Can Ravell, Barcelona Spain

We stumbled across Can Ravell when surfing the interwebs for Barcelona eats, instantly attracted to the fried Calaf eggs with grilled fresh foie and fried potatoes. The promotion this month was buy one portion and get two portions. Sounds like a good idea to me.

When we first arrived in Barcelona Can Ravell was closed for Easter.. luckily for us it was open second time around. This small grocer opened in 1929 and soon after began cooking some of their own produce in a small restaurant up stairs. A little while after that we came for lunch.



The small stores shelves are overflowing with all sorts of amazing produce we could have easily stocked up on months worth of supplies but we resist temptation and ask for the restaurant which is not easily seen.



Asking was the trick, we are led into the back of the store, then into and through the kitchen to a staircase that then leads upstairs to the dining room.



We were only thinking of the foie but as we eyed the menu there were so many seasonal specials and dishes we had to rethink our position and in the end we opt for the tapas sampler menu. First up seven starter tapas;

Smoked sardines with onions and olives; brined and lightly smoked with a burst of raw onion and a good splash of olive oil.



The White asparagus was huge, I can't get over the monster size of the asparagus favored in Spain. It had been expertly canned and served simply with a dollop of good mayonnaise.



We still got our foie fix with the sheets of seasoned foie



Plus four small plates consisting of confit tuna belly topped with roasted peppers, the ever present Russian salad, small cuttlefish in their own ink, and tiny cockles from Rias Gallegas.



None of these seemed particularly small so our eyes opened wide when seven large tapas were then whipped in front of us.

The days rice - a calamari and ink risotto, Chick peas with slices of fat spicy chorizo, lentils braised with pork double chin (wow!), onion soup served in wine glasses, creamy jamon croquettes , a granitated cannelloni filled with cheese and veal,and two fat grilled scallops topped with a slice of nutty fried garlic.



We were now glad we didn't add the foie dishes as a supplement to lunch, although tempting.

The end of the meal came in four parts. A drained yogurt with a berry sauce, creme Catalan, a fat slice of panatone French toast and a fruit and almond paste.



Finished off with an espresso it was a pretty awesome grocery store lunch. We wandered back down through the kitchen with a big thanks to the chefs and back into the store. Adding the foie with egg as well as the cow hamburger to our considerable next time list.

Can Ravel
Carrer Arago 313

Barcelona, Spain
ph 93 457 51 14

tues - wed 10am-9pm
thurs-sat 10am-10pm
sun 10am-4pm
mon off


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