Barcelona Insider: June 2007

La Tagliatella, Muntaner 359

In fact its one of those places, that are hidden secrets of each city. Out-of-a-way, a little obsolete, not easy to be found in Google. I've found it accidentally because of living for a couple of weeks in the hotel nearby. The first dinner was terrible, however, it was quite late and I was tired after flight, hungry and little upset with lazy waiter and mess on tables. For sure that was the day, where everything goes wrong: I ordered risotto de mare and received a grey mass with two mussels on the top.
After two days I was back there, because I ended work very late and had only two wishes: to eat anything and go to bed. Ordered pizza and a glass of table wine...yes, the story should start right here. I received a glass, a bottle of wine, a bowl of excellent, little olives. Huh, I think, not bad, not bad. But pizza was one of the best you can eat outside the Italy. The thin and crunchy simple pastry from the oven covered with tons of fresh vegetables, olives, bacon, onion and spinach. Anyway, the pastry is the key: with black soot from the oven, burned flour and so light, that even after big Tagliatella pizza you stomach is light and willing to take in the sour lemon sorbet with tart cup of espresso.
Try salad Al Rullo, composed of variety of salads, chicory, green pistachios, fried goat cheese all covered with a burned balsamic acid dressing. The next time get pasta with excellent truffle sauce. Try the white table wine (vino casa de blanco as they call it), that is light, cold, not very dry chardonnay with a note of fresh barley malt.
After all you will be satiated and the dinner for two with a bottle of wine and a dessert will be 35-45 EUR.
Its opened in the evening from 8 pm, at weekends call for table reservation because its often crowded. You can get there easily from Placa Catalunya with FGC metro lines and get off at Muntaner station. Don't mistake this restaurant with others restaurants with the same brand, at Muntaner street you have 3 of them and the remaining aren't worth even a penny.

Port Vell

For sure you know that place. Seems to be one of most famous in Mediterraean coast, crowded all day and a half of night in high-season. Despite Mare Magnum complex is maring potentially amazing skyline, the waffles smell incredibly (but don't try to eat them), luxury restaurants are filled up by newbies to BCN, black men looking nervously arround while selling sunglasses and colorful beads - and even one-million dollar yachts that lie at anchor - cannot ruin that omnipresent spirit that veils the Port Vell and its surroundings.
And if you're little hungry or teased by smells of those waffles or restaurants, just omit them. For sure they are not worth of time and money. Try to order pescaditos and bottle of vino de casa at El Rey de La Gamba. Don't forget aceitunas and - for less than 15 Euro you receive the stack of fresh fried mackerel icefishes, the bottle of cold merlot and one of best green olives.

Eyesore backyards

Thin walled, tenement houses, that are particles of the BCN, are built very close to each other with typical square spaces inside. Because this is not the front of a house, architects don´t care about how it looks. If you step into one of respectable, seven-floor houses, you see only nice marble walls and brass letterboxes...and only litlle unpleasant smell. But if you go to any flat, you´ll see whats behind it: severage systems right on the walls, millions miles of washing hung out, gas pipes, hudreds of mops, shoes (to be aired, huh?), ten years old dirt and all things you could imagine people drop from the windows. All covered with terrible fetor that is mixed from sewery fumes, paelia of 1st floor, 20 meters of 2nd floor washing, dead dove, aroma bathing of the worthy lady from 4th, hamburgers for next two months fried by nice athlete at 6th. And you, if you only open the window to the backyard, you are becoming the part of it.