7 Portes, Barcelona

Set down on the edge of the Barceloneta district in Barcelona 7 Portes has been around since 1836, though changing throughout the years from the originally-named 7 Doors Cafe (it actually has eight) to the 7 Doors Restaurant it is today it.



Super popular with politicians and celebrities it's renowned for it's classic Catalan dishes as well as the best paella in Barcelona. Arriving promptly at the 1pm opening time we just beat the Que which almost immediately starts to form. We're shown through the dining room to one of the few non reserved tables by our white jacketed waiter, nothing looks as though it has changed since it's 1942 reopening.



The menu is vast and we umm and ahh for a while trying to decide whether or not to have the paella or try some of the traditional Catalan dishes. In the end the Catalan dishes won out, as paella's from Valencia and we planned to go there later on down the road. While the difficult decisions were being made a basket of crunchy bread rolls and a plate of mellow green olives were delivered to the table.



Quickly followed by a plate of the biggest white asparagus we'd ever seen along with a trio of sauces, romesco, salsa verde and aoili. The asparagus was silky smooth, the sauces an accent to it's flavor.



Next to the table a plate of red peppers roasted in the embers of a grill with soft flakes of salt cod and pinenuts and splash of olive oil. Smokey and sweet, a perfect example of ingredients in their prime treated simply with a few other great ingredients.



Now the dishes started to flow and in quick succession we received; Monkfish soup, not so much a soup as a piece of monkfish with a tureen of thick rich tomato stew on the side, very bouillabaisse like.



The potato cake with Iberico bacon and a fried egg had set all a quiver when it arrived in in a small cast iron pan, still gently cooking, the smell of bacon wafting up. The cake a small thick potato pancake crispy on the outside and soft on the in with the gently fried egg and bacon. Mmmmm. I could easily see this making a great breakfast.



Finally a Catalan cannelloni - the Catalan cannelloni has not much to do with Italian cannelloni apart from the thin strips of pasta that they wrap filling in. No tomato sauce, but a creamy graninated béchamel. The filling a mixture of minced chicken, veal and pork. A delicious gooey mess.



Feeling a little fullish we decide that perhaps the best thing is to share just one dessert. Somehow when I next looked down there were two on the table. Funny how these things happen. A Catalan cream with it's brulee'd top not as heavy or sweet as it's french cousin and lightly scented with orange.



Miel y Mató, a fresh unsalted cheese curd similar to ricotta covered with honey. What's more to say about that. Yum!



7 Portes may not have changed it's formula in decades but it has no need, the Que a mile long as we left will attest to that. It was great to see that while Spain is currently at the fore front of global modern cuisine many chef's and patrons are still proudly remembering where they came from.

7 Portes
Passeig de Isabel II, 14
Barcelona, Spain 08003
Tel +1 34 93 19 3033
Open Daily 13.00-1.00

P.S the Paella we saw being delivered to every second table looked and smelt delicious - next time round we may have partake.

Barcelona Aquarium & Cerveceria el Vaso de oro

We headed down to Barcelona's Port Vell and had our day planned. First stop, the aquarium. We wandered in and gazed at some tropical fish, cuttlefish, live shrimp and a few small sharks ... but that was it. It was actually quite disappointing, and only took up a small fraction of the morning.



The problem there in lying that our lunch booking was for 1pm (which is when they opened), and it was now only 11:30am. So we set out to find a little Cerveceria to fill in the time. We wandered around the port and this paticular one caught our eye .... Not much from the outside, just some big gold letters, but glancing through the glass doors we could see the place was filled with a mixture of young and old Spanish men, who were enjoying their midday beers, a lot of them looked like construction workers or the like.



This littler cerveceria has 2 beers on tap, both of which they brew themselves. We start with the lighter pilsner type and a plate of boquerones, the delicious pickled white anchovies. The beer is crisp and the anchovies are doused in good olive oil and lots of fresh chopped parsley which balances perfectly with the vinegar.



Still with nearly an hour to go until lunch, this has only wet our appetite. Next up, a plate of Jamon croquettes and we select a few little sticks that are taken away and grilled / fried before being placed on a slice of breed. One was pork & green pepper brochette and the other sausage wrapped in bacon. Mmm, so much porky goodness.



Now we are ready for lunch ...

Cerveceria el Vaso de oro
Carrer de Balboa 6, Barceloneta
Barcelona, Spain
T: (93) 319-3098

Welcome to Catalunya.

We had spent the morning walking the street of L'Example taking in Els Encants Vells, a huge sprawling flea market - there's something in there for every one. We also took a wander past the massive Sagrada familia 116 years in construction and still counting, it's ornate towers reaching for the sky are beautiful but we just can't bear the wait in the que that snakes out of sight around the block to view the inside, perhaps next time.



Having been walking for a while we had built up a bit of an appetite and now were in the mood for a bit of our-style tourism, local eats.

Bodega la Sepulveda is a classic old Catalan eatery. Not much to look at from the outside, we probably would have walked on by if we had not been looking out for it.



Once inside though it's all yellow and terracotta walls and piles of fresh oysters sitting in seaweed, we ask the possibility of a table for two, must have been our lucky day we got the last table to spare and it had only just opened.





After a quick look over the menu we decide on ordering a few small plates and go from there. First off we have pan con tomate, the Catalan staple of lightly toasted bread rubbed with a ripe tomato, so simple so very delicious.



The morcilla arrives and is just that - a plate of fat Spanish blood sausage filled with rice it's rich and earthy.



Next were two different plates of chorizo sausage, a smaller one with fried eggs and a fatter spicier one simmer in red wine.



Wow, our first chorizo in Spain, the sausage and eggs is awesome but the chorizo in the red wine is awsome-er there's so much spice not just the paprika and chilli, and it's all leeched into the wine as it's cooked creating a sublime broth. I just want to pick up the bowl and drink it. Ok maybe I did, but it was worth every bit of etiquette breech.



Then on to the table was placed the reason we had scoured out this little eatery, zucchini carpaccio with salt cod and parmesan. Thin overlapping scales of zucchini scattered with pieces of salt cod and covered with shaved parmesan, dressed with vinegar and olive oil and three black olives. It was quite ridiculous how good it was the cheese and the cod serving to season the zucchini, good olive oil making it buttery and the great vinegar cutting through it all. It was a perfect dish, just perfect.



On the heels of the carpaccio came a small plate of veal meatballs with wild mushrooms. Really good but we were still in carpaccio heaven.



We pass on coffee and drift out into the afternoon sun, with all the shops starting to close up for siesta it seemed like a good time to join them.

Bodega Sepulveda

Sepúlveda 173 bis
08011 Barcelona
Phone 93 323 59 44 - 93 454 70 94

Open
Monday to Friday, lunch 13.00 - 16.30 dinner 20.00 - 1.00
Saturdays, dinner 20.00 - 1.00.
Sundays, closed

Tapaç24, Barcelona

On our first visit to Tapaç24 (yes, there will be more posts to come) it was our first realization that Easter weekend in Barcelona means not to many places will be open ... We headed over the the L'Example district with our maps marked of coffee shops, providores and lunch spots. It was early, but upon wandering around it looked as though the whole town had closed up shop for the entire weekend ... After about half a dozen failed attempts at finding anything, we decide to try our luck over by Paseo de Gracia. As we turned the corner, the big glass doors plastered in the words "TAPAS 24" were open, and lights were beaming through onto the street.



It's here my walk turned more into a skip, the excitement to much for me to handle ... I know we were probably only wandering around for an hour and a half, but the prospect of not finding somewhere to eat, let alone have a coffee was frightening. We run in and perch at the counter and order 2 cafe solo before you can even say Beunas.



It's not even lunch time yet, so this is just a mere mid-morning snack. I pick a flauta with chorizo from the counter.



and we also order the Bikini24. This is perhaps one of the finest examples of a toasted ham & cheese sandwich. Spanish jamon, cheese & a hint of truffle sandwiched in slices of crustless white bread that has been lathered with butter - cut in little bikini triangles. Yum!



We're still going on our cafe solo's, which have to be a whopping 60-70ml, so choose a pastry from the counter as well. Not to sure what it was, but am certain it was delicious. Crispy sweet pastry with a custard cream in the centre doused in icing sugar.



At least if nothing else opens over the Easter Weekend we know we can come back here ...

TapaÇ24
Open 8am-Midnight
Diputacio 269, Barcelona 08007
(near Paseo de Gracia)
Tel: +34 934 880 977

The dawn raid.

Suffering the plague of globe crossers everywhere, we were still wired to Japan time and were springing wide awake with the birds each morning.



Still at times like this you know there's one place that always has a seat, a coffee and a smile for you. Bar Pinotxo (pinocho-pinocchio) in La Boqueria is open as the providors arrive to start setting up for the day, which is very early am.



Run by the very friendly Juanito (a fantastic character), it's the best place to pull up a stool, grab a coffee and see the markets blooming into life, as well as the chefs at Pinotxo preparing the days food.



We enjoyed this morning show so much that even after we had time adjusted we still made the morning walk up the empty Ramblas to sit, drink, snack on a tasty crossiant, and watch life.



Maybe once or twice we sat for so long that breakfast became lunch and we were able to enjoy the delicios tapas offered at Pinotxos, such as braised garbanzos or rich unctious pork cheek. It's easy to see why Pinotxos is a favourite of many of Spains top chefs.

Maybe after coffee we'd swing by the bakery in the center of the market and pick up a couple of euros worth of Bunyols, a small sugary Spanish doughnut. The freshly cooked bunyols seem to round off the early morning coffee so perfectly.



Bar Pinotxos
La Boqueria markets
Barcelona