Today, I want to talk about a Barcelona experience I had: eating at the Boqueria market.
This is one thing I had on my Barcelona bucket list. I do have several bucket lists organized by categories: must-do trips, must-do experiences, must-go-to places, must-do in Barcelona. And this is where we are at!
A landmark and a must-visit here in Barcelona, the Boqueria is famous for being “the” place where you can find almost anything from the food department. Are you looking for cassava leaves? La Boqueria. Bull testicules? La Boqueria. Exotic fruits? La Boqueria… The whole market offers a rich choice of fruit, vegetable, fish, meat and local specialties.
The market does not only sell food. It also hosts a good number of market stalls well renowned for the quality and freshness of their products. And this is what I planned to try out. Luckily for me, my parents went on a first exploration and found a place they raved about. So we headed there for lunch two Saturdays ago.
Eating fresh seafood at la Boqueria
The place we went to was called Kiosko Universal. It was mainly serving seafood. There is a counter where you can observe the cooks while they grill fish and shells.
All the seats at the counter were taken so we waited for a free table. We gave our name to the waiter and waited until he cleaned up. Tables are given on a first come, first serve basis. We did not have to wait much though. The turnover was quite fast although the place was always busy. But we did have to wait a while before our order was taken and before being served.
The whole staff was very nice. So the wait was the only minus. There were locals and tourists alike enjoying the food. For me, the presence of locals in a touristy area means that the food is good. Don’t you think the same? While sitting, we could observe passer-bys, hear the echo of the noise from the market and the happy chatters, smell the food cooking. The atmosphere was very nice and happy.
The menu was simple. Some Spanish specialties like pimientos del padron. But we came for seafood so seafood we will have! We ordered oysters, a parrillada de mariscos (a platter of grilled seafood with mussels, cockles, crawfish, calamari, prawns and razor clams) and a mixed mushroom dish.
To accompany the whole lot, a bottle of white wine, Afortunado, which I never heard of before but was very good. In fact, everything was delicious and really fresh. These were the perks of having supplies at hand.
All in all, eating at la Boqueria was a great experience: the food, the wine, the atmosphere and of course the company were unmatched. A market stall to revisit or a new one to try out, this experience is definitely to repeat!!!
Related Posts
- 32
Are you a seafood lover? Then La Paradeta is the perfect place for you! I had brought friends and family here and everytime the food was a hit among them. That shellfish bar... So what is so special about La Paradeta? The whole eating concept is unusual: first, the entire place is dedicated to…