How about a Food tour through Barcelona?

Barcelona is not only a city full of culture, important sights, shopping and a wide beach. It's also a foodie’s dream. Catalonia has many great chefs and recommendable restaurants. And in Barcelona, you have a great modern food scene next to the local and traditional dishes like Patatas Bravas, Croquetas, Mejillónes and so on.

This food tour will show you some traditional local dishes and some fancy new creations as well!

On top of that, you will probably see a hidden gem of an area that most tourists miss. The very local Sant Antoni, which isn't as crowded as the center or Eixample.

So chances are high that you'll see something truly new, local and unique!

Foodtours Barcelona

Some other bloggers and I were invited to test the "Evolution of Catalan gastronomy" by Foodtours Barcelona.
And this was my very first Food tour in Barcelona (finally)!
Most food tours are offered in the center of Barcelona. I could imagine that they are mostly visiting the same restaurants, and nothing really unique.

But Foodtours Barcelona - which are newbies in the Food tour-market - are going another way. Another area of the city and therefore other kinds of restaurants and markets.
And I have to say: they have chosen some really great restaurants, even I didn't know before!

But let's dive into the pictures and the memories I have of this beautiful day!

1. Sant Antoni Market

Our guide Jessica took us to our first stop: the market of Sant Antoni. The old building is under construction and renovation right now, but all the stalls are in an interim market next to it. Here you'll see old women buying their daily fish or chefs ordering what they need for their restaurant. It is still very local here - you only see a few tourists and that is the great thing about it. The stall owners can actually make a living from their trade, and there are no fruit juices or tourist crowding the place like in the famous Boqueria market.
​This is the real life in BCN!

Jessica found some ham and cheese for us. But not only ham and cheese: she let us try 3 different cheeses from different regions and 2 types of ham: the Serrano ham and the famous Iberico ham.
​And even if I am not a great fan of Iberico ham, this one was really tasty. I think the more expensive the better! Since this day - I tell you - I am buying more Iberico then before - and not the pre-packed one, no, no the real thing from the counter!
So thanks for that Foodtours Barcelona ;)

Here, in this picture, you see the renovation on the market which dates back to 1879. The work should have been done until October 2017... But well... Sometimes it doesn't work like we want - let's give them another year ;)

2. A typical bar

After that we headed to our first restaurant: a very stylish Vermouth-Bar.
Did I ever tell you that I LOVE Vermouth! :D And it was the first after having my twins...
You know: I was very, very happy!

So Jessica told us a bit about this delicious drink as well as about how to make a "pan amb tomaquet". A typical catalan way to eat bread. All you need is bread, garlic, special tomatoes and good olive oil. But try it yourself!

We also had some "Boquerones" and artichoke in Romanesco sauce. Both really good and helpful after having this great Vermouth! ;)

3. A shop for local products

Apropos olive oil. Spain is very famous for its olives and olive oil. Did you know that a lot of olives from Spain are going to Italy... So actually, you are buying spanish oil if you buy some sortes of "italien" oil :)

But well, there is a little shop near Sant Antoni market and there we get to taste 8 different oils - and some pâté. And I am that sort of girl buying these kind of stuff when I taste it and it's good. So I got me a Chorizo pâté and a Iberico pâté. (But you don't have to buy something. I think I was the only one of the group...)

4. A restaurant with well known Tapas

Up next was another restaurant. Again, a really nice location - very different from the average place you find in Barcelona. Our table was made of an old table football! Very nice idea. And you could get a look into the kitchen!

We were served some cava and three different dishes. The traditional Patatas Bravas - in this case you have to turn them on another plate! And we had some "Croquetas": but with a modern new flavor.

5. Oh my god - that was delicous!

And then there was this restaurant. We learned a lot about "mar y muntanya" - ocean and mountain. Seafood and meat. And these two spectaculos dishes were just mmmmjamiiii. Sad that you had to share the plates .. I wanted to eat it all!
​The octopus with a fruity sauce and the Iberico Meat with some good looking topping of octopus ink. Just wow.

With that you got served a great red wine.

And see, there was nothing left - except the bread ;

6. Sweet teeth dream

Our last stop was a 1920s looking bar where they serve a great Horchata - a cold almond drink - perfect for hot summer days. With that we got a "Farton" - a traditional pastry from Barcelona.

You can buy the Horchata as well in supermarkets, but these aren't close to the taste of Horchata-Bars. There is a special machine moving the horchata all the time! That makes the difference - I think…

Summary

This tour takes you for 3,5 hours through a nice local neighborhood. You will see some unique restaurants and have more or less 11 tapas, taste of olive oils and 4 drinks. All included.
The price might be a bit high: 119 Euro per person, but the food and the drinks are worth it.

The only little shortcoming is that in the end the information about the food was a bit thin - but this could be because we - as a group of Bloggers - were chatting more with each other than hearing the guide ;) Might be the alcohol as well ;)

If you want to hear some other opinions on the tour take a look at appetiteandotherstories and latitudefortyone!

If you are interessted in booking a tour during your stay in Barcelona go to Foodtours Barcelona.

Thanks for the invitation Duncan and see you soon!

Cheers,
​Céline