Now if you ever find yourself in Barcelona… hungry… you’ve gotta hit the markets. They’re a great place to try a whole variety of things without breaking the bank or having to mission all over town.
Two which I really enjoyed while I was there was Mercat de Sant Josep / La Boqueria which is situated just off that very famous street of theirs, Las Ramblas (address: Rambla, 91). As well as the Santa Caterina Market which was very conveniently right up the road from where we were staying (address: Av. Francesc Cambó, 16).
I’ll start with La Boqueria, cause that’s the more popular one. It’s a very big and very busy market. Put aside at least 2 hours to really take your time and sample as you go. This is what the market looks like:
The main entrance…
Some side views & inside the market…
Inside you’ll find pretty much anything and everything. Fresh fruit & veggies, cured meats, cheeses, seafood (some known, some very new to me), every kind of fruit juice imaginable, chocolates & sweets, nuts, wine, I mean the list goes on and on. Here’s some visuals to tempt your tastebuds:
It’s perfect if you’ve rented a little apartment and you want to pick up a few groceries. Or if you’re planning a picnic in the park. Or hell, even if you just want to pig out in your bloody hotel room…
But the main drawcard (to me at least) was all the ready-to-eat things on offer at the various stalls and mini restaurants / bars in and around the market:
So many options!
We ate and drank our bodies very happy here. A big must for everyone.
Now the Santa Caterina Market is similar in many ways, but it’s not as touristy as La Boqueria. It’s definitely more of a market for the locals, but still really cool to check out. Let me show you:
Front entrance…
And it’s got quite a sexy “behind”…
As with La Bouqeria, inside you’ll find an extensive list of fresh produce and other goodies. It actually reminded me a little of the V&A Market on the Wharf back in Cape Town…
You’ll even find some things you probably wouldn’t have expected… I believe (might be wrong) below you are looking at is truffle infused eggs! Sounds freakin’ amazing.
Now the only downside to this market is that they don’t really do ready-to-eat options. It’s more of a buy-for-home kinda market. There is a little wine/tapas bar, but it didn’t look too enticing.
BUT this market’s big drawcard is the restaurant which is attached to it. A restaurant that really comes to live in the evenings:
They prepare all their dishes with items purchased from the market. Therefore the menu changes up from time to time, based on what’s available and in season. It’s a little pricey, but the food is truly incredible and something you just have to experience.
We went back there for dinner on our last night in Barcelona. D had their lamb and a vegetarian dish with veggies & cheese. I went for the roasted duck. And everything was worth every euro we spent:
Clockwise from top left: small snippet from the menu, the lamb, the veggie dish & my duck.
Mmmmm. Just looking at those pics again… good memories…. So tell me, who’s hungry?? 😉
xxx