Eating out in Barcelona – Famen

I often use atrapalo.com to find new places to eat as they have quite a good listing of restaurants in Barcelona. They also offer discounts of up to 50% off on meals if you book through them so you save money too.

I was looking for somewhere for a nice romantic meal for two when I spotted Famen. It had some great reviews so I thought I would try it out.

Famen serves up a kind of tapas/asian fusion at a reasonable price. We started buy sharing some of the “tapas” which included patatas bravas, terrine de foie and chicken spring rolls and then had a main course each. I had the tuna which was perfectly cooked, beautifully presented and absolutely delicious.

The service was impeccable and the waiter/owner?? very helpful at suggesting things we might like to try. In total with desserts and wine the meal came to around 60€.

We were also informed us that they would on Wednesdays they would be serving a Japanese tasting menu for 25€ per person which I can imagine would be delicious and I can’t wait to go back and try it.

Unfortunately the website for Famen doesn’t seem to be finished but you can book through atrapalo.com and get a 10-15% discount on your meal.

Famen
c/ramis 2-4
Gracia
Barcelona
93 2 105 900

Eating out in Sabadell – El Pendejo

 

I love Mexican food, just the thought of it makes my mouth watereth over. Even though Spain and Mexicospeak the same language, Mexican restaurants here are pretty mehhh, nothing special, spiciness – not so much, apart from chorizo and salsa del diablo the Spanish seem to have a pretty tame pallet.

 

El Pendejo can be found in Sabadell, a small town about 30 minutes away from Barcelona, it’s pretty big compared with other Mexican offerings, good for large groups, celebrations and birthdays and even has its own Mariachi band singing.  It can get really busy at weekends – on Friday and Saturday there are only two sittings 9pm and 11pm – so it’s best to book early.

 

It isn’t the cheapest Mexican I’ve been too here but the portions are HUGE; mountains of nachos covered with cheese, salsa, guacamole and real sour cream (I’d love to know where they procured it, sour cream, “nata agria”, is pretty unheard of here), one salad is big enough for four and the Papas Mexicanos were made from the biggest potatoes I’ve ever seen and that was all just for starters

 

For out main course, there were fajitas, burritos and enchiladas around the table. Bear in mind that nothing here is spicy so remember to request a serving of the spicy sauce and dollop generously, this will set you back another 2 euros but otherwise the food would be pretty bland. I also ordered an extra helping of guacamole but it turned out to be unnecessary as there was already so much food.

 

I glimpsed some desserts on nearby tables and they looked delicious but I was just so full I couldn’t manage another mouthful for this reason we also skipped coffee.

 

The bill came to €25 a head which was pretty good value considering the amount we ate. This has to be my favourite Mexican restaurant in the Barcelona area and I’ll definitely be paying another visit in the near future.

 

El Pendejo

www.pendejo-online.com

c/America

Sabadell

Tel: 937277172

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eating out in Barcelona – Kathmandu

The Spanish have never been renowned for their taste in spicy food – in fact, apart from the occasional spicy chorizo and the infamous pimientos de padron, spicy does not really register anywhere in their cooking repertoire. I remember one occasion when I had some friends over for dinner, including a Spanish girl I had invited, I prepared some Mexican food, which of course features chillies but I didn’t go over the top or so I thought until I saw the poor girl crying because of the spiciness of the chicken… That’s not to say that there are no Spanish people that like spicy food, quite the contrary, once you introduce them to it (poco a poco) they’re hooked!Unlike Chinese restaurants of which all (that I know of) are bad, Indian and Pakistani restaurants can be very good in Barcelona, the food enjoyable but it never reaches the spiciness level to which the “Vindaloo” Brits have become accustomed. The waiters do ask whether you would like to have your dish spicy but even after specifying “British spicy not Spanish spicy” it never quite gets there which is why I was very happy when I found Kathmandu in Gracia.

Kathmandu is actually a Nepalese restaurant although looking at the menu there it was hardly any different to the Indian and Pakistani menus around Barcelona, the Spanish do tend to lump all of these cuisines under the title “Comida Hindu” so I guess that would explain it.

 We started with the typical poppadoms with a selection of chutneys and yogurt dip followed by some samosas. Between three of us we then shared a Chicken Saag, a Chicken Tikka Masala and a Jheenga Machha Masala which are Prawns in a Nepalese Curry Sauce plus rice and naan. We were asked if we wanted it spicy to which we replied that we did and low and behold – it actually was spicy!! Not blow your head off spicy but just the ticket.

The food we ordered was plenty to fill us all up and there was even some left over, the best thing about it, the whole meal plus beers came to 15€ per head. Bargain!

 So if you’re looking for a real spicy curry in Barcelona, now you know.

 Kathmandú

C/Corsega 421

Barcelona

Tel: 934593769

Eating out in Barcelona – Kibuka

Whenever I go back to the UK, I always like to make sure I go for a slap up Chinese meal complete with crispy duck pancakes, because as hard as I look, there just doesn’t seem to be any decent Chinese food in Barcelona. 

Thankfully, that isn’t the case for Japanese food. Barcelona has an abundance of Japanese restaurants, some better than others, but all relatively inexpensive (compared to UK) 

My personal favourite is Kibuka. Located in Gracia, there are two of these Japo-Brazilian restaurants serving the most delicious sushi, sashimi and maki ever to grace my mouth. Clearly I am not the only one who thinks so as come opening time, it’s best to be there on the dot or find yourself on a three hour waiting list.. (no reservations unfortunately) 

The menu is creative using ingredients such as strawberries, mango and fresh crab. The Uramaki’s are out of this world, I recommend the Tataki Uramaki, or in fact any of them, they’re all delish! Make sure you also try the spicy tuna, mmmmm mmm. My favourite dish is the hot Philadelphia roll, filled with smoked salmon and Philadelphia cheese, tempura-ed, then served hot with a mouth watering dipping sauce it will leave you thinking about it for weeks or until you go again. 

Whenever we go to Kibuka, we generally skip the starters, maybe some edamame (soy beans) or a sunomono (cucumber salad) and just order a big variety of sashimi, uramaki, and assorted sushi.  For around 25€ per person you get a good sushi fix, plus drinks and dessert.

 www.kibuka.com

kibuka-Goya  C/ Goya, 9, 08012 Barcelona(Gràcia)