There is something so delightful about a european city break, walking over ten miles a day, seeing different galleries, eating at different times in different ways. It is exhausting but it does refresh the soul.
We instantly fell into a routine of napping in the late afternoon and having dinner way past 10. We congratulated ourselves on being instantly spanish. A pre or post nap aperetivo of olives and a glass of red vermouth were essential.
When does one ever have a glass of vermouth in England? I might try and bring it back but it just hits different when you are on holiday with the slightly warm sun on your face.
With napping half way through the day we split our days into two, packing in as much food and culture as physically possible.
I wasn’t expecting eating to be so easy being gluten free in Barcelona, but it was an absolute pleasure. Some waiters liked to joke every time they brought a gluten item to the table that I couldn’t even look at it. Not only was it easy to eat everywhere, we didn’t have a single bad meal.
As soon as we dropped off our luggage we went on a mission to see the sea, there is something about water that draws you to it. I grew up living far away from the sea so seeing it is a novelty, particularly related to holidays.
After a little sit down it was time to track down a vermouth and bowl of brined olives. The salt of the brine cuts through the syrupy goodness of vermouth. We had prime people watching seats, watching everyone on their early evening runs and even a dog on a skateboard with a man. We were hoping to see a circus of animals on wheels but sadly it was just the one.
Our stomachs began to rumble so we consulted our shared google maps favourites. This is an absolute trick before you go on holiday to put all the recommended places in your google maps so when you are out and about it makes it so much easier to find places that you want to go to and the ones that friends and family have recommended.
We went to Bodega La Palma, a classical looking tapas bar full of small marble tables, little stools and a bar that looked like it hadn’t changed since the early 1900’s. There was a balcony which reminded me of the portuguese restaurant in Love Actually where Colin Firth proposes. Sadly Colin Firth wasn’t there but there was incredible wine and a waiter who helped find the gluten free things.
At this point I had been away from the cheese shop for two whole days so the cheese cravings were kicking in so ordering the cheese board was a necessity. I love the little bowls of snacks you can get, the top snacks here were the pickled cucumbers and almonds (perfectly roasted, sweet and salty.)
Our ordering throughout this trip has plentiful with a mission to try as many things from the menu as physically possible.
By the time we got round to dessert everywhere the sentence of ‘lets share the crema catalana’ was uttered. This is going to the top of my list for desserts to make next. I am also wondering whether this would work with marmalade. I was new to crema catalana, crème brulée’s citrusy sister, served in a wide terracotta dish, as runny as custard, caramelised on top. The satisfying slap of the spoon on hard sugar waiting for it to crack, delicious.
Hunger pangs were happening waiting in line to get a table after 10pm, the menu taunting me from the outside. I couldn’t resist reading it, each line making me more ravenous than before. I started to get impatient and angered by people wafting straight into the door.
The atmosphere was very ‘big white light’, the walls white and simple but with people’s names scrawled in marker on the walls for wallpaper. We sat at the bar, the beauty of there being two of you is that you can just sit at the bar, people watching, seeing what’s going on in the mirror and watching how the bar works. The back wall was covered in a mirror surrounded by red light, which sounds tacky but it was just right. The big jar of olives sitting on the side ready to be spooned into bowls.
This place took gluten intolerance seriously, telling me to look the other way when all the gluten garnishes were put on the side on plates. I like it when people understand so well that they can joke about the dishes being dismantled, it puts me at ease.
We started with a glass of cava which I always associate with cheap bottles of cava from the supermarket so in my head I am not a cava fan. Well folks, I am indeed a fan of cava and find it rather delicious when drunk in Barcelona. Our olive allowance was had earlier in the evening so we got straight to a giant board of iberian ham alongside a plate of manchego, grapes, walnuts and honey. I would say that this iberian ham was some of the best of the trip.
The russian house salad was excellent here, what looks like a sandwich filling but here is an appetiser. Think tuna mayonaise with added extras like boiled potatoes and carrots.
We really went to town with the ordering here and couldn’t believe that we still had dishes to come. We ordered artichoke hummus, steak tartare, patatas bravas and beef tenderloin with aubergine. The steak tartare melted in your mouth, the small portion was enough for two people and not overwhelming. Just when we thought we had completed the meal and done well we realised there was a main dish of beef tenderloin to come. A hot sizzling dish headed our way and it was worth every bite of over eating.
You would have thought we would call it a night there but once you are introduced to the exquisite delight of crema catalana you take every opportunity you have to eat one. Every single custardy bite was sweet torture, luckily the pudding stomach does exist and we managed one between us.
It turns out we had such a good time here that I didn’t take any pictures past the iberian ham. I believe this is a sign of a good meal.
There is one bar that really stood out and captured my heart. The everyday glamour, it felt like walking into spain in the 70’s if it was designed by the creators of madmen. Think dark wood, low lighting, candles, vases with single red carnations, a birthday party in the back, people squeezed in everywhere.
This might have been my favourite glass of vermouth, served with two olives in it as if it were a martini. We discovered early on the dress code of spain, understated and effortless, a jumpers and lipstick vibe. I may of also fallen in love with someone who looked like Paul Mescal, effortless in a light blue jumper, dancing his way back to his table in white cargo pants.
Anyway, the food, the food was beyond delicious. We shocked the waitress with how much we ordered and she actually told us to stop, little did we know that in this tapas bar the dishes were not dainty but fit for a family of four. We only ordered four things, thinking we would have a light supper. A light supper it was not.
We knew our mistake when we saw the tuna and tomato salad come out on a huge platter topped with boiled eggs and caperberries. We truly had stumbled into the 70’s. We laughed and winced at the idea of the amount of food that was going to come to the table.
For those that don’t know me, tuna is not my favourite thing, I am reminded of half opened tins in shared accomodation fridges and tuna melts. Well five days in Barcelona has rid me of those foul fishy memories. I have rebranded tuna in my head as something that has the potential to be delicious and effortless. I have a notion in my head that come summertime I will be a tuna salad person.
We stayed on the theme of fish with a platter of anchovies served with a bowl of salty, greasy crisps. Another combination that won’t leave my head. They were served in a neat row with yet more caperberries (I think it is safe to say we ate a whole jar that evening).
Luckily we had a break between all the fish and the final platters, time to catch our breath, people watch, eavesdrop on conversations and glug some wine.
Still craving cheese I begged to order the cheeseboard even though it had stilton on it and we ordered a board of iberian ham too, when in Rome! The cheeseboard spanned beyond spain which was mediocre but it did redeem itself with unctuous quince paste, a slice of goats cheese with honey caramelised on top and a sheep’s cheese with rosemary.
And we crossed it, we crossed the line of eating so much dinner that a dessert would be a step too far. In hindsight I am forlorn that we didn’t go full glutton and try their crema catalana but you should always leave something for next time!
I think this place was my ideal kind of place, it felt casual but in a chic atmospherically lit sort of way. Plus anywhere that can rebrand carnations and tuna as chic should be given a gold star.
Pizza in spain? Yes.
There is one thing about being gluten free is that you become someone who lives life on recommendations from other people who are gluten free. We visited an amazing gluten free bakery (more about that in part two) and the girl there wrote this restaurant on the back of our receipt and said we had to go there.
I am always skeptical of gluten free pizza but having a recommendation made me intrigued. After a morning of cultural splendour at the Sagrada Familia we had worked up a pizza appetite and happened to be in the area.
We were welcomed by a neon sign that said:
“No Gluten, Yes Party”
And that is when I knew I was in the right place, the playlist was as if it were using my spotify and every single pizza sounded appealing. The restaurant was like a dark stoney cave, the light pouring in from a greenery covered courtyard, the heat coming from the pizza oven in the corner.
Ever the glutton, I did not think to share a pizza. We ordered a big caesar salad complete with gluten free croutons, a treat! Followed by two pizzas, I was shocked at how good they were.
Gluten free pizzas are always going to be more filling and heavier than regular pizzas but they really have nailed it here. I washed it down with a gluten free beer, I have never been a beer person but occasionally I will partake in a gluten free one. I had the Damm gluten free beer which is an excellent lunchtime drink.
There is one dessert that I can’t not order if there is a version I can eat and that is a Tiramisu, the queen of desserts in my opinion. It is the perfect balance of tart, sweet, squishy and creamy. It is heavy as well as light, oh tiramisu, you are the perfect dessert.
This is the moment that I discovered what you need to do to the top of a cocoa dusted tiramisu to avoid choking. You use a spoon to make little divots in the top, making the cocoa stick to the dessert, making it less of a thing to inhale. I was shocked. How have I lived this long and not done that? Thank god for Italian friends is all I can say!
Cultural Snacks
When I visit places I love to go to galleries, I find them calming places to be and I am always intrigued on the art that lives in different cities to my own.
Was one of my highlights the cable car on the way to the miro foundation? Yes, I consider it a bonus, art and a different mode of transport: dreamy.
We went to the Miro foundation and the Picasso museum, both of these places were gorgeous before even getting into the art. The picasso museum used to be palaces in the gothic quarter. We kept wandering out of the galleries to stare at the architecture. the Miro foundation overlooked the city, with sculptures all around the building, clashing against the natural backdrop.
It got even better when we arrived and they had a Picasso/Miro Exhibition in both places, detailing how the artists were intertwined. The expanse of work we saw was incredible, seeing how world events changed the way they both worked and the similarities between the works.
We were in giggles by the time we got to what we named the ‘pigeon room’ at the Picasso museum. We then vowed that anytime anyone asked which Picasso era was our favourite we would say the pigeon era. He indeed did have a pigeon era, it was a series of paintings he made of his balcony in Cannes. The best bit was the pigeon era had merch so I now have a print I can frame and forever be reminded that pigeons can be glamorous too.
At the Miro foundation we were in awe of the mercury fountain, mesmerized by the movement and figuring out that it wasn’t water. Another one of my favourite works was a all encompassing wall tapestry in primary colours, a collection of weaving and knots. The photo did not capture its presence, you could even view it from different levels it was so vast.
Delicious list! Barcelona is a wonderful spot for gluten-free eating!
Great recap! I was in Barcelona over the summer and was surprisingly pleased at how easy it was to eat gluten-free. I will have to add these places to my list the next time I go!