Cervecería Catalana: Tapas Galore
Barcelona is perfect for travelers who strive to fit extra meals into their day. Did you finish lunch at 1PM? Well, you can have another lunch at 4PM so you can eat dinner at 8PM like a true local. It's like pre-gaming for dinner. Do you know what the best part about that strategy is? Everyone else is doing it too!
During our meal at Cal Pep, this couple next to us recommended that we check out their favorite restaurant in Barcelona: Cervecería Catalana. The next day, we were walking down Avinguda Diagonal, one of Barcelona's most prominent avenues, and stumbled across their recommendation. We decided to go in for a quick snack.
The restaurant is HUGE, clean, and busy. At around 3PM, it's still totally packed with people either finishing up their lunch or starting their afternoon snack. It had a decent amount of tourists but service is quick and fairly attentive. There are a lot of Filipinos that work here for some reason.
Most of the dishes are quite small so if you have a legit meal here, you could probably order 5-6 different tapas per person. The smaller tapas are about 3 to 5 Euros per plate. The larger or or more interesting tapas can cost upwards of 10 Euros.The Mini Croissants with Ham and Cheese are addicting, by the way. You NEED to order this one. The Razor Clams (~10 Euros) and the Tenderloin with Foie Gras (~6 Euros) both look promising too.
Cuisine: Spanish
Average Price per Person: $25 USD
Address: Carrer de Mallorca, 236, 08008 Barcelona, Spain
Recommended:
Mini Croissant with Ham and Cheese
The Cured Pork Loin with Pepper Pintxo was good. The meat had good flavor but it was a bit too tough for me. Also, if I'm going to eat it as a pintxo, I don't want the topping to be super tough. Otherwise, everything just falls apart because I can't bite through the meat. A pintxo is a small bite-sized snack. It's made with some sort of topping and a slice of bread.
We also got the Lettuce, Cured Ham, and Mayonnaise. This one was better than the cured pork loin. It was refreshing. Imagine bits of pork jerky mixed with cole slaw.
The star of the show was definitely the Mini Croissant with Ham and Cheese. Almost everyone else was ordering it too. These little croissants are toasted and flattened. As a result, the sandwich is compacted with warm cheese and salty, cured meat. I could eat 20 of these.