Back to Barcelona - Restaurant Gelonch

Yeah, yeah...I know. I have been one lazy bastard when it comes to blogging. Maybe it's the weather? Or being under the weather? Maybe it's politics? Maybe it's that I hate the fact that our vacation came and went "in the blink of a young girl's eye (with apologies to BS)...glory days?" Maybe it's a combo of everything? Anyway...back to Barcelona. At least this way I can relive our vacation vicariously through a blog post and photos.

First off, I gotta say, Barcelona is one helluva big, beautiful city. Stunning architecture, broad boulevards, huge placas, tiny placetas, right on the Mediterranean (of course I'm a big fan of the beach), etc. etc. I mean, even the lifeguard stands are works of art...

Passeig de Gracia is just one of the wide boulevards...

While Placeta de Manuel Ribé is just one of the tiny placetas...

For architecture, there's always Señor Gaudí, who spent a lifetime enriching Barcelona (until he was run over by a tram, that is)...

Great museums? Yep. And the food? Pretty friggin' outrageous. So let's put it this way - if you're thinking about taking a trip to Barcelona, just go. You'll be happy you did.

Looking back to our favorite meal in Barcelona...there were plenty of wonderful tapas (more about them soon) and some great traditional meals as well. But as far as Significant Eater and I were concerned, the most amazing meal we had was at Restaurant Gelonch. Here Chef Robert Gelonch blew us away with dish after dish of near-flawless food - something like 9 courses for the set price of 45 euros...that's not a typo...45 euros.

So, what did we eat? After starting with a pair of oysters topped with a passion fruit and gin and tonic gelee, there was "Wagyu beef carpaccio on a cracker with grilled artichoke and rucola," tasting as fantastic as it looked...

Followed by "Cuttlefish taglierini with deconstructed pesto," with the tenderest cuttlefish imaginable...

Then the "smoke bell..."

Hiding "8 vegetables mini cream with grilled vegetable and baked tomato broth..."

Next up: "octopus and Iberian pork shoulder “Mil Feulle” with baked garlic smoothie and sautéed Chinese garlic..."

After which came "Confited codfish with pistaccio sand, griottines (Morello cherries) and confited quail sauce..."

Of course, another pig course, namely "Iberian piglet 24H – 70º C without bone, served with croissant, tupinambour (Jerusalem artichoke) and cajou nuts..."

I love pig two ways. Significant Eater does too, but I don't know if she liked it more than this course: "Assorted cheese with bananas and honey cream, coffee crumble, sweet baked endives and eggplant ice cream..."

And then, "Catalan cream custard foam with apple sorbée, lemon soft jello, caramelized apple and confited lemon peel," which was really good, but I don't have a picture. I think chef might've known I forgot to take a picture, so he also sent this out as a gift of the house, in case we were still hungry...

Even though I took notes throughout the meal, why bother? It was all delicious, nothing that I wouldn't eat again (including the eggplant ice cream), some of which I'm dying to eat again (hello Iberian piglet, and as good as Great NY Noodltown's piglet is, it isn't Iberian piglet), cooked by a passionate chef with a small brigade and served by a wonderful waiter who knew each dish backwards and forwards and graciously answered all of our questions.

Still thinking about Barcelona? Go. I can't wait to return.

Restaurant Gelonch
Carrer de Bailén, 56
08009 Barcelona,
93 265 82 98