Bella Barcelona - Part 4, Restaurants

We ate our way through Barcelona and found the restaurants to be abundant, inexpensive and really fabulous. Meal times are much later than Anglo or even French habits, but we got used to that. Once we had dinner served to us at midnight.

Our habit was to leave the apartment at mid-morning and find a place for esmorzar (breakfast in Catalan). We always ordered orange juice,  croissant and a café con leche.  After a long night of sleeping, what better way to start the day than by relaxing in the sun?

There are lots of wonderful cafés everywhere you go in the center of the city. It is just a matter of choosing one.

Dinar (Catalan for lunch) was generally our biggest meal. We had some really memorable mid-day meals.

Don't arrive before 1PM, since they will still be setting up, and things don't really start jumping until 2 or 3.

We had the distinct advantage of having a friend with us who lives in Barcelona and could identify the best places to eat. We had one of the most pleasant lunches we've ever had at La Mar Salada. Located on the harbor, it doesn't look like much from the outside, but the food was divine. On the terrace where we sat, the sun was shinning gloriously and the waiters were charming and attentive. We were nurtured from top to bottom. I had a green tomato gazpacho and tuna steak dressed in a delicious teriyaki sauce. For dessert, the chocolate bomb. We also realized that we'd read about this restaurant in the New York Times.

We loved the tapas, particularly the gambas al Ajillo (garlic shrimp), Calamares Fritos (fried squid) and patatas bravas (fried popatoes served with aioli and paprika sauce). The sea food was particularly fresh, the sauces particularly tasty.

Spanish wine is quite nice as well. We enjoyed some fabulous crisp whites and mellow reds. We had a wine cellar not far from our apartment. My favorite white was Viña Sol, so easy to drink, like grapefruit juice, and so refreshing.