Back by popular demand La Maitresse our Montreal bred international guest reviewer, has sent in another special report on the restaurants of Barcelona, Spain after the huge success of her first Restaurants of Barcelona, Spain, special report.

Bossborn Tapas

Bossborn restaurant was good in general, and not as expensive as I feared when I saw the first round of 8 Euro appetizers arrive with such a tiny amount on each plate. About 2 to 3 dishes per person should cut it. Their version of the caprese was delicious with very fresh creamy cheese used between the tomatoes and pesto. The vegetables with honey and cheese is deceiving because it’s really just a lentil salad with a slice of dry cheese on top. The avocado dip with chips was good. Shrimp tempura always a safe bet and the best dish was by far the octopus (pulpo). Here, like most Spanish restos, you will find some variation on a dish consisting of potato wedges covered with a fried egg and some type of dried or cooked pork meat. For desert, the fondant here is a close runner up to that of Sandwich and Friends (according to the EatWellMtl Poll) – but the other deserts were just ok.

Price per Quality: The meal cost about 20 Euros per person with lots of wine though we were not super stuffed.
Atmosphere: Sophisticated and trendy
Food: Nothing so original or mind-blowingly tasty but was a really nice meal.

Bossborn Tapas Information
Website: bossborn.es
13, Placa de Palau, Barcelona
Phone: 93 295 58 66
Hours: Open Tuesday to Saturday from 1:30 pm – 4 pm, and 8:30 pm – 11:30 pm, Sunday from 1:30 pm – 4pm.

Click the link to read reviews on many more Barcelona restaurants

Pizza del Borne

Pizza del Borne a more sophisticated version of Pizza Chez Danny and Madonna Pizza’s $0.99 slices. Pizzaria del Born is still a casual quick meal but is a little more respectable (or in other words not restricted to 4 am hunger attacks). Each slice here costs a Euro and some change but each is made with fresh ingredients like olives, pesto sauce, spicy sausage and fresh mozzarella cheese. The pizzas are pan pizza style and each slice is small so you will want to try more than one. My personal fave was the olives and pesto – delicious. They also have veggie ones, herb ones and MANY choices of meat ones (welcome to Spain); ham and sausage are staples in the Spanish diet so at least half the pizzas are devoted to pork lovers. Definitely stop by here for a snack. And the deserts are not bad either (try the one with Dulce de Lece or the coconut square).

Food: Delicious quality cheap pizza: 9.5899675/10
Atmosphere: Bustling with huge lines and people everywhere: 8.96836/10
Price: no damage to your wallet here /10

Pizzaria del Borne Information
22 Passeig del Born, Barcelona, Spain
Phone: 93 310 62 46

Sagardi update:

Another fun Sagardi location is in the Borne area right near the Santa Maria del Mar cathedral. This one has the benefit of outdoor tables (though you pay an extra 30 cents per pintxo for the prime seating which brings the price up to just over 2 Euros per item). Aside from the mountain of crab and the bacon-shrimp-and-cheese-heart-attack-delight described above, another must-try is the mini-burger. These bite-sized delights put even the prized Toronto Bymark Burger (which costs about $40) to shame. You may have to request these dishes specially, or you can just wait and see what the waiters surprise you with when they come around with the warm pintxos. Definitely find a Sagardi during your stay in Barcelona – as an Australian at our neighboring table remarked, “the only problem is that the plates are too small.” No worries, you can refill as much as your tummy can handle.

Sagardi Restaurant:
62, Argentería, Barcelona
Phone Number: 93 319 99 93

Milk Restaurant

Well it’s no L’Avenue but if you are craving a British/American style brunch place in a country where omelettes are only served for dinner, this milk restaurant is a good bet. They have your classic bacon eggs and baked beans, eggs Benedict, fruit smoothies and of course your varieties of coffees to go with. Ironically, in this restaurant catered mostly to foreigners, I first understood that the Spanish “café cortado” differs from the usual “corto” which is simply an espresso. The “cortado” is essentially a mini espresso-sized latte and is the perfect amount for my taste. In terms of food, the bacon here was particularly delicious, the eggs and beans were good, and the potatoes not so great – used a bland paprika flavouring with no kick. The croque monsieur inspired sandwich was a hit. One more plus about the place is that it’s right in the old city and you can walk through the small streets to burn off some of that bacon. Watch your bags in this area though, lots of thievery here.

Location: 8.363834/10
Price: On the pricey side for Barcelona but catered to foreigners so is expected/10
Food: 7.78076/10

Milk Restaurant Information
21 Gignas, Barcelona
Phone: 932 680 922
Metro: M Jaume I Line 4
Website milkbarcelona.com
Happy Hour Cocktails 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Brunch Saturday & Sunday 11:00 am – 4:00 pm; Lunch 11:00 am – 4:00 pm daily

Sandwich and Friends Restaurant

Sandwich and Friends is a restaurant chain with several locations around the city, and most of the stuff we ordered here was good. I must skip to the best part though, the warm chocolate fondant with vanilla ice cream. Truthfully, I’ve never had a bad fondant – how can you go wrong – a chocolate brownie with a gooey melted chocolate centre served with vanilla ice cream on top. Still, this was an especially good one (and is still in the running for the best fondant in the city according to the EatWellMtl polls). Another must-try here is the gazpacho. It was a bit creamy but still light and refreshing and you could really taste the blend of flavours from the tomatoes, cucumbers and spices. Their specialty I suppose is these rolled sandwiches – both hot and cold, but they weren’t that great. The cold turkey was good, better than the hot chicken with spinach and cheese (good idea but bad execution – too dry).

Atmosphere: modern and kind of trendy décor – keep in mind it’s a chain resto though but still intimate.
Food: Safe bet but try the gazpacho and fondant – you will thank me
Quality to Price: 7.3/10

Sandwich and Friends Information
27, Passeig del Born, Barcelona
Phone: 93 310 07 86

OR
5 (Gran Via) Rambla Catalunya, Barcelona
Phone: 93 342 73 76
See website for full list of other locations

Ciao Bella Restaurant

Unfortunately, restaurant Ciao Bella was a disappointment. To be fair, might be better to sit at the bar part of this restaurant for nibbles and drinks. The pizza was average, but the veal was like a cheap bring-your-own-wine resto in Little Italy, or sort of like Lombardi’s on Duluth posing as a really nice Italian restaurant. The place was quite nice-looking but the food just wasn’t that good. They make a creation somewhere between a pizza and a calzone which seems like a great idea but the components did not spread well inside so some bites were delicious and others just empty crust. Nothing too special about this place.

Price to Quality: Not impressive
Atmosphere: Modern Décor and good service
Food: Average

Ciao Bella Restaurant Information
210, C/ Mallorca
Phone Number: 934 519 348

Lasal Delvarador Xiringuito

Lasal Delvarador Xiringuito is actually outside of Barcelona in Mataró – about a half-hour drive from the city. It’s right on the beach, and in the summer is lively and packed with people spilling out of the restaurant onto a boardwalk of outside tables doubling as dance floor. But on the quiet cool-ish September evening when I went, the intimacy of the place, excellent service and good food really shone. They hire good djs and are open year-round. They make a good brava sauce (the red saucy component accompanying the mayo-ish sauce and fried potato chunks known as patatas bravas), and the hamburger, though served with no bread, was delicious and good quality.

Atmosphere: adapts to the time-of-day and to the season but I imagine always good
Service: lovely staff both at the bar and the tables
Price to Quality: 7/10

Lasal Delvarador Xiringuito Information
190 Passeig Maítim, Mataró, Spain
Phone Number: 93 114 05 80
Website: lasal.com

La Singular

La Singular has quickly become one of my favorites. One caveat – there is only one waitress and she does her job well but will not be bossed around by her clients. Sometimes the service can be slow but be patient it is worth it! It’s a small casual looking place in Gracia, an area with small village-like streets. And I can finally rave about a restaurant’s food as being interesting and delicious. They have great (and thankfully some unique kinds of) tapas to start. You must order the eggplant with brie and figs – it’s amazing. Also, potatoes with cream cheese and salmon, and the guacamole (which is so well flavored with cilantro, lime and more but served with a smoked fish on top which personally I could do without). And as for main dishes, the calamari with pesto sauce was brilliant, the duck with sweet sauce served with bananas was seriously a must-have, the lamb with the mint sauce (they have several great lamb dishes here) was well prepared and another recommendation is the grilled tuna with vegetables and soya sauce. The only thing that was not so great was the salmon lasagna (though they have another lasagna which is ok). For desert, a pyramid of chocolate – very rich and looked better than it tasted, a fondant (delicious but has not quite beaten the Sandwich and Friends fondant according to the EatWellMtl poll) or lemon cake which was dry. Everyone should come to this restaurant.

Price for quality: 25 Euros per person to eat well and drink (8-10 Euro appetizers to share plus 10 to 16 euro mains) – worth every penny!
Atmosphere: Bustling casual place with lots of locals.
Food: I don’t need to repeat – everything amazing except for the salmon lasagna and lemon cake – must try lots of tapas.

La Singular Information
50, Francisco Giner, Gracia, Barcelona
Metro: M Gracia
Phone: 93 237 50 98
Payment: Major credit cards accepted

Unico Restaurant

Unico restaurant was a bit of a disappointment, the restaurant was fine but just it seemed so much more promising. On an adorable stretch of a quiet street in the gay area of Eixample, I was one of the few females in this resto. For dinner, the 16 Euro menu came with an appetizer, main, desert and a small carafe of wine – is a good deal, despite that it was one of the pricier ones on that strip. I ordered a salad with fruit as a starter which was weird with its creamy savory dressing. The tomato mozzarella did not consist of fresh cheese. The best thing was probably the salmon because the cooking was perfectly timed and thankfully not overwhelmed with any sort of sauce – it’s accompanying vegetables were so salty from soya sauce they were inedible. As for desert, the cheesecake is really similar to the one sold at the Kosher Quality Bakery on Victoria in Montreal. The crema catalan was nice but probably could be made better.

Price to Quality: Fine but there are better
Atmosphere: Trendy and mainly gay clientèle
Food: Average

Unico Restaurant Information
176, Diputación, Eixample, Barcelona
Phone Number: 934 530 484
Website: unicorestaurant.com

Champaneria Restaurant

If you can manage to find Champaneria, you must go. The bottles of Cava (Spanish champagne) are 2 Euros a piece, though you must order food to go with it. The Cava Rosada (rosé) is sweet and delish, or you can try one of each of blanca and rosada. For food, they have the usual tapas of croquettes, charcuteries and cheeses, and then cold sandwiches of sliced meats and hot choices of chicken breast, pork and even hamburgers. This is not fine dining by any means though – the place is a zoo – you have to force your way outside through a crowd of people (which is not a line so do not wait) and shove yourselves into whatever little corner (hopefully with some sort of ledge) that you can find. Is a blast and a must go.

Price for Quality: 2 bottles of cava, four hot sandwiches and a plate of croquettes cost 19 euros – need I say more.
Atmosphere: totally crazy and so much fun – very conducive to chatting with the neighboring group as their elbows are in your food and they hold your glasses while you open your next bottle of cava.
Service: Be patient and pushy – you really need to fight for service at the bar but all the patrons are congenial and help each other out passing back the pork sandwiches down an assembly line of people to reach your group in the back corner.

Champaneria Information
7, Reina Cristina, Barcelona
Hours: Daily 3:30 pm – 10:30 pm

Our Montreal bred international guest reviewer, La Maitresse has sent in a special report on some of the restaurants in Barcelona, Spain.

La Clara Restaurant

La Clara got a great review from the New York Times so needless to say my expectations were high. Started off well with friendly and accommodating service when I requested to change tables because of the nauseatingly smoky smoking section – how quickly I got used to the idea of non-smoking restaurants in Montreal – well take yourself back a few years on that one. They do have a very separate non-smoking section (not so common) which is were I eventually sat. We started with a typical Catalonian pan con tomate, which seems like a Spanish bruschetta, but is really served instead of bread and butter or olive oil. Here it was much better than usual – the bread was toasted and the tomatoes seasoned – usually it’s just crushed tomatoes with olive oil and maybe salt. We had grilled veggies with Romesco sauce which was nice as expected. And then it took a turn for the worse. We ordered stewed oxtail and mushroom-stuffed calamari and unfortunately both were slightly disappointing. Not that they were bad, but just nothing to write home about (though I find myself doing exactly that for this review). I wanted to meat to just slip off the bone but I had to very savagely rip it off. Aside from the texture, the flavour was good, especially when eaten with the sweet fried onions accompanying it. The Calamari was dry and rubbery though. On the whole was fine, as was the price, but NY Times, did we really eat the same dish?

Food: maybe my fault for being so excited but just ok /10
Atmosphere: upscale and lovely (and have English menus by the way) /10
Wine: So inexpensive and delicious – Go Spain! /10

442 Gran Vía Corts Catalanes, Barcelona (Metro Rocafort L1)
Phone Number 932 893 460
Payment options – Visa, Mastercard, Amex
Hours: Monday to Saturday: 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm, 8:30 – midnight; Sunday 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm; Tapas available from 8:00 pm – midnight. Closed Sunday night.

Resto Iurantia

I am a big fan of resto Iurantia – especially since I went with a big fan of the resto so there was no real choice but to love it. Casual and trendy restaurant in the gay area, and clearly men make up most of the clientele. Aside from that it’s like a more stylish version of Café Internationale in Montreal’s Little Italy but with more variety in the non-pizza department. Started off with an amuse bouche which scores big points in my books. We could not resist choosing from the large variety of thin crust pizzas but they have pasta, risotto, burgers, meat and fish as well. With all that choice, three of us at the table ended up with some form of goat cheese pizza – all were delicious – the goat cheese was melted with the mozzarella instead of served in chunks on top. The best was probably goat cheese with honey and walnuts. I had the goat cheese with grilled vegetables which was pretty sparse on the veggies but was good nevertheless. The goat cheese and sausage was good too – the taste of the sausage managed to spread itself through the whole pizza so every bite had the flavour of sausage goodness. By the way, they can do half-half pizzas if two people want to share two different types. The salads were a bit weird though – could not seem to get away from overwhelming saltiness. Maybe the chicken cesar is the way to go, but seems a bit heavy for an appetizer.

Price: Very reasonable for nice food /10
Food: Loving what can be done with goat cheese /10
Overall experience: good trendy little place /10

42 Casanova, Barcelona (Metro Universitat or Urgell L1)
93 454 78 87
Website: iurantia.com/
Opens for the noon lunch period, then closes and reopens for the dinner service at 9:00 pm.

Casa Cesar

OK forgive me for sneaking this in – this place is not open to the public but I could not resist reviewing it. This was the best paella I have ever had! Granted, I have not had the best experiences with paella. Here is a tip – avoid eating it in a desolate unknown restaurant during the siesta hour when all other restaurants in the area are closed. Still, this beat even my better experiences with paella. Unfortunately Cesar only cooks for his guests, so you’ll have to make friends with him to try it.

Service: What a lovely guy /10
Atmosphere: Rooftop patio overlooking the city /10
Price: Free – like I said you have to dazzle him with your smile and maybe he’ll invite you over /10

Address Not Available
No credit cards – only appreciation

El Raco Spanish Restaurant

El Raco is a Spanish chain of restaurants all over the country with crepes as a specialty. They also have some good-looking white pizzas (and regular tomato sauce ones as well), pastas, salads and sandwiches. My favourite discovery was Carpaccio in a crepe – turns out this is a very delicious creation. I chose a veal Carpaccio (ternera), though I was not sure what I had chosen until it arrived, and it was beautifully presented wrapped with fresh Parmesan in a crepe with a spiced mayonnaise and fresh pesto sauce for dipping. The open concept kitchen and crepe-making booth are fun to watch and the décor resembles a more sophisticated MB & Co inside but with the option of nice outdoor seating. It is well priced for a casual meal. Would not go out of your way for this, but if you’re passing by and are hungry, you can count on a good meal or snack here.

Service: Friendly and patient with my broken Spanish /10
Décor/Atmosphere: There nothing like watching people make fresh crepes in front of you /10
Overall experience: Safe bet /10

196 Corsega, Barcelona
Phone Number: 934 109 626
http://www.elraco.com/
(chain restaurant – others in Barcelona and all over Spain)

La Grangeta, Catalonian Tapas

Restaurant La Grangeta serves classic Catalonian tapas, but is more hip. It’s situated in a nice plaza so you can sit outside. Standard Spanish tortilla (omelette) but with sweet fried onions for more pizzazz. Papas bravas which are like chunky deep-fried breakfast potatoes dressed with a spiced mayo and a ketchupy sauce. Also had deep fried calamari, a nice sautéed mushroom dish and a whole array of Catalan plates. Another plus is they use the generous Spanish drink pouring method at the bar, which usually translates to over half a glass of alcohol and then a bottle of whatever mix on the side – the one ounce rule is really meaningless in Spain! If you are in the Sant Andreu area, definitely stop by here for a bite.

Service: Fun, friendly, international staff /10
Atmosphere: Modestly trendy interior with great outdoor tables /10
Price: 8.678996 /10

11 Placa Palmeres, Barcelona (Metro Fabro y Puig L1)
Phone Number: 933112559
Payment: Major Credit Cards

Balthazar

Balthazar is a very nice looking restaurant that makes you want to go in. It’s like one Montreal’s trendy St-Laurent street restaurants but without the annoying crowd and overpriced questionable food. The menu is sophisticated and everything is beautifully presented. My only complaint was that the cooking could have been better timed, but the flavours were delicious and everything is very well priced. I ordered a fig, goat cheese and walnut salad with a balsamic reduction, and it came as three warm little bread squares with the cheese melted on top of the other ingredients. It was lovely, the flavours were subtle, not bursting but I quite liked it. Classic tomato mozzarella and basil millefeuille was fresh and good. My magret de canard in a port wine and apple sauce had a nice flavour but was overcooked. The lamb shoulder with potatoes was nice but maybe looked slightly better than it tasted. With a bottle of wine and a tiramisu (the creamy kind) for desert, the meal set us back only 45 Euros for two. Taking all that into consideration, I would definitely recommend it. Not at the summit of fine cuisine but they have mastered the concept of trendy affordable food that tastes good.

Overall experience: 8.8679978 /10
Food: 7.578909 /10
Big white plates with seriously good-looking food: 9.038921 /10

189 Rosselló, Barcelona
Phone Number: 93 217 82 50
Payment: Major Credit Cards
Hours: 1 pm – 3:45 pm, 9 pm to midnight

Stile bcn Ristorante Bar Pizzeria

This is a great little Italian place with Italian waiters, menus and obviously food. It’s a quiet place – definitely not the place for action and a big scene – but the restaurant was packed and the food was delicious. Best thing was the fish Carpaccio of tuna and swordfish. Was so fresh and served very cold (which is a good thing) with fresh Parmesan and arugula. The assortment of cheeses was also really nice, which included Parmesan, manchega and others with walnuts and three dipping sauces (honey, apricot and raspberry – all delicious with the salty cheeses!). Nice choices of salads, we had the goat cheese with pears. Usually the pears in those salads are cooked a little but these were strangely chunky and raw. And a good safe mushroom pizza with which you cannot go wrong. Definitely ask for aceito picante (chili oil) for the pizza – it is not that spicy but adds a bit of extra kick.

Upscale relaxing meal: 8.56899 /10
Classic food with a bit of a twist: 8.62279094 /10
Service: very friendly and goodlooking male waiters (sorry boys but I do have a thing for Italians) /10

67 Enric Granados, Barcelona
Phone Number: 934 522 214
website: www.stilebcn.com

Sagardi Euskal Taberna

Sagardi Euskal Taberna is a pintxo bar where you walk in through a huge open window and have an array of pintxo style tapas along the entire bar – and somehow at this place the food is fresh all the time. Check the Sagardi website for the various locations. Pintxos are like tapas (or a version of them) but tend to be served on a piece of baguette here. If you are looking for a great pace to try Pintxos in Montreal then check out restaurant Pintxo in plateau Montreal. You fill up your plate and they count the number of toothpicks on your dish when you are done eating. Aside from the cold ones on the bar, they come around with hot pintxos like the ball of deep-fried cheese, deep-fried cheese and bacon-wrapped shrimp (which is really the best tasting heart attack you can imagine, though keep in mind the portions are so tiny you can really let yourself eat all that artery-clogging goodness). The white thing in the pictures below is a mountain of crab which was so pretty and also delicious. My least favourite was a layer of crab sandwiched between 2 Spanish tortillas with mayo on top – it was a little nauseating but aside from that, everything else was fun to eat, quality finger food. Let’s face it, for people who like small portions but large varieties of food with every meal, tapas are the way to go; and for those still in need of convincing, Sagardi’s pintxos will easily turn you on to this Spanish tradition.

70-72 Muntaner (Corner Aragon)
Phone Number: 93 706 07 06
website: www.sagardi.com
Central reservations number 902 502 522

Chef Deck Says:

So you don’t insult the French Canadian waitresses on their Spanish heritage remember that pintxo is not tapas it’s a little taste from the Basque region of Spain. On another note the food made me very happy. I must say that the highlights of the night were the figs stuffed with choriso and sum queso, the goat queso ravioli and duck stew, and the shrooms stuffed with duck confit (there were many others but I hate to mess with short attention spans). The only flaw was seared calamari and onion confit (and a shrimp and marinated crab dish that was tasty but slightly overcooked). O ya they use very high quality salt, pepper, and olive oil (good wine list to).

$80-$120 a couple with a bottle of not the best but not the worst wine.

Pintxo Restaurant
256 Roy E. Montreal; 514-844-0222
Hours: Lunch: Wed – Fri 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm, Dinner: Mon – Sat 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm, Sun 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Pay: VISA, MC, Interac
http://www.pintxo.ca