I had been looking forward to my short trip to Barcelona almost as much for the food I was going to taste as for the places I was going to see and the people I was going to see. With the advent of restaurants such as El Bulli (where I have not been and which does not serve Catalan food) and Manresa (in the Bay Area), Catalan cuisine is achieving some sort of recognition in the US. My sojourn through Catalan cuisine was quite successful and I now wanted to see what Catalan dishes would taste like when cooked right. Alas, I ended up being disappointed, not as much as in the cuisine, as in my own experience with it.
The first problem was that for whatever reason I became a bit stomach sick after arriving in Barcelona – whether the culprit was airline food or a Burger King burger from Kennedy airport, I will never know – but the fact was that I didn’t feel like eating anything my first day in Barcelona. A small lunch at Restaurante Taxidermista in Barcelona’s Plaça Reial was my first introduction to Catalan food – but its brief menu only allowed me to taste pa amb tomaquet (bread with tomato) and some Catalan sausages. They were both very good, however.
I didn’t eat again until the next day, when I ended up by accident (i.e. telling myself “I’ll sit down at the next restaurant I find”) at a Galician restaurant somewhere. Here I had some more pa amb tomaquet, some ravioli with sauce and some grilled quail – neither of which impressed me. Once again I skipped dinner that night.
The next day was the start of the meeting I was attending. I had lunch with my colleagues at Restaurante Mango, on Aveda. Diagonal 635, very near my hotel. Mango does not actually serve Catalan food, instead concentrating on pizzas, salads, pastas and paellas. I had the Tropix pizza (E12) and it was good, though nothing special. My colleagues seemed happier with their salads and pastas – so maybe pizza is not the way to go here.
That evening we had the buffet dinner at Restaurante Contraste, the restaurant of the Hotel Princesa Sofia, where we were staying. This was probably the best buffet dinner I’ve had. Though the selection wasn’t terribly broad, everything they had was fresh and great tasting. I had a simple salad (beware that there are no ready-made dressings, though) and then two of the three pre-made entrees. I think one was cannelloni and the other some stewed meat, very good though a bit salty. There were plenty of desserts, I tried the crema catalana which once again did not impress me – but most of the other bites were quite good. They also have a grill station which I didn’t try, my suspicion after several meals is that Spanish/Catalan beef is not particularly good in the first place. Other people seemed quite happy with their selections, though. I think the buffet is about E45-50, but we got a special group rate. In any case, if you want to eat at the buffet you may want to inquire whether it’s cheaper if you pay for it when you register.
The next two lunches were at the University, where we were served 3-course meals which included wine! Leave it to the Catalans 🙂 The food was quite good though not terribly exiting. Our second dinner was at a popular restaurant in the Gothic quarter – unfortunately I don’t remember the name. We had popular Catalan tapas/appetizers such as croquettes, tomato bread and several things I didn’t recognize – but everyone seemed quite happy with them. I had the veal with brie, which seems to be a popular dish in Barcelona, and it was nice but also not too exiting – the veal wasn’t as tender as you’d wish. I ate it assuming that baby cows are not mistreated in Spain the way they are in the US – I hope that’s true.
Our last dinner was at La Botiga, also close to the hotel. It was also quite good.
So, what am I left with? Well, my impression now is that Catalan food as randomly served in Barcelona is good and solid, but not magical. My standards, however, may be too high – I’ve been cooking a lot of really good Mediterranean food lately (you’d be surprised at how many “C” cuisines are in the Mediterranean), and, if I say so myself, I’m quite a good cook, so it takes a LOT to impress me.
Category: Restaurants (Page 28 of 52)
I had my first meal in Barcelona at Restaurante Taxidermista about a week and a half ago. I was quite hungry after having roamed around the old part of the city
for a while, but I was being too picky as to where and what to eat. I
wanted to eat outside, somewhere that had a prix-fix menu that fit my
mood. My pickyness was irritating me to no end, so I finally cajoled
myself into agreeing to sit down at the next empty table I found at
the Placa Reial, where I was as I was carrying on this internal
conversation. That ended up being the Restaurante Taxidermista, not
altogether a bad choice.
The main reason why the Restaurante Taxidermista was not a good choice
was that it has a very limited menu, a few appetizers, a couple of
sandwiches, maybe some seafood stuff I glanced over, nothing much or
much varied. I could have done better elsewhere. Still, there I was,
and there I was eating so I ordered a portion of pa amb tomaquet (E
1.75), literally, “bread with tomato”, a dish consistent of (French
style) bread brushed with a generous amount of olive oil as well as,
well, fresh tomato. It sounds simple, and I had meant to make it when
I cooked Catalan food, but it is such a Catalan specialty that I wanted to try it. And indeed the dish is no more and no less than the sum of its ingredients, it tastes just like you expect it to taste
(though perhaps fresher, given that we are more used to having cooked
tomatoes on our bread), and that´s pretty good. I enjoyed it.
I also had a plate of butifarra, two Catalan sausages with sweet sauteed onions
(E 4.30). The sausages didn´t look that great, but the onions were
nicely caramelized (clearly with the help of some sugar), and the
sweet and hearty flavors went well together. I also enjoyed it.
And that was it. Really. I did have a small coke (E 2.30) and got
some Italian ice cream on the way home, but that was it for my first Barcelona lunch. Pretty sad.
Restaurante Taxidermista
Placa Reial 8
Barcelona
Spain
93 412 45 36
http://www.taxidermistarestaurant.com/
Marga’s Restaurant Reviews
La Botiga is a 3-restaurant chain of mid-priced contemporary Catalan restaurants in Barcelona. A few colleagues and I had dinner at the one located near Avenida Diagonal last Tuesday night, and we were all quite pleased with the experience. We had a very pleasant dinner in the outside patio, the food was good and the service attentive and accommodating.
La Botiga’s menu offers perhaps half a dozen appetizers, plus some salads, and perhaps a dozen entrees (mostly priced E12 and under). My colleagues were all happy with their appetizers which included croquettes and fritters, very fresh asparagus with some sort of sauce and, of course, bread with tomato. They seemed to be pretty pleased with their entrees as well – and they were surprised that the hamburger surprised plate consisted of a stuffed hamburger patty with no bun. I thought my steak kebab lacked ummf and didn’t like the undercooked potatoes it came with, but it was all in all alright. My desert of crema catalana was a little lacking BUT after having made it once and eaten it two or three times, I’ve come to the conclusion that crema catalana just can’t compare with its French cousin creme brulee.
Service was professional and quick – we never lacked for anything, and the waiter happily let me use a credit card to pay part of my bill.
La Botiga 2
Gandesa, 10
Barcelona
Spain
93 410 48 47
http://labotiga.angrup.com/
Marga’s Restaurant Reviews
Marga’s Catalan Menu
Note: Biggies has closed.
Biggies BBQ has been opened for a couple of months already, but I didn’t find out about it until the San Leandro Times did a story on it last Thursday. Of course I had to go – not just because it’s my moral imperative to review each and every restaurant in San Leandro (except for those that are obviously bad), but also because I like Brazilian food. I will note that while Brazilians love meat and their espetos corridos are legendary, their meat is unfortunately not as good as that from Argentina. Then again, nobody’s is.
Biggies BBQ is a very most restaurant located in the Marina Faire shopping center in San Leandro. It looks like a shopping mall restaurant, it has no decorations or ambiance and the tables/chairs are the cheapy kind. But that in itself is an advantage, as it suggests cheaper food. We went there for dinner the Friday night after the article about them came out, and while the place was pretty empty when we got there, it really filled up by 7 PM or so. Alas, they weren’t prepared for this – the lone waitress could barely keep up with the needs of every table, and every table in the restaurant was occupied. The kitchen seemed to have the same problem, while our appetizers came right away, we had to wait over one hour for our entree. And believe me, an hour with hungry/antsy kids is just not fun.
Biggies’ menu needs to be redone. As it is it lists appetizers, drinks, daily lunch specials, weekend specials and desserts. No, it doesn’t list entrees, which makes it quite disconcerting. Apparently this is because they have different offerings each night (though only a couple of these), though they have the Brazilian BBQ plate ($13) every day. Many of the offerings, furthermore, are listed by their Portuguese name, and the menu doesn’t explain what they are. This all means that the waitress needs to spend some time explaining the menu to each table – which, of course, makes service even slower.
We started with two pasteles, which turned out to be large, square, fried empanadas-like pastries filled with minimum seasoned ground beef ($3 each). Despite the lack of meat I really liked them, the dough was both crispy and doughy and had a nice flavor, the meat was also nicely seasoned (not in the least spicy). The kids liked them too.
We followed by what I thought was the esfirra ($3 each) but, looking online, might have been a joelho (not in the menu), a baked sweet bun filled with cheese and tomato (I think, though the waitress said it was ham). This was also very good.
After an hour or so we had the Brazilian BBQ which consisted of two chunks of beef, a tiny Brazilian sausage and a small chicken leg. The meat was a little tough and overdone (medium rather than the medium rare I’d requested), but it had a great flavor. The intense marinade brought up, rather than hid, the gamy taste of the beef and I loved it. The only problem was that the marinade was too salty. The same can be said about the sausage and the chicken. The latter had a very crispy skin and moist meat. The meats were served with a large quantity of rice and (refried?) beans (which Camila liked).
In all, I was very happy with the food, but Mike and I thought that it was a tad expensive – HOWEVER, I just realized that you can buy gift certificates for the restaurant (dinner only) at restaurant.com – a $25 gift certificate usually costs $10, so you’d save $15, but sometimes you can get them for as cheap as $2 (keep an eye on dealdetectives.com. That would be a savings of $23!!! I wish I had thought about checking restaurant.com yesterday! I don’t know how they can make any money at those prices, which worries me a little (I want them to stick around!).
I will definitely go to Biggies BBQ again – though in several weeks, when it becomes less busy 🙂
Biggies BBQ
13700 Doolittle Drive #110
San Leandro, CA
(510) 352-2371
San Leandro Restaurant Reviews
Bay Area Restaurant Reviews
The downtown San Leandro farmers’ market is back again for the summer season. It opened yesterday with some band playing that fortunately wasn’t as loud as bands last year. We found most of the same food stands from last year, in addition to a new prepared foods stand: Casbah Exotic Food. They serve a short, but eclectic, list of dishes – if I well remember Moroccan chicken, curry chicken, gyros (I think beef) and a steak sandwich. I’m pretty sure they had another item as well. I think all the plate were $5.
I had the Moroccan chicken plate, which really was a chicken gyro. It consisted of a pita bread covered with lettuce & some tomato, and some pieces of pretty bland chicken. I ate it but did not enjoy it, and I was hungry afterwards. Mike had a slightly better experience with his gyro. He liked the marinated beef, but thought that the portion was also too small. $5 is not much, but I rather pay a dollar or two more and be satisfied.
Fortunately Meyers BBQ is back with their chicken teriyaki and huge hot dogs.
Ana Rosa’s occupies the space previously occupied by El Novillo, also a Mexican restaurant. It’s only a few yards away from my house, so I was hoping it’d be great – or at least good. Alas, I’d qualify it as simply “OK”.
I went last night, with Mika and Camila, to “celebrate” Cinco de Mayo. I was too lazy to walk all the way to Los Pericos, my favorite taquerĂa in town and too unprepared to make something at home either. So Ana Rosa’s it was.
I ordered a beef quesadilla ($7), while Mika had a regular chicken burrito ($5) and Camila had a small plain cheese quesadilla ($5). The menu did list the plain quesadilla at $5 – but when the waitress asked me if I wanted a large or small quesadilla, I assumed that the small one would be less. My bad, I paid $5 for a tiny tortilla filled with a little bit of cheese. Outrageous.
My beef quesadilla was larger – it consisted of an oversize flour tortilla, filled with cheese and diced beef, folded in half and toasted. It was served with a scoop of guacamole (the thin, runny type), sour cream, lettuce and a slice of tomato. Personally, I don’t really like toasted tortillas. I much prefer the method used at Los Pericos in which a large flour tortilla is steamed, filled with the beef, cheese, salsa, guacamole and sour cream (and lettuce, if you want), and then rolled as a burrito – but that’s why Los Pericos is my favorite taqueria. This quesadilla tasted just fine, the flavor of the meat was overwhelmed by the toastiness of the tortilla, but there wasn’t anything disagreeable – or particularly agreeable – about it. I just didn’t dig it.
Finally, Mika’s burrito was quite large, filled mostly with rice. Mika didn’t like it, or at least didn’t eat it, so Mike had it for dinner later on. He found it to be completely bland, he says that he’s liked every other burrito he’s had more – there was just nothing to this one.
As for the restaurant, Ana Rosa’s has a very small dining room – but it was full when we went on a Tuesday around 5:30 PM. They have sit-down service, and the lone waitress amazingly managed to serve the whole dining room and calculate the checks by herself. She was very pleasant and the service was good. As for the place, there is no atmosphere to it – just a place to go and have a quick bite to eat, not to linger.
All in all, I’m sad to repeat that Ana Rosa’s fails as a taqueria that I would frequent. I can imagine I’ll go again, but just because it’s so close to my house. But even then, I can’t imagine it’ll be anytime soon. I’ll get off my butt and go to Los Perico’s.
Ana Rosa’s Mexican Restaurant
2089 E 14th St # C @ Estabrook
San Leandro, CA
(510) 357-3022
San Leandro Restaurant Reviews
Update: This restaurant is now closed.
The following is a message I got about a restaurant on the road between SF & LA. I haven’t been there – but after that recommendation, I’ll definitely try it.
My wife and I stop at the Planeta Rojas Café in Button Willow each time we travel to L.A. and return.…it is down the way from the Taste of India…in back of the Shell Gas Station.
While you have to push past that they prepare their food out in front in a portable “Taco Coach” and you order inside the red building…the food is excellent. I am a Mexican Food lover and connoisseur…I grew up in L.A….spend a lot of time in Mexico..and know the best places in the Bay Area. Nobody, not any restaurant from Mexico City to any place in the Bay area….touches their Chile Relleno…it is all made fresh…this is not fast food…but, they serve it quickly. Try the Chicken Tostada if you’re on a diet. The prices are cheap…and a complete lunch for 2 is $13 to $20…including a soda.
One other thing…you might think the owners are just arrived from Mexico…a married couple…they’re not, both hard working & very friendly and proud parents of a new U.S. Marine stationed in San Diego…just joined and doing his boot camp. He joined for 6 years to become an Military Police. You won’t be disappointed.
Mike Emley
Saigon 2, a Vietnamese restaurant, has opened in San Leandro. I haven’t been there yet, so I can’t report on it, but it’s getting mostly postive reviews at Yelp.
That said, do we really need a new Vietnamese restaurant in San Leandro. As far as I know, we already have 5: Vo’s, Le Soleil (my favorite), Pho Anh Ha, Tu Tai (where I haven’t been) and Halan (is that the one near K-Mart?). There might be others (if so, let me know). Now, in a town with just one Thai Restaurant, with no Indian, no Ethiopian, no French, no South American and no Middle Eastern restaurants – do we need six Vietnamese restaurants? How about some variety!!!!
Anyway, I may or may not give it a try. If you do – please let me know what you think of it. It’s located at 2113 Marina Blvd (between Menlo St & Doolittle Dr) and there is a 10% off coupon in last week’s San Leandro Times.
I also saw in the San Leandro Times an add asking for waiters/staff for a new restaurant in Manor Square. The restaurant is called Double B Bar & Grill and I know absolutely nothing about it. They don’t have a phone number in the ad, so I can’t even call and ask. Again, if you know something about it, comment here or e-mail me.
My friend Penelope and I went to Makiyaki for lunch a few days ago. This time I had a bento box with ton-katsu and chicken teriyaki. It was fine. The teriyaki seemed tastier than the time before, while the ton katsu was sort of bland and had the texture of chicken instead of pork, but at least was tender. I thought the dish was a bit expensive for what it was, but I don’t have any major complaints. I’d probably go there again, but really, this is a place to go for sushi, not teriyaki.
Makiyaki
134 Pelton Center
San Leandro, Ca
510-895-0488
San Leandro Restaurant Reviews
Last night I had my monthly dinner with my friends Katrina & Parker (the rest couldn’t come), and we went to Ghazal Indian Cuisine in Oakland, California. As usual when I’m with the girls, we had great restaurant karma – not only did we find free parking very close to the restaurant, but we all enjoyed our meal.
Ghazal is a relatively new restaurant in the Jack London area. It’s front room is sort of generic, but its dining room is pretty nice – not in the least tacky. There is a wall with square recess shelves, decorated with nice ceramics. The room itself is too square and brightly lit for my taste – the light is too white. With a little more care it could have a very nice ambiance.
We were there on a Wednesday evening, and unfortunately (for them) the restaurant was almost empty – there was only one other party. I think the major reason is that the Jack London. Sq. area is a major dud, a complete failure of a project. It’s a nice place, but for some reason nobody seems to go there. If that was true during good economic times, it’ll be even truer with our current recession-depression.
In any case, Ghazal is a relatively nice place to go for dinner. It features a pretty much standard North Indian menu, thought there are more choices than at most similar restaurants. It’s also pricier than most Indian restaurants. That said, I still ordered what I always order: chicken pakora ($7), lamb korma ($12), kabuli naan (here it’s called kashmiri naan – $3) and two sweet lassis ($2.50 each).
The chicken pakora was quite nice, the chicken was quite moist, though the breading wasn’t very crispy. The portion was a good size. I also liked the lamb korma – the lamb was amazingly tender – but I thought the korma was lacking something. Perhaps some salt? The white rice that I ordered with it was yellow, but otherwise fine. Both dishes were pretty spicy, even though I’d ordered the lamb “mild”. The naan had a good amount of filling, and it was yummy and soft. The lassis, meanwhile, were delicious – perhaps a tad too sweet, but very refreshing and just nice.
Katrina and Parker shared several vegetarian dishes – I didn’t try them, but they said they were very good. In all, we were all happy to have dined there. As I said, we have good restaurant karma.
Ghazal Indian Cuisine
131 Broadway
Oakland, CA
510-268-9950
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