Our last two stops on this European food tour are Barcelona
and Prague. Although I spent the same number of days in Barcelona as Madrid, I
actually didn’t have much of a foodie experience. I don’t think Barcelona’s
food scene is any less awesome than Madrid, but I think I got distracted by all
the fantastical Gaudí architecture. I even asked a walking tour guide what dish
Barcelona was known for and she only talked about bread with tomato spread.
Hrm. Nevertheless I loved Barcelona. The first night at Casa Gracia, which is
an awesome hostel despite all the reconstruction that’s happening in it right
now, Samantha and I got a free dinner ‘cause we had to wait so long to check in
(darn you reconstruction). We got tapas and sangria for free, so we didn’t complain.
Typically a dinner at Casa Gracia is €8 so it’s a bit expensive, but I think
it’s all you can eat. As for the other picture, it’s of an apple and goat
cheese salad I had at Caputxes. I ended up eating there just ‘cause Sam and I
were hanging out with some other travelers and they just chose the place. It
ain’t cheap, but this is the most impressive goat cheese salad I’ve ever had. I
mean, c’mon there’s a crème brulee like caramelization on the goat cheese.
Impressive.
I’d also like to bring your attention to Mercat de Sant Josep de la Boqueria. Although this market is pretty popular with tourists, I
had no idea of its existence until I stumbled upon it (Sam and I might have
been lost for a bit and wandered the streets). We only ended up getting juice
(I had a coconut and dragon fruit juice that tasted like vomit to me, but I can
assure you that Sam enjoyed her strawberry and banana juice), nevertheless I
really enjoyed the market’s atmosphere. It was such a feast for the eyes! One
of my favorite stalls was the candy stall (as you can see from the pictures)
‘cause there were so many different kinds in different shapes and colors.
One last place I’d like to mention in Barcelona is Santa Gula (sadly no pictures). This adorable café is kind of hidden and Sam and I
only found it ‘cause we got lost trying to find our hostel (seems like getting
lost leads to great discoveries). The food is tasty and I especially loved
their freshly squeezed orange juice. Pamela, who seems to always be there, is a
fantastic server and just a lovely motherly figure. She was so sweet to us and
made us feel at home. The décor is very minimal with some fun black and white
cartoons drawn on the windows and entrance. This is a great place to read or
write ‘cause of its environment and soft jazz playlist. If I lived in Barcelona,
Santa Gula would definitely be a café I’d frequent.
Now to our last stop: Prague! Samantha and I had only one
full day to explore the city (poor planning skills), so we wanted to take
advantage of everything—I ended up limping by the end of the day. Anywho, we
got to try Trdelník. As we were walking down from the royal palace (located
conveniently on a huge hill), we stumbled upon a little café that was baking
these fun pastries and decided to have a taste. There’s apparently almonds,
cinnamon, walnuts, coconut, and peanuts in its crunchy crust. I just loved how
it was in the shape of a giant tube. As for the taste, it tasted like a soft
pretzel with sweet, crunchy crust. It’s very simple and fun to pull apart and
also very cheap!
We also got to have a full traditional Czech meal thanks the
wonderful recommendation made by our walking tour guide, Chris, at Krčma. I had
the kravi platek na smetane celtovy knedlec lesnie bobule. Translation:
marinated beef roasted with root veggies in creamy sauce, dumplings and
cranberries (Chris recommended that dish). What an interesting and tasty dish!
When I got my plate, all I could see was sauce. There was meat and “dumplings”,
but they were drowned in this lovely sweet and savory sauce. Oh, and apparently
the Czech version of dumplings looks and tastes like soft white bread. Who
knew? The food was decently priced, which was also a huge plus. I loved the
tavern-like décor of the whole place and felt like I should have ordered a huge
pint of beer just ‘cause of the environment. They also serve absinthe here, but
as curious as I was I wasn’t in the mood (then again, I’m never quite in the
mood to drink alcohol… My liver loves me for that).
So that pretty much sums up all my food experiences in
Europe (not including London). It was really fun trying new things and I know
I’ll be traveling in Europe in the future and have opportunities to try more.
When I finally go to France one day, you can expect a crazy long entry for
sure.
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