Churrería J. Argilés: Churro Under a Euro
Hi Everyone! Today, I wanted to share a few pictures and notes from an afternoon snack I had in Barcelona, Spain. This review will be about Churrería J. Argilés. Located just a few blocks away from one of Barcelona's most famous parks, Parc de la Ciutadella, Churrería J. Argilés is an iconic street kiosk specializing in the finest of churros. This shop has been producing churros for almost 60 years! That being said, you can trust that they know what they're doing.
Churros are fried-dough pastries that are enjoyed primarily in Spain and Portugal. But, these fried treats have spread to other countries including the United States, where it is a commonly enjoyed as a carnival or fair snack.
PRO TIP: Churrería J. Argilés is open all day and night on Fridays and Saturdays, which makes it a popular outpost for both drunk shenanigans and hungover cravings.
NOTE: At Churrería J. Argilés, you purchase churros by weight. But for a few churros and some anise-flavored pastries (Pestiños), I only paid about 3 euros.
I got some plain churros and some chocolate covered churros. The plain churros were delicious and fresh. I had to wait a little bit for them to cool down to an acceptable eating temperature. The original churros were delicious. Usually, I have churros that have been sprinkled with sugar. These churros did not have any added sugar but I thought the level of sweetness was perfect. I got to enjoy more of that fried doughy flavor.
Overall, I thought this place was awesome. During the day, it seems a bit deserted. But, I'm sure it gets a bit wild later in the night. Thanks for reading and hope you can check this place out!
Churros can come in several shapes but it is typically ridged due to the star-shaped nozzle of the churro maker. Churrería J. Argilés uses a typical churro machine with the spinning lever as you can see in the picture above. It continuously portions out the right amount of raw dough and, by way of gravity, automatically drops each serving into a bubbling hot pot of oil.
When I came, the churro maker didn't speak any English. But, there are a lot of pictures and descriptions. After a bit of made up sign language and a butchered attempt at speaking Spanish, it seemed like we had ordered... something.
I watched as the friendly churro maker prepared my freshly fried treats. This guy was a pro because he made the whole process look so effortless. In minutes, we had the churros in hand.
These churros were perfect. Some of them were sprinkled with sugar while some of them were covered in chocolate.