#case conrad

New single from one of my latest be loved bands.

I sometimes think that Barcelona is the perfect city - it's got culture, shopping, beaches, great weather, a rather attractive population and a great food scene.  AND they banned bullfighting!  What's not to love?!  Of course there's lots of upscale fancy places to eat and drink but more than any city, I love the smaller rougher places.  I was there last weekend to catch up with friends so called into a couple of my favorites

It's chaotic, crowded, noisy and I've never managed to even drink inside let alone get a seat but El Xampanyet in Born, just up from the Picasso Museum is one of my favorite pre-dinner bars anywhere.  It serves wonderful looking tapas but our usual routine is to order a bottle of their home-made cava (served in LITRE bottles with those rubber flip-top stoppers), grab a plate of bread and tomato or jamon iberico and stand by one of the barrels outside.  The cava is gorgeous and costs a spectacularly cheap €10 a bottle (you can't even get a small glass for that back in Denmark) and one bottle has often turned to two if we're in a group which means we're usually half cut before dinner.  Oh well, it's Spain...

Gin and tonic is a national Spanish obsession these days with most bars offering a wide choice of both components (a far cry from England, which despite being the spiritual home of the drink still serves it in a wine glass with no ice in some pubs.  We're talking about you The Rovers Return...)   Even in the rather down-at-heel Raval there are places that take their gin very seriously and a particularly quirky one is Pesca Salada ('Salty Fish' I believe).  It looks like it was designed by someone with theatrical flair and no budget (paper plates like scales on the ceiling, murals of Jesus performing gin-and-tonic-related miracles, rather clever jellyfish lights)  and the bar man takes FOREVER to mix a drink (seriously, it was twenty minutes for five drinks) but it is SO cute in there you soon forgive and forget.  And order another.

Really cool ceiling

I've only been to La Plata for lunch but there IS a bar and it IS open in the evening so still counts.  Even less fancy than either of the above, it's a tiny corner place in the Barri Gotic and, when I went there with a friend mid afternoon recently, the only thing they were serving was tiny fried fish with a side salad of tomatoes and onion.  And it was probably the best food I had on the whole trip.  No choice, no decisions, just really fresh tasty food.  Throw in a half bottle of house white wine and you have the perfect lunch.  I read that the menu is a bit bigger in the evening and it gets busy (though it would only take about 10 people for it to appear so) and I cannot wait to go back.

Laundry and lunch

Lunch date

Cool tiles on the bar

Simple is best

Seriously fantastic fish

El Xampanyet Carrer de Montcada 22, 08003 Barcelona, Spain Tel +34 933 19 70 03

Bar Pesca Salada C/ la Cera 32, 08001 Barcelona, Spain Tel +34 686 26 53 09

Case Conrad - Copper thief