges. For example, the bread on the table will cost 1 euro each. If you leave them there on the table and not touching any, they would exclude them on your bills. However sometimes they will take the bread away as you are not eating them, but will still charge you for it. The reasoning they make it "you should have told them you are not eating the bread". If you do not order any drinks, they will charge you 1 euro each for service, which usually it turn out to be wiser and cheaper and wiser to get drinks.

Website: www.culleretes.com/‎
Address: Carrer d'en Quintana, 5, 08002 Barcelona, España

The first time I tried El Quim de la Boqueria was in the Mercat i Mercat Barcelona food fair, where the tapas bar set up a booth and sold solely Soft Shell Crab Burger. As there was so many cuisines serving soft shell crab in Hong Kong, I did not expect to get a decent Soft Shell Crab Burger in Europe. Nonetheless it really did surprise me as the burger was seriously SO GOOD! The beetroot bun had a tiny hint of sweetness. It was airy and soft, while the soft shell crab was beautifully crunchy on the shell but the interior was JUST COOKED! It was so juicy and flavourful inside... it was not seasoned but tasted natually sweet (OMG this is what I call Heaven...). The only thing worth critising was that the bun was not toasted. But still! It was so good !!!!!

 

Afterthat I have always wanted to pay a visit to its Tapas Bar in Mercat de la Boqueria. For 95% of the time it is super crowded.. I did some research on the web, and realise that El Quim de la Boqueria is so famous with its egg dishes. And you know what's lucky being a girl from Hong Kong? El Quim has opened its first restaurant - QUEMO in Wan Chai!!!!!! I am so going soon!!!

 

(Anyway back to Spain.)

 

So one day I went with my friend to its tapas kiosk in Boqueria and we ordered a Grilled Baby Squid with Two Fried Eggs, and a portion of Bull Trail to share.

 

The fresh bread to start with airy and crunchy on the exterior. We tried to save it for wiping of all the sauces of our dishes, but almost half ended up gone before the food arrived.

 

The Fried Eggs with Baby Squid was serious stuff! The eggs had the edges all nice and extremely crispy, while the yolk stayed runny and rich in that yolky flavour. The squid was sweet, really tender and delectable. They were lightly seasoned with pepper and garlic, and OMG saving the bread was the wisest decision we have made as it was so delicious to eat it with the runny egg!

 

The bull tail was nothing disappointing neither. The meat was super tender but it didnt fall off the bones like it should. Why is that? Because there was so much gelatine/cologen gluing the meat to the bones! It was gooey and moist, and the potato soaked all the lovely flavour too. How gorgeous!

 

Can't wait to pay a visit to QUEMO in Wan Chai. Tell me if anyone is going soon I am sticking with you!

 

Address: Mercado de la Boqueria, La Rambla, 91, 08002 Barcelona

I have never liked Paella very much...

 

...before I found out about Cheriff!

 

It's not always easy to find the perfect Paella, with the rice having the right chewy but cooked(!) texture, the sauce being just sufficient, not being too dry or soupy. The hardest thing to find some paella absorbing the sweetness of seafood in rice, but at the same time mixed (or just garnished) by decent fish with flavour!

 

Well. Cheriff is right place to go. But the warning, this place is seriously pricy.

 

The bread they serve was nice and fresh. They charge 1-2 euros per person for the bread even if you don't touch it.

 

In Cheriff, they mainly serve everything from the sea. I guess being located at Barceloneta, the sea is right next door. What's better than getting freshest ingredients from there?

 

For starter, I personally would recommand the mussels here. For 10 euros, the portion is definitely huge enough for sharing. The mussels here were indeed really juicy, fresh and lucious. The garlic oil at the bottom of the dish is perfect for bread dipping as there was left the goodness of the mussels. YUM.

 

The Calamaris was pricy though. I mean. Yes. For 18 euors, the portion was also huge. But I would say the Calamaris in Cheriff were slightly dry and over fried. The texture of the squid ring was still nice and soft, but I swear there are much better ones available in the seafood kiosks in Mercat de la Boqueria or Tapa Tapa. Mind you they will not give you any sauces to go with the Calamaris. You can ask for some, an they will give them to you too, but without telling you that the sauces will cost you 3 euros each. Watch out!

 

Anyhow, the Paella here is a must try! There are many different kinds of paella being served here, with some depending  the daily price of the seafod eg. the different kinds of Lobster Paella. As a poor student, I only order the least expensive option - "Cheriff" Paella (16 euros per person, 2 people minimum) and shared it with 2 friends, while two others ordered the Canadian Lobster Paella (20 euros per person, 2 people minimum).

 

The house paella was honestly so good! It was the paella I had in Barcelona that I appreciate most! (I guess it might be because I have never been to Valencia which is like the birth place of Paella.) The slightly chewy right was soaked in the flavourful seafood sauce, and there were tremendous amount of fresh, decent seafood inside. I mean... there were more seafood than rice! And the portion was so huge that I believe a 2 people portion can be shared between 3 comfortably! There was no sign of Saffron, and it might not be the most traditional Paella, but it was a true beauty!

 

The Canadian Lobster Paella was also highly impressive. The sauce used to cook the rice was even sweeter. The lobster was fresh from the water. Like how they do it in the seafood restaurants in Sai Kung, they pick a live lobster out of the water and show their customers before it being cooked. It looked absolutely humongous and according to my friends opinions they lobster meat was fleshy, fresh and really tasty.

 

In general, seafood, drinks, basically everything served in this place were pricy so be prepared. But its quality and its portion size definitely justify the price! Another MUST-TRY in Barcelona!

 

Address: Ginebra, 15 - 17, 08003 Barcelona, Spain

Rosa Negra is one of my favourite restaurant in Barcelona. The mexican food they serve is of great value, and the atmosphere of this place really makes everyone forgeting all fine-dining cliché and enjoy the hype with a large group of friends.

All frozen Margarita and Mojitos were 3.50 euros each. HOW CHEAP! and they were of pretty good quality. Not being a huge fan of mint, I always loved my margaritas. For margarita, they have the good old lemon flavour, passion fruit, strawberry and tangerine. There were also original mojito and raspberry mojito available.

Burritos. Were AMAZING. The portions were huge and the meat instead was always juicy, lucious and flavourful. The pork one was served with a little bit of rice rolled inside but you really won't notice it unless you take a close look, while the grilled beef one had some mash rolled in. The pork was scrumpious and the beef tasted like steak cubes. There were plentiful of meat and both were superb! Mind you for a group of girls, one piece of burrito can fill each of you up easily. Not a wise choice to each order a portion of burrito!

Tacos were not bad too. I have some doubt about the chicken and guacamole one as I found the chicken pieces slightly dry and tasteless. Though the slow-cooked beef was my favourite. It was served with tomato salsa, and the shredded beef was so juicy that the juice just keep dripping through the thin tortillas! You may also pick the grilled beef one. It is served with an extremely spicy sauce which my warning is be safe with it. It is not like the Chinese spice where it is spicy but at the same give some extra aroma to the dish. This one ONLY KILLS YOUR TONGUE. FULL STOP. I believe the grilled beef was so much nicer in burritos than in tacos.

If you have a decision-making problem just like I do, you may also order the taco variety, so you can try all tacos available on the menu.

I shared with my friends this quesadilla with shrimps and mushrooms. It didn't look like the ones we get in American restaurants, but who cares? It tasted good! The toasted tortilla was soft, and what filled inside were a tremendous amount of cheese, shrimps and mushroom. It was an interesting combination. Finally there was something other meat options. We were no longer carnivores for once!

If you ever got bored of Spanish food in Barcelona but don't want to be cheated in all those "Asian" place, this is where you want to be!

Website: http://www.rosanegrabcn.com/
Address: Via Laietana, 46, 08003 Barcelona, España

Like Txapela and Boldu, Farga serve breakfast sets. They have sets with different type of pastries and sandwiches. However you basically will not have an idea how much you will be paying for your breakfast because you help youself at the breakfast bar, as if it is a buffet! They do not label prices at the breakfast bar, and if you are operating a master saving plan, being concerned about the price and quality ratio like me, you would have to rely on your first glance you took at the breakfast menu while you are stepping into the restaurant (which seriously was unhelpful lol).

I must say, the sandwiches looked highly temptatious in Farga. Other than the  normal fillings such Spanish tortilla, ham and cheese etc., they also have smoked salmon, jamon Iberico etc. Everything looked soooo good! So at the end, I picked a Jamon Iberico and egg sandwich in cereal bread.

The cereal bread tasted fresh but not very airy. A little tough I must say. There were a generous amount of Jamon, of which the quality was fair. They made the egg like an omelet  n cut it into strips to put them into these mini sandwiches as fillings. The egg strip was not too dry, but far from creamy.

The fresh brewed cafe con leche had right amount of milk I need. The foam was fluffy and velvety, quite outstanding comparing to Bubo and Txapela.

Generally speaking, for a price of 4.75 for a coffee and mini sandwich, food quality wise I would expect more surprises. Nonetheless the services and the setting of the restaurant were excellent.

Just out of interest, Farga and Farggi, the icecream brand, are both in the same company. I was so ready to practise my Poor Spanish to ask the receptionist but she told me before I finish asking, as if she can read my mind!

Website: www.fargabarcelona.com

This is definitely an ideal place to enjoy pinxos because they are only 1 euro each and they are sooo tasty!

Pinxo is a classic tapas to enjoy in Pais Vasco (Basque Country). Along Carrer de Blai, there are many pinxos bar. Some are pricier, some has less space to sit and chat, or some may have a smaller range of pinchos on offer. I personally love going to La Tasqueta de Blai because they serve a huge variety of pinxos. Not only do they do they change the food on offer through out the day, they also have seasonal flavours which makes you want to come back all the time!

My favourite one had to be the smoked salmon and tomato pinxo. There was tremendous amount of salmon which I just can't help dropping some on the plate while munching it. The salmon was so moist, nice and smokey but alright with the saltiness.

The cream cheese wrapped in York ham was not bad too! The cheese was so creamy inside, while the basil and the bits of boiled egg really enhanced the flavours of the pinxo. Simply delicious!

Smoked Bacaloa (cod) was not bad too. Not much of a surprise but it still tasted fab.

I also find the one with red pepper filled with blood sausage really interesting. The sweetness of the pepper helped balancing the slightly rich and smooth yet slightly greasy blood sausage. The blood sausage tasted a little like the British black pudding but much more moist to it.

There were also quite a number of vegetarian options with aubergines, cheese, tofu etc. The ones with tofu were so far so good. Being marinated in soy sauce, the flavoured tofu worked pretty good with the sweet cranberry sauce. Though I still prefer the Chinese way of cooking tofu.

Each glass of wine was only 1 euro each and their house wines are lovely and sweet!

Address:
Carrer de Blai, 17
08004 Barcelona

Blanc is one of the place Iwant to try for a long long time. They have a sunday brunch that only costs 39 euros per person, including a glass of cava and hot drinks. Unfortunately either was I too broke or unavailable, I was not able to make it on any of the sundays.

Afternoon tea is available everyday from 17:00 to 19:00. All the sandwiches and cakes are on the table which we can help yourself. You may order drinks, and get something to munch on from the table, and paying them at the prices according to the A La Carte afternoon tea menu, or you can get a package, with either tea, Jing teas, or a glass of Cava, and help yourself to whatever you want on the table. I on purposely chosen to come on a Tuesday, because from Turesday to Saturday, there is a pianist playing live music on the beautifully snow white grand piano in the lounge.


As a caffaine addict, not having a package with coffee really was the most disastrous fact about this afternoon tea at Blanc. Being not a huge fan of teas, I order a package with tea, and a capuccino to cheer myself up.

The capuccino was hearty. It came with two petit sponge bites which were lovely. There are bits of almonds inside. They are slight caramelised, chewy on the exterior, buttery and moist inside. Their sizes are perfect for dipping.  The Capuccino was covered with smooth, creamy froth, and the strength was just right to by liking. The milky flavour was not too overwhelming but soothing and tasted naturally sweet which is gorgeous with my sugarless coffee.

For the teas, there are quite a number of choices. In Blanc, before pucking your teas, the waitresses will bring you all teas available to so you could have a snif of all of them before making up your mind. Not being a huge fan of teas, I am not sure how to judge the Arabian herbal i picked. Though it came elegantly with a ancient style tea pot, and 3 pies of that delicious sponge.

For sandwiches, there were two types availble. One of which is the common option - Jamon Iberico. Although sandwiches were served cold, the baguette used was nice and crunchy. I always love the Pa amb Tomaquet. Not only dies the tomato makes the bread moist than ever, its sweetness balances the saltiness of Jamon. With this perfect match and fresh. Read, it was simple and fulfilling.

According to the menu, the other sandwich available should be with ruccula, olive sauce, dried tomato and cream cheese . However on the table I only found cereal bread with cucumber, carrot and avocado. I love avocado and vegetarian sandwiches, but this one seriously a little dry and bare. The fillings were so insufficient that basically all I could taste was the fresh, grainy cereal bread. The bread was wonderfully fresh, but I would ask for more at places like Blanc.

The first cake I tasted was the Chocolate Texture. The central was this crunchy praline, topped with vanilla custard-like cream, all coated with chocolate mousse and dark ganache. The mousse was rich and indulging, and vanillacream was light, cold which reduced the sickiness of all the chocolate on each layer. The amount of sweetness was just right. It was definitely goodness for all chocolate cravers.

I had doubt with the matcha mochi at first. I mean this is the same logic as you wouldn't order sweet and sour chicken at places claiming to serve Chiinese food to white people in Europe, right? Surprisingly, the mochi dough was extraordinarily fluffy and soft, very freshly made. Inside was some mochi mousse, which was strong, velvety, very light and airy. Of course you can not expect the matcha flavour to be as rich as the matcha icecream from Chacha Sweethouse, but it would work nicely as a sweet treat withyour teas and coffee if you'd prefer something light.

However the lemon meringue tart was rather than disappointing. The lemon curd was refreshing, while the meringue was creamy but not fluffy enough. The base of the tart is a buttery piece of cookie. Its texture was almost like a  thin slice of shortbread I personally think it was a little overly buttery as a refreshing dessert. So at the end I giving up on the tart base.

I also tried a matcha financier, which was outstandingly good. Its texture is a lot like the petit sponge that came with the coffee and teas, with rich aroma of matcha. It didn't look particularly outstanding but the rich matcha flavour really move me. Almost as strong as the matcha butter cake I find in Cha-no-wa!

There was no huge variety available. However the quality and presentations are pretty good.

Apart from pastries, cakes, they also served Asian and Turkish sweets, as well as mousse cups and yoghurt.

They didn't really refill anything at the buffet table, which was absolutely alright during weekdays but became problemetic when it came to busy days like the weekends. I mean... for some items like Matcha Mochi, there was only one piece available for everyone in Blanc.


It was quite a relaxing experience to sit on the soft, while enjoying my tea or coffee and listening to the pianist playing live music.


Website: http://www.mandarinoriental.es/barcelona/fine-dining/blanc/
Address: Passeig de Gràcia 38-40, 08007 Barcelona, España

Having heard so much about El Bulli, the world best restaurant for years, I have been looking forward to try its tapas at the Ticket's Bar for MONTHS!

If you are as foodie as I am and you are planning to visit Barcelona next month, and you haven't made any reservations yet, you can basically drop the idea and starting planning for your next trip because you need to book your table at least 2 months in advance. Well you may also bet on your luck, wait outside the restaurant and try to see if anyone will drop out on the day. Reservations are only opened 2 months before so you can not book it right in advance, and make sure you pick up the phone call from the restaurant few days before your booking as they may cancel your booking without your confirmation!

In Tickets, you and your party will each be given a fancy menu (which will cost you 18 euros to buy if you are so keen to keep a copy). You may order each dish from the menu, or you can tell the waiter that serves your table the budget per ahead you prefer, what food you are allergic or do not prefer, and they will bring out whatever surprises you.

It was like a farewell dinner for my group of exchange friends together with our most admired history and art teacher Alex. We went in a group of 6 (the maximum number of seats you can book) and we had a budget of 50 euros per head. We had 15 dishes in total and we also ordered two bottles of cava to share.

The first apetizer was this pistachio tempura. There were around 8-10 pieces in each bag. The coating was very light, the nut of crunchy and delicious. However it depends whether you value this bag of nuts as much as 3.60 euros each.

The Tickets' Olive-S was quite interesting. It had a thin layer of gelatine filled with olive juice that just bursted in my mouth when you press against the gelatine coat. We tried two version, one with some spice and the other one with rosemary. They look almost identical but I think my favourite was the herb one.

The crostini with Tomato Seeds and Cantabrian Anchovy was quite impressive. The bread snap was crunchy, while the anchovy was of high quality. The marinated fish was flavourful, slightly sweet without that unwanted fishy taste that everyone tries to avoid. The tomato seed was refreshing and lucious that went well with the anchovy. Even Sophia who was not a big fan of anchovy said she found this pretty good!

I liked the Mini Airbag Stuffed with Manchego Cheese Foam. This bite-size tapa was made with a delicate airy puff that cracked into pieces easily, letting the cheese foam inside to slowly dissolve in the mouth. How lovely...

The air baguette was totally, and I mean completely(!) hollow inside! it was just like a bread shell wrapped round with Jamon Canario, the one Spanish ham that is cooked, from the Canaria Islands. It was very light indeed and the paprika on top really gave it a kick. It was something differed from the usual Jamon Iberico.

Quail Egg with Its Nest was outstandingly good, and it was Kevin's favourite. The boiled quail egg was still runny inside and the rich egg yolk again like the olive bursted out in the mouth. It was topped with a tinsy bit of wasabi mayonaise which surprisingly worked perfect together! The nest was crunchy and it was just marvellous with the gooey egg yolk!

The tuna in ones was a little like the Japanese Temaki, with chopped raw tuna cubes in a seaweed and crepe cone. What made it special was the crepe cone as it enriched the texture of that entire bite.

It was the first time I tried fresh oysters being served with ponzu sauce and salmon roe. Ponzu sauce is the type of vingre that the Japanese use to marinate its pickle. The ponzu sauce together with the roe enhanced the sweetness of the oyster. It was so fresh and scrumptious!

When talking about my favourite tapa of the night, it has got to be the Avocado Cannelloni filled with Crab Meat. The avocado slices were so soft and it was filled with tremendous amount of crab meat that simply flooded out when I bited into it. GOD That was SO GOOOOOOD!

The marinated fried fish was no bad too. It was marinated in Indian style with spices. It was flavoursome, crispy outside but far from greasy. The only thing was I found the flavour of the spices slightly overwhelming that you could hardly taste the sweetness of the fish itself.

Jamon Canario a la Gallega was prepared the same way as the famous Pulpo a la Gallega from Galicia. The potato was soft and mushy. It was not too surprising though as for me it is just potato and ham. I guess it is something very traditional for the Spanish.

The Mollete with Double Chin was simple yet very tasty. It was made with a light little bun filled wth grilled belly pork slice. The pork itself was scumpious and juicy which really made this little sandwich so delicious but free from any complexity.

For desserts, we had Passion Fruit Marshmallow and Black Sesame White Chocolate. I must say for both the sweets, the presentation was way more exciting than the taste itself. The Marshmallow worms were fluffy and light, while the chocolate was smooth but melted easily on the hands.

In short, it was a fascinating experience dining in Tickets (it's not too filling though so like Kevin said don't go there starving.) The food quality was excellent. Worth trying!

Website: es.bcn50.org/

Reservation Contact: reservas@ticketsbar.es

Address: Avinguda Paral·lel 164, 08015 Barcelona, España

Ciudad Condal is one of my favourite tapas bar which was recommanded by my exchange friends Kevin and Sophia. They serve excellent tapas and there are daily off-menu specials made with the freshest ingredients of the day. Whether or not you find the stuff I recommand will depend on your luck, but trust me there is no way towards disappointment for definite.

For items that are always available, you must never miss out the Salmon Montadito. All montadito at the bar except the ones with Spanish Jamon, 5 Cheese and anchovies are 1.45 euros each. The Salmon one is usually the all-time-favourite for every one if you like smoked salmon to start with because it is so thick and moist and soft and not overly salty hmmmm it really delicious even though yes it is only salmon!

 

Fried cheese is pretty good you are nut for cheeses. It is like brie on skewer, coated with nuts and served with a sweet cranberry sauce. Once itifried, the cheese inside is so gooey and creamy. YUM.

 

Veal Sirloin is not bad but sometimes it is a little chewy. There are usually daily special steak on skewer at the bar and my experience with those are better. Ones we had this skewer of steak with apple and foie gras. It was only 3.95 euros each but it was seriously finger-licking good. You would have to rely on your luck for that!

 

There are also a variety of salad available everyday including the classic ones in most tapas bar like Russian, seafood, etc. This Califonia Salad was the most appealing to me as it was avocado-covered! Apart from avocado, there was farfalle pasta, york ham, cheese, and it was served with two slices of fresh pa amb tomaquet. I just love the soft avocado in oil! And a portion of salad is so filling. Better share it with someone!

 

There is Spanish tortilla everywhere you go, and you can buy one easily from the supermarket. You can buy one, stick it into the microwave and TaDaaa here you are.

 

But if you are talking about a quality tortilla, Ciudad Condal is one of the best place to enjoy it. It is only made with egg and potato like the traditional ones, but the tortilla here had the potato soft and mushy, while the egg was delectably fluffy, smooth and lucious inside. It was only just shaped! What an amazing tortilla.

 

Baked pepper stuffed with cod is another classic at tapas places. The sweet peppers was stuffed with an overflowing amount of shedded yet juicy cod pieces and they were topped with baked with some emmental. Worth the wait.

 

In general I would not recommand anyone to try their grill seafood here because they quite expensive, and sometimes seafood are served overcooked or cold. Though their grill prawns are pretty good. The prawns are really plump and succulent. Without any flavourings the prawns on its own are sweet on its own.

 

This off-menu baked cod is also a must try if you see it. The salted cod was topped and baked with brie, and it was served with a sweet tomato jam. Scumpiously fabulous.

 

Ciudad Condal will be a great place to enjoy tapas in Barcelona, and the prices are reasonable too. It is really close to Pl. Catalunya along Rambla de Catalunya. Queuing is a must but if you don't mind, you can go reserve a table at the reception, but at the same time wait behind the bar for any available seats. At the bar, each individual have his/her own bill. You may also enjoy stand-up tapas, grab a glass of wine, a plate of food and just chill!

 

Address: Rambla de Catalunya, 18

Gran Via de les Cots Catalanes, 603

08007 Barcelona, Spain