I was on holiday in Spain recently, which partly explains why I haven't posted so much of late. But holidays for me are a string of eating and drinking opportunities connected by sleep and travel, so it did actually create a fair few topics for discussion!
Our first port of call was Barcelona. This was the first visit for all of us, so I thought it would be a good idea to try and find out about some fallback restaurants and bars before we arrived. I was delighted to discover that Toptable now offers bookings in several cities abroad, including Barcelona. I even got some bonus points for booking it!
We ended up going to Trobador Rambla Catalunya, part of a chain of restaurants across the city. This one was just on the corner at the start of las ramblas and only a short walk from most of the exciting-looking bars.
The food was good ... for Spain! It was good-quality, reasonably good value, reasonably well-presented, but still only average overall. Spanish restaurants just don't seem to do things with quite so much style as most Europeans: silver service, for instance, is practically unseen. Our veal steaks were served shish kebab-style, which just seemed an odd style of presentation!
One thing stood out, though: this restaurant had proper puddings. A lot of Spanish restaurants simply have a colourful laminated card showing pictures of pre-prepared, frozen desserts from their chiller cabinet. Here we were offered a choice which included an apple tart, crepes with chocolate sauce and other proper-sounding dishes.
Generally I'd recommend Toptable's service more than the restaurant itself, as it's nice to have a meal planned for the day of arrival. In high season this'll probably be even more of a benefit.
More of Barcelona hereafter ...!
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