You could say I was a little underwhelmed with the Barcelona food scene. I’ll chalk it up to it being our first city, and having a few misses, but so far we’ve been far more impressed with the food here in Madrid.
I will say that Barcelona served up one of the tastiest meals I’ve ever had. Teresa Carles is a vegetarian restaurant, and I guarantee that I could become a vegetarian if she cooked my food everyday. But it was more the exception than the norm.
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onto Madrid! We arrived and headed to the Mercado de San Miguel. Right outside the Plaza Mayor, it’s very possible this place is a tourist trap. But the food was delicious, so we didn’t care.
After a few trips around the market, we settled on the mozzarella guy. Nick went a little more traditional, choosing a mozzarella/pesto/jamon/sundried tomato tapa while I chose the burrata/tomato jam/fig balsamic tapa (I’m a sucker for burrata – which is basically softer/creamier version of mozzarella). OMG they were amazing. They were also really big, so we only needed a few more small bites to curb our hunger.
We ended up deciding we needed a salad for dinner, so we got a pre-made Caesar from el Corte de Ingles (it’s a department store with a grocery store in the basement, random!). Then we picked up a pizza from Pizzateca, just a few blocks away from our apartment. I know what you’re thinking, “pizza?”! But it was the 2nd best pizza crust I’ve ever had – 2nd only to my dad’s crust. The toppings could have used a few more spices, but we took it “to go” and missed our opportunity to add the typical (and not so typical) pizza seasonings at the restaurant.
Day 2 we headed to Ginger for lunch – on a tip from a fellow traveler we met in Barcelona (Ginger is near the Plaza Mayor). She recommended their menu del dia for just 10.35 euros. It’s a 3 course meal that comes with bread and wine. I had a salad, the Spanish version of fish and chips, and this pear/orange dessert while nick had a quesadilla, meatballs and ice cream. Delicious! And the Spanish fish and chips were super tasty (FYI the chips are just seasons potatoes)! The menu was Spanish only, and they spoke limited English, but you’ll be fine!
Dinner may have been Nick’s favorite meal so far. The food to euro ratio had substantially improved and the meal also came with a beer. Or rather, the meal came with the beer. You see, there was a law passed in the 1800s that said you had to serve some food with alcoholic drinks. People were drinking (or 2) at lunch, and afternoon productivity was on the decline. So they passed the law in an effort to improve productivity. And whether it’s still a law, or a just a tradition, we were happy to take part.
We headed to El Tigre on a tip from a friend. Nick ordered a beer and walked away with this huge plate of food, all for 5 euros. I said to him, “I think you could’ve gotten the same size plate if you’d ordered a smaller beer.” To which he replied, “uh….but then I’d have a smaller beer.” Touche.
We ended the night in truly glutinous style with a trip to the famous Chocolateria San Gines. The walls are adorned with the faces of all the famous people who have visited. Yet, it was the cheapest churro/chocolate spot we’ve been to since arriving in Spain. 6 churros and a chocolate will set you back just 3.80 euros! A steal! And we even got a bonus churro! Win!
2 replies on “Madrid is so delicious, and that time we got a bonus churro!”
El Corte Ingles was my peanut butter saving grace when I lived in Spain.
Haha, awesome!