Metro Stops & Montaditos: Barcelona’s Hidden Food Scene

What do you think of when you hear the name Barcelona?

Perhaps football, sunshine or Freddie Mercury? Manuel from Fawlty Towers is another possibility. Maybe it’s Gaudi’s architectural masterpieces? Hopefully it's not the lairy hen parties from Macclesfield, although the city does seem to attract more than its fair share of pre-nuptial revellers!

Personally I think of food, because for me, the most compelling reason to keep returning to Barcelona is the food scene. It’s vibrant, varied, innovative and constantly evolving.

Sure, there are the usual suspects that you expect to see in any international city, peddling their identikit fast food under neon signs. Not to mention the dozens of restaurants spilling out onto La Rambla that have little aspiration beyond snaring as many tourists as possible.

But if you have more than a passing interest in food then Barcelona will never disappoint. Obviously there is tapas in abundance and in all forms, from montaditos (small open sandwiches) best consumed standing at a bar with a cana (small cold beer), to “fine dining” tapas of the sort inspired by the legendary and lamented Tickets restaurant that finally closed in the city shortly after the Pandemic.

We are frequently asked for recommendations for places to eat & drink in Jerez - Ambiente’s spiritual home in Spain. This is easy - it's a relatively small town that we know well and it has some stand out options. Recommendations in Barcelona are far trickier to specify because the options are almost endless - especially if you are only there for a matter of days. However, in our experience, it's easy to find great places to eat.

One of my most unexpectedly memorable days in Barcelona involved several haphazard journeys on the Metro, zig-zagging beneath the city in order that I might catch sight of the redhead (and give her encouraging cheers) as she competed in the Barcelona Marathon. I made a point of finding a quick bite to eat each time I emerged from an underground station. It was all simple food that I imagine was designed to be enjoyed by a commuter, or a worker on lunch-break.

Dishes I enjoyed that day included a sublime huevos revueltos with sobrasada (scrambled eggs with soft chorizo), a fillet of an un-named small white flat fish grilled in front of me as I sat at a counter - and then simply plated with piquillo peppers from a tin and a piece of bread. There was also an insanely good slice of tortilla de patatas, thick & still warm from the pan. I think there was a tuna empanada in the mix too. Needless to say, without any planning and even less thought, I ate very well that day, which is testament to the number of great places randomly scattered across the city.

On occasion there is some planning involved. We have a number of places that we will return to including the Mercat de la Boqueria (Boqueria Market) - which is possibly the only reason to go anywhere near La Rambla! Pura Brasa is another favourite, as they cook over coals with Josper ovens just like we do, so it's always good to see what’s on their menu. As the redhead is vegetarian, both Green Spot and Teresa Carles are two restaurants that eschew meat & fish in favour of inventive and delicious plant based dishes. Generally, however, we will just drop in to a place that looks owner operated or independent and has kerb appeal.

The evolving food scene also means that some of the more innovative independent places last only a couple of years before they decide to close in order to pursue a different theme. This can be frustrating when you want to revisit a favourite only to find that the chef patron has gone for a two month stage in a restaurant in Tokyo (looking at you, Kak Koy)! But in a city with so much choice it doesn’t take long to find a new favourite.

So perhaps you’ve been inspired to head to Barcelona... and if you have, we’ve created an “Ambiente Map of Spain” featuring some of our favourite places to eat, drink and explore. And we'll be adding to it monthly as we discover more of Spain together.

But if you don’t fancy travelling quite that far to experience this wonderful food scene, you can always find a little of Barcelona when you walk through our doors.

See you next time,

Tim