Life without air in Barcelona

[pedro]

If you casually read this forum, you could get the (wrong) impression that in Barcelona there's nothing much than cool and hypermodern restaurants trying to follow, with better or worse luck, the Adrià way of cooking. Well, fortunately, that's not the case. In my last visit to the city, I made a point of avoiding the avant-garde type of restaurants and visiting some of the restaurants which for many years have been part of the gastronomic backbone of the city, serving food well rooted in Catalonian and Barcelona traditions.

Ok, Quimet i Quimet isn't exactly in this category, not because it lacks longevity but because of what Quimet offers from the other side of his counter. An impressive selection of canned food of the best quality and a not less impressive selection of wine and beers, the imagination of Quimet and you get some of the best tapas made instantly in front of you.

Carles Gaig, from his new location at the Hotel Cram, is as good as it ever was. Which is to say, one of the places where you can truly enjoy gastronomy and fine dining. We ordered an ample array of starters and desserts plus some cheeses and we had a feast to remember. There was some issue with the pace of the first two dishes but once we get to the second dish, everything was smooth. Oysters with a sauce of champagne with those deep flavors that any oyster that aspires to that name should have, the canelons in the old way, the amanita cesárea made in the oven, . . . An uncomplicated meal which didn't require much effort from the brain but fulfilled your senses. Uncomplicated, of course, from the point of view from the dinner, since the techniques that Carles Gaig uses are elaborated.

My first visit to l'Isidre, where I went with some prejudices about the service, was also very rewarding. Rovellons (lactarius deliciousus) with butifarra blanca, some amanita cesárea, cap i pota (tripe in the Catalonian way), baby kid. A good meal indeed. Perhaps the baby kid was finished in the kitchen in a hasty mood, but it was the only flaw I could think of.

Casa Leopoldo, on the other side, offered the simplest cuisine of our visit, Quimet i Quimet excluded. Good products from the Boquería cooked in the most simple way along with traditional recipes like bull's tail or tripe.

So, yes. There's life without air and foams in Barcelona.

[docsconz]

One of the things that makes Barcelona such a vibrant city and a city absolutely worth visiting is the mutual existence and complementary nature of the traditional and the new. The city and Catalunya would be less exciting and interesting without either.

[vserna]

the mutual existence and complementary nature of the traditional and the new.

←

Hardly an exclusive Barcelona trait. Indeed, it's an apt definition of Spain as a whole these days. Culinarily and otherwise.

[docsconz]

the mutual existence and complementary nature of the traditional and the new.

←

Hardly an exclusive Barcelona trait. Indeed, it's an apt definition of Spain as a whole these days. Culinarily and otherwise.

←

No doubt, although the only other area of Spain that I have been to in recent years is San Sebastian and Bilbao. I will have to remedy that.

[vserna]

I will have to remedy that.

←

Barcelona, San Sebastián and Bilbao... Some people I know would say you haven't been to Spain at all, John...

[docsconz]

I will have to remedy that.

←

Barcelona, San Sebastián and Bilbao... Some people I know would say you haven't been to Spain at all, John...

←

I did say in recent years, Victor

[ulterior epicure]

Pedro.

Thanks for the posting.

I'd have to agree that Gaig is spectacular - it was my favorite dining experience on a recent trip to Barcelona that included Can Fabes and Ca l'Isidre.

Ca l'Isidre was disappointing, to say the least. It was spectacularly expensive and the service, as you noted, was rather lackluster. My kid was "hastily done" too - I suspect, it's not chance... rather the mode... all a part of my disappointment.

U.E.

If you casually read this forum, you could get the (wrong) impression that in Barcelona there's nothing much than cool and hypermodern restaurants trying to follow, with better or worse luck, the Adrià way of cooking. Well, fortunately, that's not the case. In my last visit to the city, I made a point of avoiding the avant-garde type of restaurants and visiting some of the restaurants which for many years have been part of the gastronomic backbone of the city, serving food well rooted in Catalonian and Barcelona traditions.

Ok, Quimet i Quimet isn't exactly in this category, not because it lacks longevity but because of what Quimet offers from the other side of his counter. An impressive selection of canned food of the best quality and a not less impressive selection of wine and beers, the imagination of Quimet and you get some of the best tapas made instantly in front of you.

Carles Gaig, from his new location at the Hotel Cram, is as good as it ever was. Which is to say, one of the places where you can truly enjoy gastronomy and fine dining. We ordered an ample array of starters and desserts plus some cheeses and we had a feast to remember. There was some issue with the pace of the first two dishes but once we get to the second dish, everything was smooth. Oysters with a sauce of champagne with those deep flavors that any oyster that aspires to that name should have, the canelons in the old way, the amanita cesárea made in the oven, . . . An uncomplicated meal which didn't require much effort from the brain but fulfilled your senses. Uncomplicated, of course, from the point of view from the dinner, since the techniques that Carles Gaig uses are elaborated.

My first visit to l'Isidre, where I went with some prejudices about the service, was also very rewarding. Rovellons (lactarius deliciousus) with butifarra blanca, some amanita cesárea, cap i pota (tripe in the Catalonian way), baby kid. A good meal indeed. Perhaps the baby kid was finished in the kitchen in a hasty mood, but it was the only flaw I could think of.

Casa Leopoldo, on the other side, offered the simplest cuisine of our visit, Quimet i Quimet excluded. Good products from the Boquería cooked in the most simple way along with traditional recipes like bull's tail or tripe.

So, yes. There's life without air and foams in Barcelona.

←

[pedro]

Pedro.

. . . . .

Ca l'Isidre was disappointing, to say the least.  It was spectacularly expensive and the service, as you noted, was rather lackluster.  My kid was "hastily done" too - I suspect, it's not chance... rather the mode... all a part of my disappointment.

U.E.

Your comment about l'Isidre's price point surprises me, given the other two restaurants you mention. Gaig is more expensive than l'Isidre, perhaps not that much but noticeable more, but Can Fabes is way more expensive than l'Isidre, I'd say. In fact, I consider that Can Fabes is one of the most, if not the most, expensive restaurant in the country.

[ulterior epicure]

Pedro.

I don't know how - but my meals at Ca l'Isidre and Gaig came out around the same. Can Fabes was a step higher... but the quality and variety was exceedingly more impressives. Same at Gaig. In comparison, Ca l'Isidre was a failure on almost every front, IMHO.

U.E.

Pedro.

. . . . .

Ca l'Isidre was disappointing, to say the least.  It was spectacularly expensive and the service, as you noted, was rather lackluster.  My kid was "hastily done" too - I suspect, it's not chance... rather the mode... all a part of my disappointment.

U.E.

Your comment about l'Isidre's price point surprises me, given the other two restaurants you mention. Gaig is more expensive than l'Isidre, perhaps not that much but noticeable more, but Can Fabes is way more expensive than l'Isidre, I'd say. In fact, I consider that Can Fabes is one of the most, if not the most, expensive restaurant in the country.

←

[dfunghi]

Pinoxos should be on anyones list of BCN eateries as well. We also had a nice meal at Ca'Pep. Once you get away from the city center into the outer neighborhoods there are great little places whos names I did not get. We had some very simple and very delicious meals as a prix fixe lunch around 11-15 Eur PP. Some were as simple as homemade suasuge ( salicion?) ala plancha with some fried potato and soup or salad finished with a noney cake or flan. Simple but deliciuos. I am a big fan of soups so I was always impressed by the rich stocks with some greens and a few pieces of meat or some beans that transformed into hearty,rich,complex soups.