My Trip to Spain: Airplane Food

And for my final post about Spain, here is the food I ate at the airport and on the plane.

I thought I would be smart and bring my own food this time. Unfortunately, we left it in the car. Sigh. So I was left with whatever I could find at the airport. I wasn't feeling any of the sad sandwiches or salad. I didn't want fast food burgers either. Instead, I got a pepperoni and mushroom pizza from Wolfgang Pucks. This actually wasn't half bad. Although, looking back, it probably wasn't the best idea to eat something heavy like this before boarding a plane.

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My Trip to Spain: Snacks

If you know me and how I travel, then you know I'm very big on snacks. It's good for mid day eating, late night booze soaking eating, and everything in between. I think we went a bit overboard on this trip. But at least we got to try a bunch of stuff. I think the common thing for this Spain snack adventure is definitely potato chips. But before I start with that, I must remind you that no European trip is complete without coffee. Morning, noon, and sometimes night. It's what keeps us going day after day.

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My Trip to Barcelona, Spain (Day 8): Divinius

On our last night in Barcelona, we wanted to eat paella. Good paella. I mistakenly told everyone that there was a good place close to us only to find out too late that it was along the shore. None of us wanted to make the trek and none of us wanted to take out more money to pay for the meal. The places along the shore tend to be more expensive. I wanted to take some time and figure out where we should eat but everyone thought it would be a good idea to walk around instead. Personally, I think this is a bad choice to go about picking a place because most people aren't aggressive enough to choose. They're afraid that people may be disappointed. And so we walked around aimlessly until we got too tired and ended up at Divinius.

Divinius is located off a popular street and was a big place. It certainly had enough room for our larger group. We sat and ordered some drinks instead. Here you can get large steins of beer which is not common in Spain at all. Mr. Peanut Head and Mr. M&P was certainly happy about that.



We ordered a bunch of food to share. First, some octopus which was just okay. It was a bit rubbery and lacked flavor.

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My Trip to Barcelona, Spain (Day 8): La Boqueria - Bar Pinotxo

And our final spot for lunch was at Bar Pinotxo. This famed bar is always packed. We couldn't find any seats at the bar but we did find a couple of communal tables where one waiter graciously came out to take our order. We were quite full by this point so we didn't order much.

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My Trip to Barcelona, Spain (Day 8): La Boqueria - El Quim

Our next stop was at El Quim. This tiny stall ran like a well tuned machine. Everyone in the tiny space knew what to do, where to be, and did it efficiently. It was really kind of amazing.

We waited a bit for El Quim. But we eventually scored a corner space with two chairs. That was enough space for two to sit and one to stand. I edged out another tourist looking for space by plopping my ass into one of the chairs. When it comes to food, I can be very aggressive.

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My Trip to Barcelona, Spain (Day 8): La Boqueria - Kiosko Universal

If you're looking for a bite to eat within La Boqueria, then there are a few places worth visiting. Although I missed a place on the outside of the market serving platters of cooked seafood that's to be eaten with your hands. That's my kind of place. Anyway, back on track. Most of the places within the market are bar stools only. It's first come, first served so be ready to hover and pounce if you get a chance. If you're feeling a bit adventurous, bounce around the different stalls for a bit of food at each. If you would rather sit and relax, plop yourself down and relax.

If you get there early enough before regular Spaniards eat, then you may easily find seats like we did at Kiosko Universal. This place takes the daily local market good and cooks them to order. How much more fresh can you get? I read somewhere that Kiosko is known for their seafood so we centered on that.

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My Trip to Barcelona, Spain (Day 8): La Boqueria

And finally, La Boqueria. Trust me, we visiting this famous market a few times but I wanted to consolidate my posts about it. First, it's not just a food market. It's also an open air grocery market selling all kind of things from fruit and vegetables to meat, cheese, charcuterie, and seafood. It's a one stop shop for people looking for food to cook as well as cooked food to eat right away.

This is also a really good place to look for food gifts/souvenirs. Though I would skip the saffron here. Instead, go to Angel Jobal which is a wholesale spice store. I received the best price per ounce there. Also, there's no question about the quality of the Spanish saffron there. Avoid the Turkish saffron.

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My Trip to Barcelona, Spain (Day 7): Tickets

Spain has in recent times been in the forefront of modern food. With El Bulli being the most well known, food as we know it has changed. Our senses can be tricked and our minds blown. With that, we luckily booked a dinner at Tickets which is a Adrian brothers restaurant. We went in not knowing what to expect. We left with our jaws dropped, our palates excited, and our minds stimulated. This was, by far, the best meal we had in Spain.

The waiter was really helpful in describing their menu and food focus. He suggested that if we're open to most foods, that we let them pick the dishes for us. With that, we happily obliged. The first round of food was so beautiful. False peanuts (peanut shaped nut treats), tempura of pistachios (fried crunchy pistachios), solid cocktail of apple and hibiscus (sweet tequila soaked apple wedges).

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My Trip to Barcelona, Spain (Day 7): Cuines de Santa Caterina

While in Barcelona, I wanted to make a point to visit the other markets besides La Boqueria. Most of them are so different in atmosphere, decor, and food options from the famous one that I think they're worth seeking out. For instance, at the Mercat Santa Caterina there exists actual restaurants with tables and seats with waiter service. At the other markets, it's first come first served to bar stools or open seating. Sometimes, it's nice to just relax and enjoy be served on.

And this was such a day. We went to Cuines de Santa Caterina and started with the pimientos (we can't get enough greens now) which were nicely fried with blistered skin, oil, and salt. Super hot to the table but the sweet peppers with the salinity of the salt worked really well together.

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My Trip to Barcelona, Spain (Day 6): Taller de Tapas

After a long day, we wanted to do something low key for dinner. While some of us went for Chinese food (it's a tradition), Mr. M&P and I went for more tapas. Tired as we were, we just went to place close to the hotel. I know, I know tourist central. But luckily, the food was decent, as I read previously.

Since we were really craving vegetables at this point, we were really happy that Taller de Tapas had a good selection of tapas that included them. The sauteed mushrooms were tender with earthy flavor. We savored these.

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My Trip to Barcelona, Spain (Day 6): Bubo

After a relatively heavy lunch, a few of us needed some coffee to ease us back into reality (more walking), we went to Bubo for a pick me up. Luckily for us, they also served some pastries and chocolate. We ordered a few to share like a hazelnut creme cake, and a chocolate cake. Clearly, my choice below was the cheeseburger shaped dessert.

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My Trip to Barcelona, Spain (Day 6): Cal Pep

The next day, we went walking around the city looking at sites. Along the way, we decided to stop for lunch. The streets of Barcelona can be quite confusing. There are so many small, dark streets that look like alleys. Most tourist maps don't even list these streets. Better to get a very local map otherwise have fun walking around looking for things and places. Lucky for us, we didn't have to look too long for Cal Pep, our next dining destination.

As tourists, we arrived pretty early for lunch and were the only patrons there. Don't be shy about the bar seats up front. There are tables in the back for larger groups. Lucky for us, our waiter spoke English and was quite the showman. We did tricks and tried to get the ladies drunk off cava. He certainly was entertaining. But more importantly, he recommended a variety of tapas to share from meat to fish to vegetarian. We agreed and let the chef give us whatever he pleased.



To start, we had grilled anchovies with red pepper over toast. Anchovies do not get enough love. They're delicious and not "fishy" at all. They certainly get a bad reputation from naysayers. These, in fact, were simply cooked with oil and lemon. Paired nicely with the sweetness of the pepper to the crunchiness of the toast. A good start to the meal.

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My Trip to Barcelona, Spain (Day 5): Tapas 24

From Madrid, we took the high speed train to Barcelona. We chose this route to avoid having to waste time at the airport with check in and security lines. Even though the train is technically more expensive, it was a bit more relaxing in terms of boarding and the ride itself. We were a bit tired from our first half of our Spain trip so m ost people took a well deserved nap. However, I got a second wind and decided to work on my list of restaurants. I double and triple checked with a couple of books we all gathered together. I studied the maps and neighborhood. I was prepared.

First stop, dinner at Tapas 24. Reservations are not taken but just wait for a table. Beers are offered while you stand and wonderful smells torture you as the time ticks away.



I've forgotten what the Catalan name for the dishes here so please forgive me. Above were chicken wings with a plate of grated tomatoes. The wings though so simple in nature are delicious. Juicy, tender, and full of flavor. The grated tomatoes with olive oil were perfect with some crusty bread.

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My Trip to Madrid, Spain (Day 5): Toma Jamon

On our last day in Madrid, we decided to do the last jamon place on my list: Toma Jamon. You can't have too much pork products while in Spain, right?

We started with a plate of mixed jamon including chorizo sausage, pork loin, salami, and jamon. Little pieces are bread are included so that you can wrap the meat around it. We watched the guy slowly sliced the meat from the leg. I love eyeing them. So far, a good start to the meal.

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My Trip to Madrid, Spain (Day 4): Asador Imanol

While we waited for the food at Street XO, we also went next door to Asador Imanol for some more food. This place was a more traditional Spanish tapas restaurant.

At this point, if we saw vegetables, we ordered it. So the alcachofa frita (fried artichokes) to share. Crispy and light. Perfect for snacking.

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My Trip to Madrid, Spain (Day 4) Street XO

Later that night, we were all pretty tired from the day. All that walking and site seeing will add up. So we didn't want to go too far for dinner. Luckily, I had a couple of tapas places in mind that was only 5 minutes away from our hotel. Interestingly enough, they were located inside the food court in a mall. Now, I know what you're thinking. Who goes to eat in a food court on purpose? Well, if they serve food like this, you would too.

First some background information. Street XO is the sister restaurant to Diver XO. The former being a casual yet hip tapas restaurant playing with both Asian and Spanish flavors. The latter is a 3 star Michelin rated restaurant with white tablecloths and matching service. If I were traveling alone or just with Mr. M&P, I would have gone to Diver XO. But when you're with a group, it's a little more difficult. But Street XO came highly recommended.



When we arrived shortly after it opened, the place was packed. All the bar seats were taken and others were waiting. We clearly didn't think this through. But lucky for us, this was a food court. We ordered a bunch of dishes to go and then grabbed a bunch of tables at the communal seating area. Score for being resourceful!



We started with a giant platter of Peking Duck Dumplings (pictured above). These were really good. The wrapper was thin and crispy, the meat inside tender and flavorful, and the garnished of scallions, peppers, and hoisin sauce around made for a beautiful presentation.

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My Trip to Madrid, Spain (Day 4): La Mallorquina

A couple of rain showers left us looking for cover for a couple of minutes. What better way than to duck into a cafe for some hot coffee and pastries?

La Mallorquina is quite the bustling bakery right in the middle of a square. The main floor is take out only but if you grab a number, you can wait for table service upstairs. Don't skip on the torrija (the rectangular pastry on top) which is a bread soaked in milk, honey, and spices then toasted like French toast. The edges are crusty and crunchy while the middle remains soft and custardy. Although, I don't have a sweet tooth, I really liked it. Sweet but not overly so. A really nice midday snack. Oh and if you're wondering, that second pastry (the round one on the bottom) is an ensaimada which is just a sweet bread. Nothing special about that.



La Mallorquina

Calle Mayor, 2

28013 Madrid, Spain

+34 915 21 12 01

www.pastelerialamallorquina.es

My Trip to Madrid, Spain (Day 4): Mercado de San Miguel

On our last full day in Madrid, we left it as a do as you will day. We've seen most of the big sites and hit a lot of big touristy things. So we slowed down this day and did a very relaxing schedule. How European of us, no?

We started the morning at Mercado de San Miguel. Everyone talks about La Boqueria in Barcelona but this market is worth seeing as well. This is less a market to buy produce and meat but more of a market for cooked food and drinks. Think Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, PA. The weekends are packed and crazy so try to go on a weekday instead. You'll be much happier, trust me.

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My Trip to Madrid, Spain (Day 3): Sobrino de Botin

After all that meat, we needed to burn off those calories in time for dinner. Lots of walking around and site seeing did the trick. A bit too much in fact so we headed back to the hotel and relaxed for a bit before dinner. I reminded everyone that our reservation that night was some heavy eating. So no filling up prior to the meal. We went to Sobrino de Botin (also known as El Botin) which is a rotisserie restaurant. It's pretty famous and is lauded as the oldest running restaurant in Spain and maybe the world.

They specialize in whole roasted pig and if your party is big enough, you can get a little porker to your own group. But before I show you that, we noshed on some appetizers beforehand. Some clams in garlic broth were good. Tender plumps of clam still in their shell and bathed in a garlicky sauce.

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My Trip to Toledo, Spain (Day 3): Meat Store

The one and only day trip we made in Spain was to Toledo. We arrived by train and walked far and uphill only to discover we were walking the wrong direction! Damn, we really should have purchased that map at the train. Once we got ourselves straightened out, we toured the large cathedral. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to visit the fort nor the military museum. Oh boo. So instead, we walked around in search for food. By this time, we didn't even have time for a sit down lunch with the Spainards being aloof with their service and all. This would not have been an issue in NYC though.

Anyway, we walked around the very small town. Saw lots of swords and knives. But hunger kept my mind elsewhere. We passed by a butcher shop and went in. They make their own sausages and cured meats. So we bought a variety pack with all sorts of pork goodness from spicy to sweet to salty.

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