Bistronomics in Barcelona

Throughout our week in Barcelona, we had some fantastic meals.  Sunday night's was truly one of my favorites.  I wanted to tell you about a couple of our other meals that were great!

There's a trend in Barcelona called bistronomics - it combines the casual, traditional feel of a bistro with the fancy and modern food of gastronomia.  The word also refers to a more economical approach to fine dining.  The restaurants are small and discrete, with very little attention paid to decorations and design of the space.  

Monday at lunchtime, after our tour of Sagrada Familia, we headed over to Gresca.  Many of these restaurants have a set menu in addition to their regular menu.  At Gresca, the menu was 3 courses for only 18 euros.  It is a fantastic way to have a big, fancy, delicious lunch at a reasonable price!

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Everything was amazing - one after the other, beautiful dishes came to our table.  There were 2 options for each course, and M and I ordered one of everything so we could try it all.  The menu was in Catalan, which we don't speak at all, but the waitress was very helpful.  Between my Spanish and her English, we had no trouble understanding everything.

Bacon wrapped calamrai with a tomato puree on the bottom...to die for.

Traditional French pate of pigeon (totally freaking mom out at this point...)

Halibut and lamb meatballs with polenta...those were amazing.

The deserts were very different, kind of a cold yogurt texture.

Thursday night, our last night in Barcelona, we had the first reservations of the evening at 9pm at Embat.  It was just a few blocks from our apartment, which was a perfect walk.

Very small and unassuming, this restaurant is easily missed on the street if you're not looking for it.  It's one of the newer bistronomia restaurants in the city.

We each did the tasting menu 1, but I substituted the lamb shoulder for the pigeon....I didn't think I could do a whole plate of it.  I tasted M's, and that was enough.  It was good, but a little gamey for my taste.  It has more of a beef consistency than chicken.  The lamb was delicious, and a good choice.  Everything was fantastic.

I was too busy enjoying the food (and was completely tired of taking pictures) that I didn't take any of the dishes...you'll just have to use your imagination or visit Embat!

A lof of people ask where we find our restaurants - my husband is the master travel planner.  For these 2, he found them on the websites 60 by 80 and Chowhound.  Also, when I googled Bistronomia in Barcelona, the first link that came up was for a great article from 2008 in the NY Times travel section - check it out here.