Chocolates in Barcelona

[Silly Disciple]

Bux-

I'm a little confused. Can you please elaborate on your comments? I was thinking about tstaying there for the very reason that the train station is close by. Is destination train station not that close to Placa De Catalonya or town center?

Thanks,

Elie

←

What Bux means (I think) is that while you are indeed very close to the train, Sants per-se is not terribly well located in terms of where the interesting things are in Barcelona. The area is not nice to walk either and there's pretty much nothing to see (I would know, I live 8 blocks away, fortunately towards the nicer areas). Moreover, Barcelona is small enough such that if you would need to really get to Sants quick you would still be able to by either subway or an inexpensive taxi ride.

Silly.

[Bux]

Bux-

I'm a little confused. Can you please elaborate on your comments? I was thinking about tstaying there for the very reason that the train station is close by. Is destination train station not that close to Placa De Catalonya or town center?

Thanks,

Elie

←

What Bux means (I think) is that while you are indeed very close to the train, Sants per-se is not terribly well located in terms of where the interesting things are in Barcelona. The area is not nice to walk either and there's pretty much nothing to see (I would know, I live 8 blocks away, fortunately towards the nicer areas). Moreover, Barcelona is small enough such that if you would need to really get to Sants quick you would still be able to by either subway or an inexpensive taxi ride.

Silly.

←

And what I think Silly Disciple means is that should you need to get to Sants to leave Barcelona, you could easily get a taxi that once, rather than having to commute from Sants to the more interesting and more central part of town on a regular basis during your stay. Communte is an exaggeration as Barcelona is small enough, but the closer you are to the plaça de Catalunya the less reliant you will be on transportation to just be somewhere.

As I mentioned earlier, it may even be that you can get your train at the plaça de Catalunya station. Several Metros stations and a Renfe station are below that plaza. The train from the airport, which is sort of a commuter train, stops at both Sants and pl. de Catalunya.

I think it may be a mistake to think of Sants as the destination train station as many trains also stop at pl. de Catalunya. If yours doesn't, it appears the both Silly Disciple and I agree that it would be better to take a taxi from Sants to and from a more centrally located hotel, than to get somewhere interesting in the city from Sants every morning or back there at any time of day. It's in a rather boring area. Except for the one time we stayed there for a day, I don't ever recall having a need or interest to ever be near the Sants station in any of my visits.

Many tourists prefer the Rambla/Gothic quarter. I don't. I'd rather be on the other side of the pl. de Catalunya. Hotels in Barcelona tend not to be cheap, but the NH Calderon and the Avenida Palace are both excellently located and I think they run about what the Barcelo costs according to Michelin. I know various travel agencies can usually get better rates than the rack rates as well.

[David Lebovitz]

Here's a few good addresses in Barcelona:

Xocoa: a few locations, (http://www.xocoa.com), great packaging, their chocolate is ok

Farga: 262, Gran de Gracia...Metro: Lessups

Escriba: Yum!, Gran Via 546, great chocolate shop, in cahoots with Chocovic

Casa Gispert: Sombrerers 23, a fine old almond roasting shop, with a nice selection of chocolate

If you can go to Ca'Pepe for a meal, it's amazingly great food, mostly seafood, belly up to the bar and eat whatever they put in front you you. Always crowded so if you can go in mid-afternoon at the end of the lunch rush, all the better.

If you're seriously interested in dessert, eat at Espai Sucree at C. Princesa 53 (reservations a must), they serve multi-course all dessert menus and it's fabulous.

[SBonner]

We are usually in Barcelona once a year and always buy chocolate from Xocoa.

Drop by the Origens 99.0% restaurant and gourmet shop. As the name implies the food is almost 100% Penedes in origin. They are located at vidriera, 6-8, in the El Born district just around the corner of the lovely Santa Maria del Mar cathedral.

Enjoy the chocolate and churros...I'm envious.

Stephen

Vancouver Canada

[Rodfog]

Hello,

Thanks again everyone. The list is getting long. I will have to eat several more meals than normal to fit all of them in. I am excited about the visit. I will let evryone know how it goes. I just got a new digital camera a couple of months ago and can store 750 pictures in the highest res. I sure hope 750 is enough. I plan on taking a lot of shop layout pics and product pics. Thanks again!

Rodney

[JesusBarquin]

It's in a rather boring area. Except for the one time we stayed there for a day, I don't ever recall having a need or interest to ever be near the Sants station in any of my visits.

I would also stay in another's area hotel, for the same reasons alleged, but in the Sants neighbourhood there are a couple of interesting places, such as the very "tasty" and "authentic" Carrer de Vallespir, where you can visit such a very interesting wine and delicatessen shop such El Celler de Gelida (number 65), or have a delicious breakfast or lunch at an also genuine bar more or less at the number 40 odds. Maybe it is this one: http://fotos.qdq.com/h/ad?type=f;ville=034...f/;interactif=1 but I am not sure. If you see some butts of wine on the left when you enter, that is.

In this bar I had some months ago a healthy brunch of roasted artichokes, escalivada, pa amb tomaquet, anchovies, rovellons, eggs, beer and coffee, while talking about wines and wineries with the owner of the above mentiones Celler de Gelida. This meal made me happy,

[asola]

It's in a rather boring area. Except for the one time we stayed there for a day, I don't ever recall having a need or interest to ever be near the Sants station in any of my visits.

With so many tourists in Barcelona's centre nowadays, boring might be a good idea

Now, I agree that for some one visiting Barcelona as a newbie, being near Pça de Catalunya is the best idea. As Bux said, while the Rambla/Gothic Quarter may be more picturesque, the Eixample area is more convenient.

However, if you're an experienced visitor, I'd vouch for some sightseeing out of the mainstream, and Sants might be included there as much as any other place.

For instance, you might wake up in the morning and go to La Illa Diagonal, an upper-middle class shopping center in Avda Diagonal, to see fur-clad bored women shop. Walk down uninteresting Les Corts neighbourhood and see where people live, to get to Ca L'Isidre to eat. Hop to nearby Plaça d'Osca for a tiny Gipsy neighbourhood, which is not at all dangerous if uninviting. In the early evening walk down the Carretera de Sants (from Metro station Plaça de Sants to Plaça d'Espanya) for a lower-middle class shopping experience. Later in the evening, take the Line 3 Metro to the Gracia neighbourhood for an inkling on Bcn's youth culture. You'll spend a whole day in Barcelona without seeing a tourist, foreign student notwithstanding.

[Rodfog]

well I am back from Barcelona and it was great. The metro system is awesome and extremely easy to navigate. My hotel was located well I could get to metro easily with little walking. My experience was chocolate left me somewhat disillusioned. I only see three great chocolatiers and lots of others the three great are Oriol Balanguer, Enric Rovira, and Cacoa Sampaka. While not impressed by some of Cacoa's work I have to give credit to their ingenuinty. I thought Oriols was the best and did get to chat with him for a short while.

I ate in several resturants noteably Santa Maria, Espai Sucre, Origins 99%, Bar Pinoxo, Comerc 24 and Abac. The whole food experince was great with the Boqueria being a high point it is so intersting so see. Espai Sucre was very good and I got to go back into the kitchen as a professional courtesy. I also gave them a box of chocolates. All of the fgood atr every resturant was very good. Overall extremely satisfied with trip. Now just trying to decide where to go next year.

[docsconz]

What impressed you the most about Balaguer?

[Rodfog]

Balaguer's flavors were very good. He also does unique things with texture as in the pop rocks in the chocolate. I did find a chocolate I did not like which usually you will find one that is not great. All of his were good. Also He and his staff were extremely friendly and took time to answer my questions and discuss flavors and their business.

[docsconz]

I love the pop rocks chocolate. I'll never forget the first time I had them - at his shop - a truly remarkable sensation with wonderful flavor too.

[tan319]

rodfog,

thanks for the report.

Was there anything that really stuck out as far as the shop goes?

Equipment, etc.?

Did he mention anything about a new book?

I'd love to see a book from him delving more into the chocolates/bon-bon arena

TThanks again!

Oh, VERY important.

Any pix???

[Rodfog]

His retail shop is fairly small but it is clean lines and well organized. The shop is a little off the beaten track. I only talked briefly with him we mostly discussed flavor ideas. I do have some pics but they are pics that are on his web site. I will try to get the few pics I have posted in the near future. Oh yeah they were extremely nice as I mentioned and did not mind me taking pics here or Enric Rovira or Cacao. My friend went to Paris and they throw a hissy fit. He was trying to get pics of entremets and shop layouts and they basically said no pictures.