11/8/2010 Barcelo Raval (snack) & Senyor Parellada Barcelona Spain

our actual 1st day in barcelona, we ended up skipping lunch, but because dinner service is so late here - you're *very* lucky if you find service before 8:30pm, we grabbed a quick tapas in the hotel lounge to tide us over for a couple hours.

we ordered the lamb kefta skewer, warm arabic bread, harissa sauce

it was pretty good. the sauce had a kick in it and the mint leaves added a coolness to it.

On to dinner at senyor parellada where we found a bib gourmand about 8 blocks from the hotel. the food was pretty good, but the service sucked. and i don't mean it was bad, just very snooty. i mean i understand i don't speak spanish, let alone catalan, but you're in a service industry in not only a high tourist town, but a high tourist part of town. you're going to get people who do not speak your language. and if you talk so fast and soft that i can't hear you i'm going to ask you 5 times to repeat yourself! (referring to the cheese plate later on).

would i go back here? well it is a bib gourmand and the prices were ok, but for the food not outstanding. and as far as the service goes, it is a bib gourmand, not a starred restaurant on the list. but no, i think once was enough. i'd rather pay for the service and visit one of the many starred michelin restaurants in the city.

olives. which quickly disappeared as soon as the appy arrived.

 1 slice of bread - matt dug into the bread before i could get a pic, but there was 1 slice left. :-)  it was a heavy bread but pretty good.

 our wine

 patatas bravas - a traditional catalan dish.

"crispy potatos with spice mayonnaise sauce"

these were not the best patatas bravas we had.

 une tapa de porc iberique en brouchette

"a tapa of grilled skewered iberian pork"

really not too bad. on french fried but oh well. however it was a pretty mild flavor and i think i would've enjoyed a heavier or spicier taste.

matt's entree
agneau au four aux douze gousses d'ail

"lamb roasted with 12 garlic heads and potatoes"

the lamb had a great flavor, tendor

 and while there was "potted offal fonda-style" on the menu i opted for the

la sole poelee aux fruits secs
"pan-fried sole with a nutty topping"

 raisins are not nuts. cashews, filberts, almonds, pine nuts, and walnuts are.

the cheese plate, and our dessert

manchego (left)

blue cheese similar to stilton. as many times as i asked him i never understood this or the soft names. i think maybe he was just calling this one 'the blue' (middle)

alicante, as i learned when i googled what it sounded like he said - which turns out to have been the alt name for this cheese, queso de cabra de alicante, or formage blanquet. it's a goat's milk cheese. i thought it might be sheep. (right)

and far right is a berry jelly thing.

there were a number of items on the menu that, as if you needed reminding, assured you you were not in kansas anymore. some of these were:

grilled octopus with potato hash

stockpot- meat and cep croquettes

guit's delicacy: pig's trotters and salt cod

oxtail stew served with its own marinade

cauldron of pheasant, potatoes, straw mushrooms

the previously mentioned potted offal

i'm not listing those to be funny or mean. i'm listing them to share some of the local food choices in the area - and while i like to try and be willing to attempt new foods, i admit those listed were beyond my bravery for 1 reason or another.