Barcelona - Botafumeiro

People used to say that if you stayed in a hotel belonging to one of the large chains, you could be anywhere in the world.  The Hyatt Munich was a clone of The Hyatt Dallas was a clone of the Hyatt Melbourne and so on. The criticism was often justified.  In recent years some of the major Groups have begun to get their act together, most notably Orient Express, Four Seasons and even Ritz Carlton with its ‘boutique’ Hotel Arts in Barcelona.

The ‘anywhere in the world’ accusation could now be levelled at a number of the ultra cool restaurants whose over-stylised interiors are bland, characterless and reflect nothing of the local culture.  They all play the same present day musack sounds, variations of St Germain, which sounds as if it was programmed by wannabes on their home studios.  In the old days public establishments used to circumvent royalties by playing ‘soundalikes’ of the major artists and their hits. Today, the trick is to play tracks which sound so much like everything else, no one can possibly tell which particular pre-recorded sequences are being mixed by whom.

Botafumeiro has been around for over 30 years and is a Barcelona institution.  We walked through the door at 9.30pm (relatively early for Spain) and the place was buzzing.  The entrance hall has a large tank holding huge lobsters and other edible sea life.  It is a novel approach to the ‘shop window’ view before you dine’.

Next we walked through the long narrow bar with diners on both sides, stools on one, booths for two, on the other.

Through another arch and into the dining rooms.  We were shown to a table in a secluded section with only a few tables.  We kind of wished we were out in the main dining area.  It was so lively.

Our waiter was very attentive; classic attire, but not as formal as La Dama. The food was very good.

My starter of Spider crab cocktail (23 euros) consisted of several spiders (either that or spider crabs are one of the crustacean world’s larger species) who were swimming in olive oil. Despite the crab bath, the cocktail was highly enjoyable.

The camel’s companion enjoyed fish soup (17.50 euros).

Botafumeiro promotes its speciality of ‘Orio Evergreen Oak’ charcoal barbequed fresh fish.  (I had sea bass at 29 euro per portion.)   Once again, the dish was substantial and good.

When dining ended, our waiter appeared with a bottle of a Spanish dessert wine.  Having poured two generous glasses, he left the bottle on the table.  It was so good we treated ourselves to another glass.

‘La cuenta’ arrived and the dessert wine was nowhere to be seen.  Service was not included; a clever ploy, as the gratuity we left was probably larger than expected.

When in Barcelona….

 
Botafumeiro
Gran de Gracia 81
08012 Barcelona

93 218 42 30

http://www.botafumeiro.es