Hello, Barcelona!
Here is the view of Barcelona, Spain from the top of Montjuic, which is the enormous park overlooking the city…to get there, you can take this:
Barcelona’s Aerial View!
And yes, we did take Barcelona’s aerial tram – offering an amazing view of the city as you descend from Montjuic park to the waterfront…here is the view of the city as you are arriving at the bottom of the tram!
More on this adventure in a different post: now we need to talk FOOD!
The battle for Barcelona’s tapas crown continues!
Barcelona is known for tapas, thos smaller plates of freshly made food that come to your table in a non-stop orgy of goodness. We were told that we had to go to one of the city’s best tapas restaurants:
Behold Passadis del Pep!
Welcome to one of Barcelona’s most charming squares, located in the barcelonetta district of town, just south of the Barri Gotic…and good luck finding Passadis del Pep – while there may be an address, this is what you see when you open the door:
You end up down a tiny passageway (a passadis!) – which leads to the restaurant, tucked well inside:
Cheers!
Perhaps as a reward for finding the place, you are greeted immediately by a half bottle of Cava, the spanish champagne – how can you refuse? I couldn’t!
As I sipped my Cava, Alex checked out the menu – although for the most part there really is no menu at Passadís del Pep – as they say: “everyday a new selection of beautifully presented dishes, mostly seafood, certainly the best ones in Barcelona!!”
Whatever is fresh that day – that’s what you get. The only dish you order is your main course – more on that in a moment.
Cava Fighters!
One note: an english-speaking couple showed up a few minutes later, and perhaps they were afraid of being charged – but they refused the cava! They also made the server walk through every single dish on the menu that day – loudly rejecting many of the items for that day….perhaps they should have gone to McDonalds…
After they quieted down, we began our feast: as I said, they make sure you haven’t got allergies, then they roll out the tapas:
Iberico ham and peasant bread!
This quickly became Alex’s favorite spanish dish:
The iberico ham is sliced a bit thicker than here in the US, and the bread is toasted and then rubbed with a raw tomato – fantastic!
Next was a dish of Sea snails – baked in salt with oil and parsley…
Delicious in their unique way…if you’ve eaten them you know what I mean…
This dish was quickly followed by sauteed clams in the shell:
These were just amazing: a buttery sauce with crisp briny liquid. We used the shells as a spoon and slurped them right down. We were unsure whether to leave the shells on our plate or return them to the serving dish, so we did this on our plates instead:
These nicely stacked shells got a good laugh from the server when he came by – to replace our plates with clean ones -and to deliver a plate of:
Foie gras with toast!
Rich, velvety smooth – a nice full-flavored dish after the seafood…but it was only a short detour, as our next course took us right back to the sea!
Grilled Whole Sardines With Lemon
These whole fish were delicious – not strong in fishy flavor, just briny enough to evoke the sea…and small enough to make eating them whole easier than you think…next up was a small plate of grilled peppers, one of Alex’s favorites as well…
Time For More Fresh Seafood!
Next up was a plate of freshly grilled shrimp, still in the shell:
Alex is a huge fan of grilled shrimp, and we enjoyed these A LOT – the salt on the shell making your fingers a nice taste as well. Before we even finished our shrimp, another plate showed up, this one with grilled whole Langoustines – with sauteed onions!
Alex enjoyed these as well – as you can see, langoustines have claws more like a lobster…and a richer flavor than shrimp…
And Now, The Main Courses!
At this point, they return to the table to get your order for the main course…I had one of my favorites: black squid ink rice with baby squid and baby octopus!
Alex’s main course was fresh roasted sea bass and a gratin of potatoes:
Bravo Passadis del Pep!
Needless to say, Passadis del Pep was a culinary treat – a terrific lunch, filled with many surprises and lots of delicious food….Barcelona, you are truly delicious! Here is the view of the city – and the legendary Sagrada Famiglia – from Parc Guell,,,more on this amazing place soon…
And Speaking Of Amazing Tapas, Don’t Forget Cal Pep!
If this made you hungry for more Barcelona food, check out my post on the legendary Cal Pep!
https://johnrieber.com/2013/05/20/barcelona-tapas-cal-pep-the-battle-for-tapas-supremacy/
Categories: BACON, cookbooks, Food, Food Review, Recipes, Restaurants, Travel, Travel Memoir, Uncategorized, wine
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