Eating like a local in Barcelona

One of my favorite things to do in life is eating and drinking and Barcelona is a great place to be in for that reason:)

After living for almost three years in the Catalonian capital and getting addicted to its typical dishes, it is obvious that the first thing I do when visiting, is eating all the food I can.

So, that includes a ‘bikini’ for breakfast, which is a ham and cheese toastie with butter on the outside accompanied with a fresh orange juice and a ‘café con leche’. Yes, that’s my kind of breakfast.

I went to Barcelona to visit my friends last week and when trying to meet up with them, lunch was always agreed around 2.30/3 pm. Crazy! But perfect excuse for me to stop in one of the hundreds of bakeries spread out in town to get a ‘bocadillo con fuet’, a typical sliced pork meat, for the cost of 2 €. OMG do I love that place?

However, the highlight of last week’s break, was our lunch at ‘La Bombeta‘. My friend Maria and I decided to have food in La Barceloneta and noticed a big queue outside of a restaurant, of locals. So that’s where we stopped and we enjoyed every second of it. We had fresh clams in a white wine sauce, ‘bombas’, which are meat and potato balls covered in breadcrumbs, ‘chipirones’, which can never miss at ‘tapas’ time and an ‘esqueixada’, which is a traditional Catalan dish, consisting of a salad of salt cod, tomatoes, onions and olives. ‘Nos pusimos las botas’! And we ended the meal with a good orujo de hierbas, a herbal liquor which is perfect as a digestive.

Catalan Bodega

Try a Catalan Bodega. The majority of tourists visit Barcelona and drink sangria. Did you know sangria is not very traditional in Barcelona? Try a glass of cava and some cold fish dishes instead and feel like a local! Catalans will be delighted too! Bodega Casas is a good one to try;)

Barrio de Gracia

Visit el Barrio de Gracia and get lost in its hundreds of small lanes and squares. You will never be far away from a cold ‘birra’ and a ‘pan amb tomaquet’ based bocadillo! ‘Pan amb tomaquet’ literally means bread with tomato and this is how Catalans like to eat their sandwiches and paninis, or better said ‘bocadillos’ or ‘torradas’. The tomato is spread on the toasted bread and what a difference it does make! Of course oil is included in the recipe..yummy!

‘La Llesca’ is probably my favourite place for Catalan cuisine just now. They serve everything ‘a la brasa’ (on the grill) and the ‘filete de entraña’ is definitely a winner, the most tender piece of meat I had in ages, and the cheapest as well. The restaurant is very original, not pretentious at all and it’s decorated with lots of vintage radios.

Cocktail Bar Boadas

And to conclude your day, why not having a cocktail at the oldest cocktail bars just in the middle of las Ramblas? Cocktail Bar Boadas is one of those places that brings you back in time and what a classy time I would say! I was impressed with the professionalism and the knowledge of the barman. What an hidden gem. You will love this one, I promise!