Sorry Stepfather, that wasn't Spanish...

I've been M.I.A. all weekend because my parents were in town which meant that my Mom got me a roll-away cot 10 times more comfortable than my own bed at the Hotel Arts, one of the defining features of the Barcelona shoreline.  So no surprise that I willingly let her kidnap me and feed me some of the most delicious food I've had while in Barcelona.

First stop then was Arola, one of the hotel's many high-end restaurants.  I insisted we go out and find a nice tapas bar but my mother, having just gotten off a plane, needed to eat and needed to eat NOW.

Complementary crackers and basil mousse infused with truffle

A spin on the traditional Patatas bravas tapa

Spicy brava sauce in the crispy potato nugget center

Simple microgreens salad from the hotel garden

Razor clams lightly seasoned with olive oil

Pickled oysters

Langostino a la plancha (grilled)

Cheese platter with nutty bread

And zooooom in

I came to a number of different conclusions after this comprehensive meal:
1.  Restaurants should always give their customers something to snack on before the meal arrives; the only reason we're there is because we huunngry.
2.  I prefer raw oysters.
3.  Langostino > > > (much much much greater than) Lobster
4.  Imported or native, cheese is #1.
5.  Expensive meals are nice but only when Mom's paying.


We spent the rest of the afternoon touring about town in a cab.  Mom and Pops didn't have the energy to walk (mostly just Pops and Mom feeling too guilty to leave her giant husband behind) so we got the cab driver to hit up some of the major sights.  We did get out twice though, the first time at Vinçon for Mom and the second time at a gelato store for Pops.

Shaped like a rose

Banana flavored petals and amarena (cherry) center

We bonded with the cab driver who only spoke Spanish but Pops, being the front seat passenger, tried to throw the few Spanish words he knows together to get a broken conversation going.  A for Effort.


We had a relaxing evening at the hotel before a 9 PM dinner at a beachfront restaurant called El Cangrejo Loco.  I went down to the pool to get Pops who was stuck on a lounge chair and was waiting for someone to help him up.  He also solicited the help of an 8-year-old American girl to pull him up from his other hand and she had a weak, nervous smile on her face the whole time.  Pobrecita...

Famous fish sculpture at the Arts

I snapped this photo by the pool as we were leaving for dinner.  It's a landmark of Barcelona's shore and when my mom saw it from the boardwalk earlier that day, she excitedly exclaimed: "No head and tail!  Perfect fish for me to eat!"  Typical Mom.


El Cangrejo Loco
The chef at that restaurant downstairs from where I teach recommended this restaurant to me.  It was the place my mom wanted to take me anyway and we happened to go there by coincidence.  What a small world it is.

Pan con tomate y aceitunas

Clara

Beer and lemon soda

Jamón ibérico

Chipirones fritos

Tiny fried octupi 

Pescadito frito

Mom about to eat her little fried fish friend

Mejillones al vapor

Steamed mussels

Finger wash

Paella

Biftec

Potatoes au gratin

Dorada a la sal

Salt baked dorada

Process of removing the salt crust

Dorada

The paella was definitely my least favorite and the dorada baked in salt the best.  The fish was super soft and flaky, integrity of the fish's flavor left intact.  Anthony Bourdain was the first to introduce me to the concept of salt-baking in his Sicily episode of No Reservations when he went to an old salt mill in the area but I had never tried it till this past weekend.  Dear Anthony, thanks for the exposure.  Love, Diana.


I hadn't been so full since arriving in Barcelona so we went for a walk after dinner.  They were shooting some sort of beverage commercial on the boardwalk where a very attractive Spaniard hung from a rope in front of a green screen holding a bottle of something with a fan blowing in his face like he was sky-diving.  It would be cool to see the end product but it's unlikely considering I'm leaving in only 4 weeks and I don't watch TV here anyway.

Commercial shoot

The day pretty much ended there.  I gratefully used my aging parent-folk as an excuse to sleep early.


Saturday
My mom's old (past) business associates here, Cristobal and Shakun, took us to lunch at a place my mom used to really enjoy in a beach-side town about 20 minutes out of Barcelona.  I never thought I'd eat sea urchin or tiny fried fish (not pictured here) with the heads still attached.

Cheesy, creamy baked sea urchin

Grilled shellfish platter

We spent the afternoon at Cristobal and Shakun's house up on a mountainside where I wrote some postcards and soaked up some sun.  As Cristobal was driving us back home at night, he suggested a tapas bar popular with the locals and despite believing myself too full for dinner, my mom suggested we just go straight there for a second meal with our friends.


El Vaso de Oro (Cup of Gold) is a cervecería (beer joint) and tapas bar that makes their own microbrew.    The proprietress is apparently 100 years old according to Shakun and 99 according to Cris.  Either way, she knows what she's doing and she's been doing it for a long time.

Padres in the summertime

With Shakun

Pops and Cristobal

Patatas Bravas

Brava sauce was actually spicy, Thank God.

Fried sweet peppers with sea salt and cubes of sirloin

Lightly fried chorizo

Jamón con pan

Ham and bread

The food was basic but amazingly delicious.  Unfortunately, I drank way too much beer and ate way more pork (I haven't eaten pork for the past ten years) than I should have.  I felt incredibly nauseous after and ended up having to walk around with a plastic bag.  I attached them to my ears for emergency use in Cristobal's impeccable car.  Thankfully, I didn't puke but I wanted to...

Emergency barf bag!

Sunday
Well clearly I turned in early after a long shower Saturday night so I woke up nice and early before the famous hotel brunch at 1 PM to go for a leisurely walk with my rents.  First we stopped for a martini glass of cool gazpacho at Tres Migas, one of my favorite cafés (even though it's a chain) that features focaccia.

Gazpacho.

We went to Mare Magnum after, a giant mall by the water.  It has a curved wall on the outside covered in mirror so that tiny clump of three people in the square two to the right of the last red letter and one down, that's me and my rents.  

Try to locate us.

After Mom spoiled me shopping, we went back to the hotel for their fancy old brunch, and man was it fancy.

1st course

Clockwise from 9 o'clock:

Raw oysters with lemon and tabasco sauce, ceviche, potato tartlet, 

strawberry gazpacho and morel mushroom cream mousse

2nd course

Clockwise from 10 o'clock:

Mussels and clams in garlic white wine sauce, bean salad

steamed vegetable dumplings with hoisin, sushi,

mushroom and cheese block with dried berry compote in center

3rd course

Clockwise from 9 o'clock:

Lobster spring roll, sauteed mushrooms and asparagus, 

stewed beans and peas with chipirones, spinach ravioli

Dessert

Clockwise from 10 o'clock

Spongey ladyfingers, strawberry with creme mousse,

chocolate pudding and whipped cream, creme mousse and chocolate brownie with fresh fruit,

crema catalana with wild strawberries, panna cotta with wild strawberries and crumble

I would have to say that the first course and dessert were the best.  The three desserts in glasses were the winners and I can never turn down ceviche.  There was also a barbecue outside with swordfish, octopus tentacles, and lamb skewers among other things but most of the meat was pretty dry and tough so I would say that was a flop.  I wouldn't go back on my own because it was so expensive but I did enjoy.  Thanks parents!  Now I just have to get my stomach to shrink down to accommodate a student's budget.  


We had brunch out on the sunny terrace so with a full stomach and the warm sun making us sleepy, Mom and I took a cat nap back in the room before arranging for a one hour flamenco show.  The show was pretty gimmicky and was lacking in the story-telling aspect present in the show I went to in Sevilla but it was definitely entertaining to say the least.  I think my favorite part was the bathroom.  As soon as we sat down, my mom came back from the bathroom to tell me, "Diana, before we leave you must see the toilets.  They are so cute!"  And go to the bathroom I did.

Tall and pointy- very unique

Well she was right, they were definitely different.  Uncomfortable and unaccommodating for a short-legged person like me though.


We took a walk around the area to get our appetites up for dinner and stumbled upon this gorgeous boutique hotel with a restaurant that was awarded 2 Michelin stars.  It was decorated with these white sculptures of angels dressed in suits so I got Mom to snap a photo for me. 

Me chilling with the angel man and

Mom struggling with the iPhone camera

For dinner, we went to a fondue restaurant close to where I teach English classes called Cheese Art.  It was Father's Day and el padastro wanted cheese so we went.  No complaints here though!

Caprese salad

Cure ham products

Raclette and its heater

Notice my mom's camera skills..not

Photo taken by a very nice camarero (waiter)

Ever since I read up on the raclette tradition up in the Swiss Alps on this now defunct food blog, I've been dying to try it.  The melted cheese is scraped up with a spreading knife by the dining party and then plopped onto pieces of ham or my favorite, steamed potato and then eaten with tiny pickled gherkin pickles and pearl onions.  It was basic but delicious.

Raclette heater at work

Before my parents left, it was my mission to show them the Magic Fountain.  Despite having traveled here on numerous occasions in the past, my mom had never seen the fountain!  So there we went.

Someone please tell that man that he needs to stop tanning...

Evil eyes.  

Mom retook it but I like this picture better than the more civilized one.

Me and my photo skills

Friends forever!

Finally taught Pops how to take a photo with a background that matters

The waterfall fountain closer to the palace museum

The Magic Fountain from above behind the four columns

And that was that.  Our weekend came to a close.  We did go to dinner last night (Monday) with Cristobal and Shakun again but I didn't have the energy to snap more photos and thought it rude for a farewell dinner.  Mostly just laziness.


Anyway, clockwise from 12:40 AM which is the time right now, I am going to sleep.  
Buenas noches damas y caballeros.