Madrid and Barcelona

[ewindels]

Some initial, general observations:

• If anyone offers you ham, eat it. Ask for more.

• Book your restaurants in advance. I mean now. While it’s heartening to read about other gulleters walking in to the high-demand spots on the spur of the moment and instantly being seated, local acquaintances assure me that this is a rarity.

• Order the ham, no matter where you are.

• Try as many things as possible, no matter how unfamiliar they may look. There’s a whole world of new gustatorial wonders to be had if you just close your eyes and dive in.

• English is not widely spoken. No reason it should be, more power to them, but just be prepared.

• In which case, order the jamon.

• In Barcelona, do not go to any of the major old city markets, and particularly la Boquieria, unless you are possessed of serious fortitude. I personally wept at the thought that there is nothing in New York to remotely compare with this market, particularly the massive variety and quality of the fish. (And no, all you argumentative New Yorkers, there isn’t: even Chinatown, which on any given day reeks, barely comes to the level of this market.)

• There is next to no markup on wine at the restaurants, so drink for God’s sake!

• Have you ordered the ham yet??

So, my restaurants:

The perceptive gulleter will have guessed from the above that I didn’t get in to most of the places I would have liked to, owing to this trip being kind of last minute and me being one of the world’s biggest procrastinators. Here’s where I did go:

Barcelona

• Tapaç24: what a great way to start the trip. Of the umpteen dishes I tried, the ones I can remember (there was a lot of cava involved) were the jamon (of course), though I think what I had was actually pernil (and here someone will no doubt disquisite on the difference); the bikini, basically a toasted cheese sandwich with tissue thin bread, jamon and truffles, for which the place is renowned, and which will forever spoil you for regular toasted cheese sandwiches; the morcilla, a much more elegant and carefully prepared rendition than I’ve had before or had on the rest of the trip, with just a hint of cumin; crisp fried baby salmon, which when I was finally shown how you de-bone them were terrific.

• Pinotxo: this bar at the front of the Boquieria market comes highly recommended by my local colleagues, and understandably so. The croquetas were superb, a small dish of stew with patatas was hearty if not overly memorable, and the chickpeas with baby squid were terrific. I can’t remember what I spent, but with two glasses of white wine it was nothing.

• Moo at the Omm Hotel: In a nutshell, you could find this restaurant in any large-ish city around the world. Fashionable decor, hushed and polished service, high quality culinary concepts, but there was nothing about it that particularly linked it to Barcelona for me, though I gather from my colleagues that this is to some extent its appeal for the locals. I was instantly reminded of Thor at the Rivington hotel. I can’t remember what I had – it was all tastefully done and beautifully executed, but not particularly distinguishable from most other high end shishi hotel restaurants around the world.

• Bar Mut: Dropped in here one afternoon for a glass of Ximenez and a plate of jamon, though I seriously eyed the canalones con trufa on the menu, but I was between meals and couldn’t face it. A nifty little place just off the Avenida Diagonal.

• Torre d’Alta Mar: this fairly new addition to the local scene is up in an old control tower on the waterfront and offers a spectacular panorama of the city and the water. Our local office had booked it for our big group dinner, and one can understand why: The view is spectacular, service and presentation lovely. Sadly, the food is thoroughly mediocre. I can’t remember a single thing we ate, except that the main fish course was flabby and soggy. Given the quality of what the city’s markets has to offer, this was a real disappointment.

• Botefumeiro: faced with a Sunday night, when the entirety of Spain is more or less closed, and a colleague to entertain who’d just flown in that morning with a cold and therefore needed an early evening, this was the best our hotel could do for us. If there was still a Luchow’s in New York, this would be the Barcelona equivalent. Old world in a slightly dusty, starchy manner, I doubt if the kitchen has rethought anything in the last 30 years. The place has clearly been around forever, and is covered with celebrity photographs (always a dubious sign, in my opinion). Well, you can’t go wrong with a plate of jamon, and the local thick white asparagus was superb with both mayonnaise and vinaigrette. My colleague’s paella was quite respectable, from what my limited knowledge could tell. My goat, on the other hand, could have done serious damage to either people or furnishings if I’d had a mind: it was tough to distinguish between the bone and the meat.

• Lasarte: With Ca L’isidre closed for Easter, and every other place impossible to get in to, this was the only “high end” restaurant I could manage. It was worth it. Beautifully and sleekly designed, very spare and minimalist and elegant. Service was impeccable, and when I asked for a wine suggestion for the four of us, I was not steered to the most expensive options, but quite the contrary, which was a real refreshing change from the standard policy in New York. And when one of my colleagues explained his strict vegetarianism, the restaurant didn’t blink an eye and produced three courses for him, about which he raved. I started with the renowned milles feuilles of foie gras, eel, and caramelized apple: not something you’d want to eat every day, but delicious. The sweetbread sausage left me speechless. A chocolate soufflé was gooier than one traditionally finds, but all the more luscious for it. My three colleagues all raved about their meals, the details of which now escape me, except I do remember a dish of gnocchi with baby squid, and a roast rack of lamb that was perfection. With nothing else in the city to compare it to, I still highly recommend adding this to the list of musts.

Madrid

I am deeply indebted and grateful to Kathleen Berger for sacrificing so much of her time, finances and health to furthering my culinary education during my visit to the capital of Spain, and being so delightful about the whole thing.

• Tapas: I am also deeply indebted and grateful to Rogelio Enriquez for his gracious and generous offer to conduct us around a few of the hot spots Cava Baja. (specifically, Casa Lucas, Taberna el Tempranillo, and Orixe) Of the seemingly endless dishes we went through (a lot of cava was involved here, too), the standouts were a plate of sautéed pork cheek strips with a tangle of teeny shoe string fries; jamon (duh); and a tortilla that had my head reeling. Every-day food just shouldn’t be this good.

• El Lando: is conveniently located a five minute walk south of the Palacio Real, which makes it a great lunch place prior to a quick wander through this largely unedifying monument. A fun, below-ground old world place, beautiful coffered ceilings and paneled walls lots of waiters in starched white coats who’ve clearly been therefore. And how nice to have big plates of pan con tomate and jamon and tomato salad given to us as soon as we sat down, though to be perfectly frank it would have been nicer if they gave you the option since they’re going to charge you either way (including the tomato salad, which we actually declined and which showed up on the bill anyway). Not that it wasn’t all delicious, but still. From there we went on the huevos patatas, which is basically a big platter of steak fries sloshed with soft-boiled egg, a dish that is just every kind of wrong (or would be if they added chorizo to it). My prawns with garlic were fine, with lots of tasty melted butter to sop up with bread, and the beef solomillo Kathleen had was terrifically sizzling and juicy.

• Asturianos: this favorite neighborhood joint of Kathleen’s has been mentioned before in various threads. There’s probably not a lot I can add. As Kathleen is known there, we were treated pretty nicely, though I can’t imagine you wouldn’t be on your own. My take was that it was perfectly good local grub, nothing outstanding or necessarily worth going out of your way for (I would imagine there are many places like this around the city). Memorable dishes were the morcilla (although the patatas were sadly undercooked), and the chorizo en sidra. I was also impressed by the properly crusty rustic bread here, whereas otherwise the bread in both cities was generally disappointing (at least to a spoiled New Yorker).

• Citra: Faced again with a limited number of high end choices, I left the location of our last meal, a big blow-out, to Kathleen and her local sources. Citra was a terrific choice, though, much like Moo in Barcelona, there was not a lot about it that spoke to me specifically of Spain. (Kathleen may want to correct me here.) This being our Last Meal, we went for the full tasting menu with wine. Lamentably, the copious email notes I took have vanished irretrievably. The whole meal was thoughtfully conceived and beautifully executed; the wine pairing was very effective if not memorable. But this is definitely a place worth visiting.

Final summation: how can you not love a country that begins most evenings with sparkling wine and a plate of artisinal cure ham? Hello!

[Saborosa]

Barcelona

• Tapaç24: what a great way to start the trip.  Of the umpteen dishes I tried, the ones I can remember (there was a lot of cava involved) were the jamon (of course), though I think what I had was actually pernil (and here someone will no doubt disquisite on the difference);

jamon: spanish, pernil: catalan (ie different words for same thing, not different things)

Great, thoughtful, detailed post. Thanks!

[docsconz]

Excellent report!

Not only is there no market in NYC to compare to La Boqueria, I don't believe that there is one in the entire United States to compare. There are a few others in Spain that can though. The top markets really are remarkable and beautiful places.

[smoz]

Excellent report!

Not only is there no market in NYC to compare to La Boqueria, I don't believe that there is one in the entire United States to compare. There are a few others in Spain that can though. The top markets really are remarkable and beautiful places.

←

I agree, the markets in Madrid and Barcelona are marvelous but the best that I have come across so far is the one in Valencia.

Some good suggestions in the initial post too, given me some good ideas for my next trip to Spain, thanks.

[butterfly]

Nice report. I'm glad you got to appreciate the simple foods. If you love simple, pristine ingredients, you don't have to go to starred restaurants to eat really, really well in Spain. In Madrid, especially, it's the everyday food that really shines.

[insomniac]

thank you for your very informative report, always great to have new places to eat at....Madrid is one of my all time favourite cities. Just back from 4 days there with daughter and we hopped thru some of the same tapas places.....superb, high quality food. (love angulas.) Missed la Broche this time in favour of Kabuki and La Trainera, food simply prepared, pure and stunning. Shlepped 20kg of meat back to England. Always buy from the market at Anton Martin.

Slightly worried when our bags were stuck on board for 2 hours back in Bristol due aircraft electrical failure, could have been a meat disaster

ps. recommend going with a beautiful young woman, have never been shouted so many freebies in my life, all very charmingly offered of course therefore difficult to say no

[bergerka]

Oh yes, such a sacrifice to spend three days with one of my favorite people...EATING.

It was a blast. Come back soon!! I've got some restaurants in Logroño and Salamanca to introduce to you...

K