El Quim de la Boqueria, Barcelona, Spain

The restaurant; Inside one of their display cases; Menu

If you’ve followed my Twitter feed, I went to Barcelona, Spain with a few friends last week. I would delve how amazing this pork (and seafood) loving city is but that would be a future post. We stayed at an apartment in the Barri Gòtic (Gothic Quarter) which was a few blocks away from La Boqueria.

One of the “must eat” places within that grand food market is El Quim de la Boqueria that cooks with all the products found within this market (save for their beverages).

This restaurant is more like a small stand near the center of the Boqueria (there’s only 16 stools to choose from). You would seat yourself at the bar facing the kitchen and the display cases brimming with bowls of various fresh seafood and vessels of cooked food. Once seated, you will be presented with a check-off style menu that indicates what you would like to order and quantity. Without much of a wait, your orders of food would be loading up at your area.

Boquerones

We started off with a plate of fresh, meaty boquerones (7,95€) dressed in sweet-acidic balsamic vinegar and rich, fruity Spanish olive oil. I like anchovies but I never had anything like it. It’s not fishy (fresh fish should never be) and seriously delicious.

“Classic” breakfast of ham and two runny fried eggs

For something more traditional, we had a “classic” breakfast (5,50€) of two perfectly cooked fried eggs (meaning, it’s still yolk-y) set with tissue thin slices of gently cooked jamon set on top and a side of cubed potatoes. Though executed well, it tasted a little flat and one-noted.

Lomo with asparagus bocadillos

Their bocadillos or sandwiches of lomo (pork loin) with asparagus (7,50€) was pretty phenomenal. Crusty, chewy baguettes filled with seared pork loin that’s still juicy and flavorful, fried egg, and the sweet onion confit, asparagus’ distinct flavor made it interesting. (Asparagus was still in season while we were in Barcelona.)

Oxtail risotto

For something heartier, their incredible, soulful bowl of oxtail risotto (14€) was something to look forward to if you’re craving something creamy with tons of deep, rich flavor. The risotto was chock full of finely diced mushrooms and short stripes of braised oxtail meat tasted appropriately for autumn, even though Barcelona was still hitting the high 70s (Fahrenheit).

Our plate of Prawns; they’re almost the size of my hand!

Since it was around 10 AM, our stomachs were not ready for richer dishes laced with foie gras (they did have options on their menu), we opted for their prawns (16,75€). These monstrously huge prawns (about the size of my hand!) were simply seasoned and grilled, leaving the prawns’ freshness to speak volumes as to how delicious they were. I never had such great pleasure eating seafood in a long time.

El Quim is a great place for raciónes (in other words, the servings are bigger than tapas) that are both traditional and innovative. What this particular restaurant enlightened me, was how Barcelona has extraordinary seafood and once you stroll around the Boqueria, you’ll see it for yourself.

To view more photos of this event, please view the slideshow below (or CLICK HERE for my photo set):

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Information:
El Quim de la Boqueria
Inside Mercado de La Boqueria
La Rambla, 91
08002 Barcelona, Spain
Telephone: +34 933 01 98 10
Website