If I’m entirely honest initially the only reason I was going to Barcelona was because I wanted a spring marathon outside the UK. When I saw the flights were £70 return it was a no brainer to me.
But then Kyle joined and suddenly it seemed far more of a fun adventure, with a marathon as an extra. We arrived Friday evening, checked in and then immediately headed out for food (priorities, amIright?).
After a bit of a mosey about we found a wonderful little restaurant called Restaurante Toc De Gralla and ordered a set of five tapas from a set menu thing. We mostly hadn’t a clue what we’d ordered and when we asked the waiter if it would be enough for the two of us he laughed and said yes. He then asked us what burger meat we wanted and we both said chicken.
Four dishes appeared and they were all delicious but rather small (two chicken wings between us kinda small). And where was the 5th tapas? I was hopeful for the burger dish…but out came two tiny bite size patties on cocktail sticks. The dishes were SO tasty and well presented, but ehhh we were hungry. Spanish people clearly don’t do Anna-sized meals I realised.
After considering a bakery stop on the way back, suddenly our waiter appeared with two more plates… two chicken burgers and chips. Yessss! I was so pleased. In fact it was almost TOO MUCH food. We really much have looked silly to the waiter earlier. It was definitely enough food.
The next morning we headed out for a five mile run to get a vibe of the area and see some sights. We first ran to the Arc de Triomf.
It was amazing. We took some photos and then ran on to the Sagrada Família. We were blown away – it was enormous and so majestic! The artwork (I know nothing, let’s be clear) just looked incredible. What a run to see such beautiful things!
We then headed back, keen to not go too far, capping the run at just over 5 miles. We quickly showered and then headed out for brunch.
Brunch was definitely our thing in Barcelona. I mean I guess it fits well with holidays in general really – you don’t want to get up too early and by the time we’d walked to our chosen spot it was past 10am. This worked nicely because it meant we were well set up for the day and could tide ourselves over for dinner with snacks instead of a proper lunch.
Now when I say snacks, I mean doughnuts, churros, sweets or chocolate (or a mixture of many…). There were so many bakeries… SO many. We found some delicious churros on one day and ate them in a rather picturesque square by a fountain. The churros were from a tiny little shop in the Gothic Quarter where they weighed them out to give you a price.
They literally just made churros and similar baked goods.
The chocolate sauce was thick, rich and hot but not hugely sweet. As a sweet tooth fanatic I could have done with more sweetness but it was delicious nonetheless.
One brunch that we had was from a rather hipster-esque restaurant called Flax and Kale. It was very much “health”.
The meals (from my Trip Advisor stalking) looked super colourful and different though so we decided to give it a bash. Kyle had a cool looking smoothie, some toast and marmalade with a side of alternate grain pancakes with lots of fruit.
I had my first ever egg’s Benedict (but with a vegan sauce). We agreed that while it was really tasty and felt very healthy, it wasn’t something we’d hurry to have again. The pancakes, Kyle said, were definitely more healthy than indulgent and my egg’s Benedict were a little odd – though very nice. It was interesting if that makes sense.
A brunch more to my liking was had at Eat My Trip where Kyle and I both had waffles with fried eggs, caramelized onion, mushrooms, tomatoes with a BBQ sauce (and I added smoked ham).
It was so tasty. I’m not really a pancake or waffle fan but the BBQ sauce and add-ons elevated it completely. The restaurant was really cute and very quirky.
And the post-marathon meal was amazing too at OMM Bistro. It was *kind of* brunch as I had egg’s Benedict (again) but this time with pastrami, Avocado and crispy potatoes on the side. It was more like lunch tho as I’d had breakfast before the marathon and it was now about 2pm.
Because I was SO rungy we also shared crispy chicken tenders. This DEFINITELY hit the spot.
And shout out to this incredible doughnut I had later that afternoon as well – you know, to keep me going 😉
A Catalana creme doughnut from Chok The Chocolate Kitchen.
It was as melt in the mouth as the Kirspy Kreme Donuts. Covered in white chocolate and filled with a sweet cream, it was divine.
Of course I had to have paella on the trip as well…. after a few beverages from Ocaña, a beautiful little bar/restaurant in the Plaça Reial before we headed elsewhere.
The paella was delicious but for the life of me I can’t remember what the restuarant was called – potentially because I was several Moritz beers deep by this point?? It was delicious though.
And with a few sides of course… crispy chicken tenders (quite a popular thing it seems!) and a Barcelona standard of Patatas bravas.
Oh my god the potatoes were so good and I’m not even a big potato fan! The sauce!
Even a humble sandwich from a bakery was amazing. Filled with Brie and
jamón serrano… a perfect lunch pick-me-up.
Basically, Barcelona was just chockablock with amazing food places. It really was a culinary delight. We could have easily stayed for so many more days and eaten even more exciting and delicious food. An ideal place to fuel and then refuel for a marathon 😉
Have you ever been to Barcelona?
Do you like trying local foods when on holiday?
What’s your favourite meal when on holiday? I love brunch 🙂
