Food Review: Madrid-Barcelona
Feb 9, 2009: Just after 8pm, Isa texted us to make plans for dinner. She told us she knew a nice Catalan restaurant and a Japanese restaurant and asked which one we’d prefer. There was a wee bit of hesitation because of me (couldn’t stop thinking of fresh tender sushi).
But we were in Barcelona, a city famous for its food. And our priority for food when we’re travelling is always to try the local food as much as possible.
The small snack we had after looking around Montjuic castle was already a distant memory in our stomach. We were famished when we finally met Isa just after she finished work.
The restaurant she took us to was called ‘Madrid-Barcelona’– it’s about a five-minute walk from the famous Casa Batllo.
It was quite compact and had a cosy atmosphere. The name comes from the fact that the building was part of a railway station for the Madrid to Barcelona train.
A friendly waiter, who seemed to know Isa well, greeted us and showed us to our table. There was a group of about 20 people having a party right next to us, and we nearly had to shout to have a conversation, so we asked the waiter if he could move us to another table. He gave us nice table on the mezzanine level.
It wasn’t easy to order, because there were so many things we wanted to try. Finally, for the starter, we decided on baby calamari deep-fried in batter and raw cod with roast vegetables served cold.
I really liked the cod dish – it reminded me of ‘Namul’, a light Korean side-dish based on vegetables — you can have beansprout namul, spinach namul, courgette namul etc.) It was simple and I enjoyed every ingredient on the plate.
Footsteps on the stairs and a subtle smell of garlic announced the arrival of our main courses.
I had ordered hake with a lemon and garlic sauce, Con had a lamb steak with a full bulb of roasted garlic, and Isa got Spanish ham with foie.
I’m a seafood lover, and the hake was heavenly. I enjoyed every flake of the perfectly-cooked fish as well as the little pieces of roast garlic and chillies. The lemon and garlic sauce was subtle and suited the hake really well.
Con is very fond of meat dishes. He must have been happy with the lamb, since he forgot to offer me a taste until he was nearly finished.
To make the most of our evening, Isa insisted we also got seafood paella. It would have been a shame to leave Barcelona without having a nice paella.
Paella is one of the most common dishes in Spain (and Catalonia!). Isa explained that it can vary infinitely depending on who makes it. I guess in that way it’s similar to kimchi jjigae (Korean cabbage stew). It’s the most common dish in Korea but it’s never exactly the same in any two restaurants.
Overall, our meal was well presented, nicely cooked and delicious, as could be seen by the pile of completely empty plates.
For dessert, we ordered a couple of the famous local desserts, flan and crema Catalana, both custard-based and totally delicious (so delicious, in fact, that we forgot to take any pics — just devoured it, sorry!).
It was great to eat in a restaurant popular with the locals and reasonably priced — €30pp for three courses (thanks again, Isa!)
Madrid-Barcelona
Carrer d’Arago, 282,
Barcelona
Ph: 093 215 7026
Open 1pm to 3.45pm and 8.30pm to 11.45pm Monday to Saturday, closed Sunday.
* You can find a map to get to this restaurant and others on our Grub Finder page.
February 9, 2009 11:50 pm 
