Seafood in Barcelona

After San Sebastian, we went to Barcelona. It was very hot and a big change from San Sebastian! I had already been to Barcelona two years ago, and I remembered that the food there was delicious. We only spent one day, but I was excited because I got to return to a restaurant that I love for lunch, and then go to a special new restaurant for dinner.

We ate lunch at a restaurant called Can Sole. The last time that we were in Barcelona, we ate there twice because we liked it so much. Can Sole is a very old restaurant. It was founded in 1903, which is more than 100 years ago! It started as a restaurant that served fishermen, and they still specialize in seafood.

The servers were all very nice and friendly, especially to my little sister. When one saw my mom trying to tie a napkin around her neck, he came over with a baby apron! They also had a special high chair for her. It looked like a high chair from a long time ago. I can imagine a fisherman's wife using a high chair like this for a baby!

We started with pan con tomate, which is toasted bread with garlic, olive oil and grated tomato. In the past, we have had pan con tomate come to the table already prepared, but we must have ordered it differently, because this time they brought us toasted bread with cloves of garlic and halved cherry tomatoes on the side. My mom rubbed garlic and then tomato on the bread. I really liked it. It might not sound very special, but the garlic and tomato give the bread very fresh flavor, and even though we didn't plan it that way, it was kind of fun to make it ourselves.

My dad thought that my mom made it too garlicky, but I liked it!

Once the tomato went on, it was perfect!

Next we had white asparagus from Navarre. This is a very special kind of thick asparagus that comes from a specific region in Spain. It is white because it grows underground and has no exposure to the sun. If it got exposed to sunlight, then it would turn green! The white asparagus is very soft and tender and sweet. It is much softer than green asparagus.

This asparagus is much thicker than the green asparagus that we get in the United States. Navarre asparagus is a special kind and it is sorted and sold according to thickness.

Next we had Red Peppers, Eggplants and Onions Roasted in Olive Oil. I liked mixing the peppers and eggplant together when I ate it. I loved the eggplant especially and I also liked the peppers being roasted. It made them soft and sweet with more flavor than when they are raw.

Everyone's favorite dish was something surprising! It was Small Cuttlefish Baked Can Sole Style, which meant baked in a very sweet and flavorful tomato sauce. Cuttlefish are molluscs from the ocean, in a class similar to squid and octopus. It makes sense that I liked it so much since I love squid and I love octopus! The cuttlefish was very tender and the sauce was very sweet. My mom said it was one of the best things she had ever eaten! My brother liked that it was slightly chewy, but I didn't think that it was. Once I got confused and called it "snugglefish," which everyone thought was funny.

The cuttlefish almost had the texture of pasta!

After the cuttlefish, we had razor clams. I like that razor clams are long, and not shaped like other clams. They were simply prepared, without any herbs or sauce, but they were still very flavorful.

We ended sharing two entrees. First we had the Special Grill of Fish and Shellfish. It had langoustines, fish, two kinds of clams and mussels. The fish included hake and monkfish. My favorites were the fish and the langoustines. Langoustines are shellfish that are almost like a cross between shrimp and lobster.

Our last dish was paella, which is a traditional Spanish dish of rice and seafood. There was cuttlefish in the paella too and it was delicious. I also really liked the langoustines again and the rice. The rice at the bottom of the pan gets crispy and is called socarrat and I love it!

Lunch at Can Sole was amazing, but we had a meal that I liked even more for dinner! We went to a very special restaurant called Passadis Del Pep. My parents first went there before they had kids. And then they went back with my grandparents and my sister when she was a baby. But this trip, we all got to go!

Everyone at Passadis Del Pep is very welcoming and friendly. They gave my brother and sister and me Peppa Pig pencil kits. When my parents took my sister there when she was a baby and she was fussing and my mom was bouncing her, the waiter actually cut and fed my mom some of her food so that she could enjoy the meal too! We had the same waiter this time and he was very nice!!

Passadis Del Pep is different from other restaurants, because there isn't a menu! They just bring out platters of mostly seafood to the table for everyone to share family style.

First we got some crudite and breadsticks with a dip. I really liked the carrots. They were freshly cut. And I liked how the breadsticks were small.

I like this presentation, rather than how things are usually served with a pile of vegetables and dip on the side.

We also had pan con tomate for the second time that day! This time it was prepared in the kitchen, but had a lot less tomato than most of what I have had before. I liked my mom's version at Can Sole more!

Can you see how there is more olive oil than tomato?

Our first seafood dish was clams. All of the seafood was very simply prepared. The clams tasted briny, like the ocean.

Next we had Pimientos de Padrón, which are Spanish style blistered Padrón peppers. Padron peppers come from northwestern Spain. They are similar to shishito peppers (remember those from my Austin post?!), in that most are mild, but 10-25% are spicy.

Luckily I didn't get any spicy ones!

Our next dish was a mix of lightly fried seafood. There were small whole fish (maybe anchovies?), shrimp and calamari. The calamari were my favorite. My dad taught me how to eat the whole fish. You pop the head off and remove the backbone, and then you have two little fish filets to eat. I liked that this was much lighter than most fried food. There was hardly any breading.

Next came more squid, but they were sauteed instead of fried. I liked the bigger pieces that are usually cut into rings, but my mom and brother like the tentacle pieces!

Our next dish was my favorite, even better than dessert! It was mushrooms served in a creamy sauce, and then an egg yolk was mixed into it at the table. This was definitely the most complicated dish that we had. I loved the creaminess.

Once all the mushrooms were gone, we dipped bread in the sauce and that was really good!

After that, we were back to seafood. We had langoustines served with sauteed onions. This one was Rachel's favorite dish, and I really liked it too. The onions added sweetness. My mom thinks that the langoustines are too much work, but I don't mind since my dad always peels all of my shellfish for me!!

After langoustines, we had more shrimp. These were served with coarse salt, but the shrimp themselves were very sweet. Almost all shrimp in Spain are cooked and served in the shell. This means that they're more work to eat (sorry Daddy!), but makes them much more flavorful.

Our last seafood dish was razor clams. I liked these more than the ones at Can Sole. These were a little bit bigger, and they were chewier in a good way.

For dessert we had crema catalana, which is a burnt custard dessert that is very similar to creme brulee. It is a little bit different in that it is cooked with cinnamon, so even though the topping and overall appearance is similar to creme brulee, the flavor is actually more like rice pudding. I thought that the top was a little bit too burnt, so I liked the custard part more.

Our day in Barcelona was definitely filled with amazing food. I cannot wait to go back to Spain!!!!