No Expert …but I know what I like – Food Blog, Restaurant reviews – Page 52

Cuines Santa Caterina – Grupo Tragaluz goes to the market

Cuines Santa Caterina is housed in the Mercat Santa Caterina , it is great for an informal lunch. You can not book, so get there as soon as you can after it opens at 1:00 to guarantee getting a seat.

They have an English version of their menu, which is worth asking for as the menu layout is a bit odd.

It is probably a bit more expensive than a lot of the lunch options in Barcelona, but it’s all about quality and they deliver on that with fresh market ingredients.

I highly recommend the Catalan sausage with foie gras

It is part of the Grupo Tragaluz who really know the restaurant business. The other restaurants in the group are always good standbys, and their flag ship Michelin stared restaurant Moo in the Hotel Omm is well worth a visit, for both food and people watching.

Marks out 10

Food 6.5

Service 5.5

Ambience 6

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Tram Tram – off the beaten track

Tram Tram is situated in the lovely Sarrià area of Barcelona. Take the FGC to Sarrià (Nuria exit), it just takes 10 mins on an air conditioned train from Pl Catalunya to get to Sarrià.

See video of the square in Sarria :-

We had been trying to get to Tram Tram for a number of years but it was always closed when we passed. From its name we expected it to be a casual walk in venue. Much to my surprise when we did get a booking, it was a much more up market affair.

It has several dinning areas, a small room at the front, a larger room at the back, a private room and a small courtyard. The food is of a high standard and the service is efficient and friendly. That same year we visited the 3 Michelin Star Sant Pau and I can tell you that I actually enjoyed my meal more here.

It has now become a regular venue for us. If it wasn’t for the competition from Cinc Sentits and Comerc 24 this year then this would be my number one in Barcelona. No Michelin star….just a hidden gem. It’s also superb value for money.

Marks out of 10

Food 7.5

Service 6

Ambience 6.5

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El Jardí – see if you can find it!

El Jardí is not the easiest place to find, it is in the grounds of the Hospital de la Santa Creu/next to the Massana Art school in El Raval.

It’s an open air bar that does pretty basic meals/snacks. It is popular with students, but be warned the area around it can be a bit edgy .

See video of Buskers at El Jardi from a few years ago:-

We started chilling out here when it was little more than a few tables and a portable loo. Its grown up a bit since then. You may need to wait for a table when its busy, but it’s worth a short wait, table turn around is not too bad.

Marks out of 10

Food 4

Service 4

Ambience 7

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Alkimia – If you like fish…for dessert!

The owner of Tram Tram in Barcelona recommended we try Alkimia. A restaurant we hadn’t heard of at the time.

When we arrived we choose the Grand Festival menu as we expected this to be lots of small portions.

The first 3 courses arrived and they were wonderful. The fourth course arrived and it was a fish risotto that filled the bowl! Oh dear this is going to get tough. Please let the next course be meat…..oh my god I’m not sure I can get through this. Then another fish course….argh. By the time we got to the final dessert I had tears rolling down my cheeks as it tasted of fish!

I don’t doubt the quality of the cooking (minus the fishy dessert). The lesson here is be careful when you order the Grand Festival. In this case we literally had bitten off more than we could chew.

Marks out of 10

Food 7

Service 7

Ambience 7

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Le Bristol, Paris – oh la la

Visited Eric Frechon’s restaurant Le Bristol (www.hotel-bristol.com) last Summer, and am so pleased to hear that it now has its third Michelin star, it’s the only restaurant in France to get one this year apparently. We had the summer tasting menu, which was in a class of its own, everything was perfect. Unfortunately I was so into the food I did not take enough pictures to truly capture the experience.

It was very expensive last year and now with the Euro exchange rate and its third star, it’s way out of most peoples price range (gents also require jacket and tie….argh).

This is my benchmark for culinary excellence, no wonder it is rumoured to be Nicolas Sarkozys favorite.

For more on Le Bristol, check out this video:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABMyH2-UuYk&NR=1

Marks out of 10

Food 9.5

Service 8

Ambience 8

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L’Astrance – a little bit strange!

The S.Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurants list rates this place as the 11th top restaurant in the world, it is certainly one of the hardest to get through to on the phone. I managed to get a reservation via a contact in the industry, but found I had problems reconfirming it, eventually after numerous attempts at different times of the day I managed to reconfirm.

It is quite a small room with a mezzanine area. Every table was taken, this was so obviously the place to be.

The service was first rate, but we found that the food was a bit hit and miss, which is surprising for a 3 Star Michelin.