ChowAlf

Thanks to the people here at egullet, I believe I made the most of my limited number of meals in both city. Special thanks to Docsconz, Silly Disciple, Bux and many others for their insight. ChowAlf p.s.: forgot to mention that while at Con Roca, overheard two ladies from a table of four requesting a "green salad" for their app .

This is a recap of my 7 days/nights of eating in Madrid & Barcelona. We had some really good eats thanks to recommendations from egullet, chowhound and other sites. Madrid -------- Arrived in Madrid Sunday afternoon to find out that almost everyone had booked their favorite restaurant for Sunday lunch. Asador Aranda & Asador Tierra Aranda were both full. By chance bumped into El Cantábrico, a marisco serving mainly chilled cooked seafood on Calle Padilla. Their cold gambas was one of the best gambas dish of the trip. Nicely flavored & succulent. Cold Necora(crab) was good. Choriso was tasty, the potato chips was pretty good. Overall Rating – Very Good. Sunday dinner was at Cazorla Restaurante on Montessa. It’s a small restaurant w. a small bar area in the front for tapas. Their apps of Gamblas al Aijillo , Mixed Fry & Sepia a la Plancha were all great. The small order of Mixed Fry was a tremendous bargain(11 Euros) consisting of a huge platter of deep fried sardines, baby flounders, navajas, scallops, zucchini, calamari, pulpito and a single cigale. The mains were less extraordinary. The baby lamb chops & baby goat leg were pretty good, the seabass was good. One can have an excellent meal based soley on the seafood apps. Overall Rating – Very, Very Good. Monday Lunch was at Julian de Tolosa on Cava Baja. Had an amuse of tasty small deep fried sausages. Started w. the Jamon & Lomo de Iberico - very good. For mains had the Chuleton de Buey & Fried Hake. Both very good. The roasted pimiento was tasty and abit pricey. The steak while very good was not as good as the ones at Trattoria Sostanza in Florence, which I consider outstanding. I also consider the Boeuf Grillee at Per Se & the Rib Eye steak at Daniel to be better than Julian’s. Overall Rating – Very Good. Monday Dinner was at Viridiana on Juan de Mensa. The meal consisted of 4 apps, 2 entrees and 3 deserts. All the portions were very generous. The egg w. mushroom puree & black truffle sauce was outstanding. On a similar level to Per Se’s “Oysters and Pearls”. The sirloin tip w. mushrooms and the various deserts(in particular the sorbets) were great. A very nice touch was the sweetened fresh mint tea. Overall Rating – Great. Tuesday Lunch was at El Ventorrillo Murciano. Had the mixed fried sausages(very good), grilled vegetables(very, very good), and arroz con carabineros(very, very good). The Carabineros were humongous bright red colored “armored” shrimp-like creatures that imo taste like lobster. Overall Rating – Very, very Good. Last dinner in Madrid was at Combarro on Jose Ortega y Gasset. Shared some shellfish apps of Langoustines a la Plancha, Cigales a la Plancha and Scallops a la Naturale. The Langoustines(large prawn) were grilled w. oil & salt and tasted great. The Cigales grilled a la Plancha were outstanding. It was one of my favorite shellfish dishes. The Scallops a la naturale were broiled in it’s shell w. oil, chopped onions & bacon bits. It was abit overcooked but still good. Mains consisted of Monkfish, Sea bass and Turbot all cooked a la Plancha. The fish dishes on average were very good but lacked the cooking expertise of a Con Roca or Abac. Overall Rating – Very, very good. Barcelona ------------ Arrived in Barcelona Wed afternoon. Had lunch at Universal Kiosko in the Boqueria Mkt. Had the navajas, almejas, setas, gambas & pulpo gallego. Thought the almejas and setas were great. Others thought the navajes were also great(sweet and tender). Overall Rating – very, very good. Wed dinner was at Cinc Sentits. The cava sabayon shot didn’t do much for me. The other amuses: foie grois torchon & quail egg were great. There was a dish of cigale tail & seafood flavored tapioca. The cigale tail was sweet & cooked just right. However, the tapioca portion didn’t work for me. A fish dish w. asparagus tips was great. The lamb chop w. porcini crust was good. The Pana Cotta desert was very good, The hazelnut parfait was good. Overall Rating – very good. Thurs lunch was at Quimet i Quimet. Had the assorted preserved seafood(good). I liked the smaller preserved almejas the most. The bacalao con olives tapa was very , very good. The bacalao was very succulent. The salmon, yogurt & honey tapa was great. Leave it to the Spaniards to make an extremely tasty “salmon & cream cheese” tapas. The bouquerones & pate tapas were also very good. I found the food quite imaginative w. very nice combination of flavors. Overall Rating – Very, very good. Thursday night was drizzly so we opted to goto Cal Pep for dinner. The almejas was a great dish. The tuna tartare & pulpito frito were very, very good. The navaje was very good but not as good as the ones at Kiosko. The raved about fried artichokes were merely good. The arroz w. pulopito was abit salty but good. The pan amb tomaquet had bread that was quite hard. I’ve had better and fresher pan amb tomaquet at Casa Mono in NYC. Overall Rating – very good. Friday Lunch was at Cellar de Con Roca . Standout dishes were the cheese tapas, Scallops, Red Mullet , Roasted Lamb & the deserts. The smoked tuna was delicate and very good. The Foie Gras Turron was like a luxurious chocolate bar and tasted very good. Also very good and quite imaginative were the cold apple soup & the cheese and onion soup. The pigeon w. rice was very good. I thought the food was the most creative of the whole trip. Overall Rating – Great. Friday Dinner was at Sauc. Standout dishes were the sorbet, San Pedro fish dish and the Roasted iberic suckling pig. The suckling pig skin was paper thin! The pig could have been alittle moister and alittle more sauce would have been nice. Overall Rating – Very, very good. Saturday Lunch was at a nondescript indian restaurant off of Placa de Espana. The chicken schwarma was very good. Saturday Dinner was at Abac at the Park hotel. We asked for the their signature dishes to be included in our tasting menu. Standout dishes were the scallops w. suquet sauce, seabass w. Pirorat sauce, Roasted Iberic suckling pig & the petit fours. Service was the best of the whole trip and better service than what I’ve experienced in NYC(Per Se, Jean Georges, Daniel,…). Overall Rating : Great. ChowAlf

Silly, What are the must see sites in Girona? What are possible options in place of Abac (ie great food, similiar or less price range, within barcelona)? thanks, ChowAlf

Docsconz, Kiosk Universal sounds great for lunch. I'll also add the chocolate places and Jamonisimo to the itinerary. I'm going to Monserrat by train. I'm abit short on time for this trip . I'll save the 2-3 star food day trips for another time . Thanks. Raisab, For family dining featuring good local cuisine, you should read the "Barcelona Good Value Eating" thread. ChowAlf

Hi, I will be going to Spain in early October. This is my tentative food itinerary for barcelona. I'm looking for *great* food w. a balance bet splurge & value, modern & traditional. Since sightseeing is as important as food...so I can't do any day trips for food only. **Please provide your critique & suggestions Day 1 - Wed Lunch - Boqueria Market - Bar Quim? Pinotxo? Dinner - Cinc Sentits Day 2 - Thur Lunch - Quimet y Quimet Dinner - Abac Day 3 - Fri Lunch - El Suquet de l’Almirall ? Dinner - La Paradeta? Day 4 - Sat Breakfast - Pinotxo? Day Trip to Monserrat Dinner - Llar del’all I Oli (in Badalona) btw: How is Sauc? thanks in advance, ChowAlf

Get the Jean George Tasting Menu (contains his signature dishes). Had it this past Dec. The eggs w. osetra caviar, the frog legs that came w. the leek soup were both outstanding. I typically hate frog legs, but this one changed my mind . The squab w. Foie , scallops were great. The Turbot was overcooked, but the chateau chalon sauce that came with it was amazing. I found the broth in the lobster "tartine" abit unusual, but the lobster was cooked to perfection. the "chocolate" desert tasting was very good. On the whole, the best meal of my life. ChowAlf

Had the 9 course Turf Tasting Menu last Dec. I thought the bread(especially the pita-like roll) & Deer Chop were outstanding. The Quail w. Quail egg and the Scallop w. Seared Foie Gras were great. Everything else was at least good. Decor is unique & very nice. The service was excellent. ChowAlf

Steven, Florence: Osteria Santo Spirito has an amazing truffle cheese gnoochi dish. Nice cured meats, olives, bread,... Sostanza - best steak I've had...yeah, better than Lugers , amazingily simple desert of wild strawberries w. cream & sugar. Apps are just ok. Rome: Il Convivo - nice for high end. Il Drappo - excellent bang for buck restaurant. Pizzeria Baffeto - razor thin crust very good pizza, service can be bad. Aurora 10 - amazing grilled fish & seafood. La Campana - 90% tourist, good/very good apps, mediocre entrees, awful service. ChowAlf

Razor clam w. XO sauce, Goose Intestine w. black bean sauce, Salt and Pepper Fried Soft Shell Crab @ Congee Fried Tiny Buns @ New Green Bo. ChowAlf