The quest for the perfect Catalan meal

You’d think it would be easy to find a good meal in Spain. For some reason, I have not had the best of luck with eating out during my time in Spain. The places I’ve been, the pintxos have been soggy, the patatas bravas greasy and the fideua salty. On Friday, however, I finally lucked out! I had a fantastic lunch at Hotel Amrey Sant Pau across from the beautiful Hospital de la Santa Creu i de Sant Pau.

Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau

Here’s how it went down. After a lovely visit to La Sagrada Familia temple, I decided to walk over to the Hospital to check it out, and look for a restaurant along the way. As I walked along Avinguda Gaudi, I passed by each of the restaurants there, thinking they were most likely tourist traps. For me, this was evidenced by two things: 1) the abundance of people sitting at tables looking at maps of Barcelona as they waited for their meals and 2) the colorful signs indicating they indeed had paella – one of the most well-known Spanish meals.

I walked along Avinguda Gaudi, admiring the lampposts and architecture until I reached the turnoff point. Still no restaurant. I then walked alongside the Hospital where I could see the colorful roof of the hospital. There, I only found places that looked a bit too greasy spoon to be good. The thing is, once I start investing in looking for a good place, I become obsessed with it being perfect. That makes the search even harder. Finally, I reached the end of the block of Carrer de Sant Antoni where the hospital ends, and turned left on Carrer de Sant Quinti. There, I saw the Hotel Amrey, which had a nice menu printed on see-through, waxy paper outside.

The menu looked promising, with carpaccio de bacalao and escalivada catalana with melted goat cheese for appetizers, and grilled salmon and fideau negra for the main courses. It was a hotel, however, so I paused, as hotels often do not have good restaurants. I peeked inside and it was tastefully decorated, with wallpaper made to look as if there were bookshelves along the wall. However, I overheard American college students inside, and decided it might just be a tourist trap as well. I kept walking, but then told myself that those students might just have been lucky enough to find a good place. Plus, I was tired and hungry, so I relented. I am glad I did.

Escalivada Catalana

The menu – the fixed price lunch – included an appetizer, a main course, a dessert, bread, and a beverage, all for 11 euros. I chose the escalivada catalana with melted goat cheese for an appetizer. Escalivada is fire-roasted red peppers and eggplants drenched in olive oil. It was delicious.

For the main course, I decided on the fideau negra – thin noodles cooked with a mixture of spices, drenched in squid ink, and served with shrimp and calamari. This plate is typically served with aioli – garlic mayonnaise – on the side. Scrumptious. I accompanied my meal with two glasses of the tasty house red wine.

Fideau Negra

For dessert, I almost went for the chocolate mousse, as I am a chocolate lover. But, I decided I should continue the theme of having a typical Catalan lunch, and went for the pastel de crema catlana. This is a pie with a cake-like crust, filled with Catalan vanilla custard, and topped with dark chocolate flakes and cinnamon. Divine. I had to finish the meal with a café cortadito – an espresso with a dash of foam.

cafe cortadito and pastel de crema catalana

After the meal, I relaxed on one of the comfortable armchairs at the front of the restaurant where I finished my coffee and made plans for the rest of my afternoon.