1. VILA VINITECA WINE BAR.
This is an excellent place to sample jamon iberico from Maldonado.
First plate: tuna with olive oil, cured anchovies, bacalao, and guindillas peppers.
Second plate: sweet ham, boar salumi, longaniza (like chorizo), and excellent Jamon Jabugo from Maldonado.
Third plate: excellent Sobrasada (same quality as served in Els Casals).
Cheese: a fresh goat from Berga, Payoyo (tangy sheep) from Cadiz, and a blue cheese from raw cow milk cheese from Catalunya.
We also had a very good loaf of bread from the bakery across the street.
Dessert: Millefeuille with coffee.
2011 Raventos Cava.
2011 Las Umbrias. 100% Grenache from Madrid.
2. LA VENTA
Evaluation: 4/5
This is a traditional restaurant located in Pedralbes, which is a posh neighborhood of Barcelona. It has solid and simple food, which is well executed with excellent ingredients. It is highly recommended.
Amuses. We had an excellent tiny quiche and very good artisanal salumi, which include chorizo, blood sausage, and boiled Galician ham with olive oil and black pepper.
Then we had deep fried calcots with Romesco sauce. I prefer the grilled version cooked on ashes served at Can Jubany with a true romesco. Calcots, which is like a wild leeks, should not be missed if you visit Catalunya in Spring.
Then we had a hearty garlic soup thickened by stale bread and thyme.
We had outstanding small snails cooked in the pan with olive oil, salt and fresh black pepper.
Next we had veal tripe with morcilla. This is a very good rendition of a classical dish.
We finished with butifarra sausage with fresh white ganxet beans. Both the traditional sausage and the beans are on par with the version in the great restaurant Hispania. Bravo.
Desserts. The frozen orange soufflé is very good. Even better is the bread pudding or torrijas made from an excellent artisanal loaf of bread.
Wines: 2001 RIOJA ALTA 904
This wine is very elegant and balanced, with red fruits, good acidity, and perfect integration of oak and fruit in the wine. The finish is long and earthy, reminiscent of funghi. 93/100
2010 CLOS MARTINET
This one is 100% old vine Carignane. It has licorice and ripe blackberries on the nose. The fruit is ripe but not over the top jammy due to the good acidity. It is quite chunky and a very good match with the black botifarra. !4.5% alcohol. 91/100