SIN-MXP-BCN by 77W and a revieW of W Barcelona

[kpc]

thanks for the report....
I'm off to BCN in 11 days, flying SQ Syd-Sin-Mxp-Bcn (alas only in Y); I'm there for 6 nights and was wondering what I should see and do Your very visual trip report has given me plenty of ideas

PS I'm salivating in anticipation...

Finally, in Barcelona, and have been to most of the places shown above

Our lunch today at Port Vell:

[9V-SIA]

Finally, in Barcelona, and have been to most of the places shown above

Great stuff!

I've gone back to add some pictures to previous posts having just realized that the 12 images one can post includes emoticons!

Couldn't figure out why I could put more pics in some posts and not in others


Catedral

OK below are some of my Catedral pics...




Front..

Hard to get a good pic because the sun was in front of me

and also there was a temporary exhibition booth blocking.

I used Museu Frederic Mares to block out the sun.



Rear..



Floorplan..
Catedral to the left
Cloisters to the right

Dress respectfully. Saw 2 scantily dressed female tourists turned away



Interior..

I love sitting inside churches in Europe.

They were labours of love by the craftsmen, who spent their entire lives on the job

As far as churches go, I like Notra Dame in Paris and St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna



The Cloisters adjoining the Catedral..



..and some of it's famous residents.

The 13 geese represent the age of Barcelona's patron saint St Eulalia when she died.



They made a right old racket when this lady started feeding them!

[9V-SIA]

If not El Bulli..

The first thing I did when I got my flights was to try and get a table at El Bulli.

Foodies around the world think it is The Best Restaurant in the World.

I don't know about that but Ferran Adria is acknowledged to be the father of Molecular Gastronomy.

That's cooking in a laboratory instead of a kitchen, in case you don't know.

His restaurant is open 6 months a year. The rest of the year, he is in his lab cooking up new dishes.

Every season, 2000000 ( count the zeroes) foodies try to get one of the 8000 seatings annually.

Needless to say, we were unsuccessful this time..

But we did the next best thing.

We ate, in BCN, at:

1. His brother's Tapas bar, Bar Inopia
   
2. His former assistant's restaurant, Commerc24

El Bulli is 2 hours north of BCN.

In Rose ( just about where the starboard engine is on the Air Map in post #22 )



Promise to finish this weekend before I head off to Tokyo for Thanksgiving..

[phaleesy]

Hard to get a good pic because the sun was in front of me

You could go again at a different time to take the pictures.

I love sitting inside Churches in Europe.
They were labours of love by the craftsmen, who spent their entire lives on the job

Me too! I sit in churches asking God to give me everything I want so that I could be a happy girl.

If not El Bulli..

The first thing I did when I got my flights was to try and get a table at El Bulli.

Foodies around the world think it is The Best Restaurant in the World.

I don't know about that but Ferran Adria is acknowledged to be the father of Molecular Gastronomy.

That's cooking in a laboratory instead of a kitchen, in case you don't know.

Promise to finish this weekend before I head off to Tokyo for Thanksgiving..

I read somewhere that reservations for the following year start in Oct (don't know which month exactly) and they're all taken up immediately. So you do need to book a whole year in advance.

It would be a rather fun experience but I'm not sure if it'd taste that good. Molecular food sounds like a lot of froth to me. But some of the techniques such as encapsulation could work really well, e.g. liquid chocolate encapsulated in a thin and delicate film of chocolate(? don't know what material). I have a vague memory of spending 8 months in a lab playing with methylcellulose solution and film coating. Should have tried making some chocolate balls then to make my life more pleasurable!

You really must try Daigo when you're in Tokyo!

[Kyo]

I read somewhere that reservations for the following year start in Oct (don't know which month exactly) and they're all taken up immediately. So you do need to book a whole year in advance.

Oh no! There goes my plan...

Seriously? Bugger... thought the W BCN concierge could pull something off!

[9V-SIA]

Bar Inopia

This tapas bar is owned by Ferran Adria's brother.

It's a bit out of the way, west of Ramblas, north east of Montjuic.

We took a taxi there but the couple sitting next to us walked from La Rambla, a 45 minute walk.

Again, we went early ( 7pm ) and ate with the tourists and local children!



Front of Bar Inopia



The counter where we sat..



..and view of the kitchen. Recommend you go early like us unless you like to queue.



All the dishes we had have been posted. Left this one out.

Seared tuna on a crostini.

Kinda like aburi maguro in a Japanese restaurant.



Finally pineapple for dessert

The sweet black sauce seems to be used quite a lot here.

It tastes like the sauce for chinese style suckling pig.

Was also on the roast pig at Omm..

[9V-SIA]

Commerc24

A former trainee of Ferran Adria opened this restaurant



Front of Commerc24



4 different types of extra virgin olive oil.
Left is weakest, right strongest.
We were encouraged to try all 4 with our bread



Vichissoise



Anti clockwise:
olives stuffed with anchovies;
golden macadamian nuts;
filo, parma, lime & basil;
monkfish with black sesame & black garlic



Sardines with orange & wasabi



Tuna tartare

[9V-SIA]

Commerc24 continued...



CONSOMME with quail egg, truffle & parmesan.


The encapsulation you mentioned Phaleesy. Like ultra thin ondeh ondeh. Bursts in your mouth and the flavors just explode. Very good and my fav course





Cod fish & artichoke ICE CREAM



Artichoke, COD & spinach



Duck RICE with foie. I prefer the Gold Mine in Queensway version



SEABASS with rosemary & garlic vinagrette. Foam is potato/vinegar.



Farm CHICKEN with king prawns



Clockwise from drink:

Muesli-YOGURT-Passion;

Sablee with pineapple & MERINGUE;

Bread, oil, CHOCOLATE & salt /
MANDARIN-passion-MINT;

NOUGAT with tuille cigar, chocolate & coffee /
Black sesam OREO with vanilla


Hope I've given you ideas of what to do in BCN. PM me for more ( but really exploring and discovering new things is fun ). Thanks for reading..

[kpc]

Bar Inopia

This tapas bar is owned by Ferran Adria's brother.

It's a bit out of the way, west of Ramblas, north east of Montjuic.

We took a taxi there but the couple sitting next to us walked from La Rambla, a 45 minute walk.

Again, we went early ( 7pm ) and ate with the tourists and local children!

Inspired by 9V-SIA's report and pictures above, and having visited Can Ravell last night for dinner, we decided to visit Bar Inopia tonite for dinner, having drooled over his pictures. Whilst not up to his photographic standards, below are the 12 dishes the two of us managed to stuff down!

The food was truly outstanding as was the atmosphere and the wait staff. The above meal, and a glass of wine and bottle of water, came to a reasonable 60 euro for the 2 of us.

PS: for cheapskates like us who can't afford taxis, the Poble Sec Metro station (Green line), is less than 5 minutes walk to / from the restaurant.

9V-SIA, you are responsible for my excessive weight gain in BCN!!

[phaleesy]

Foam is potato/vinegar.

Hope I've given you ideas of what to do in BCN. PM me for more ( but really exploring and discovering new things is fun ). Thanks for reading..

I thought there might be some froth. I'm surprised they did not bring out some liquid nitrogen too. Maybe that's passe now?

These people don't seem to be doing the 'layer' - 'freeze-dried'/sundried/bake-dried (clueless how they do it! I could experiment too I suppose) thin film technique that some of the other chefs are doing. So you might get some thin film egg yolk 'tagliatelle' or paper-thin slices of dried fruits.

I've not been to any molecular places in the past year, wondering now what is the latest fashionable thing. It must be very competitive amongst these food 'labs' . These chefs working frantically to come out with the latest technique. Much like Nikon and Canon R&D working towards bigger megapixels and higher ISOs! (sorry for the latest OT comment. I'm gear obsessed at the moment)

Really enjoying your BCN TR. Very tempted to call off the ZRH meet/Do in favour of BCN now.

[phaleesy]

I
PS: for cheapskates like us who can't afford taxis, the Poble Sec Metro station (Green line), is less than 5 minutes walk to / from the restaurant.

9V-SIA, you are responsible for my excessive weight gain in BCN!!

Thanks for sharing your pics, kpc.

My guess is that Mr and Mrs 9V-SIA might not be as street savvy as you. Maybe the W concierge did not direct them to the metro.

We always have to find a scapegoat for our sins.

Seriously? Bugger... thought the W BCN concierge could pull something off!

Seriously? What makes you think a mere hotel chain can get you into one of the world's top restaurants? The W does not work Wonders you know!

[9V-SIA]

Inspired by 9V-SIA's report and pictures above, and having visited Can Ravell last night for dinner

And the pictures are where?

The food was truly outstanding as was the atmosphere and the wait staff. The above meal, and a glass of wine and bottle of water, came to a reasonable 60 euro for the 2 of us.

+1.

Some famous places can be a bit stuck up but Inopia was very welcoming.

PS: for cheapskates like us who can't afford taxis, the Poble Sec Metro station (Green line), is less than 5 minutes walk to / from the restaurant.

The taxis were needed when we stayed at W.

Rest of the time we walked. For exercise and you see more walking.

It does mean that you can't cover the whole city but we leave that for another trip.

9V-SIA, you are responsible for my excessive weight gain in BCN!

Picture paints a thousand words...

[9V-SIA]

I've not been to any molecular places in the past year, wondering now what is the latest fashionable thing. It must be very competitive amongst these food 'labs' . These chefs working frantically to come out with the latest technique.

I can take molecular food in small doses for a change.

And I'm trying to eat more vegetables, in case you think I'm anti-vegetarian.

I could probably live on Thai and Vietnamese salads...

Much like Nikon and Canon R&D working towards bigger megapixels and higher ISOs!

I am very much enjoying the DSLR thread here.

Don't know what the h*ll you are talking about but I'm enjoying it.

Really enjoying your BCN TR. Very tempted to call off the ZRH meet/Do in favour of BCN now.

Thanks. And I must apply for a job in Tourism BCN.

[Pinkfloyd]

Thanks for the TR 9V-SIA, only ever been to Malaga and Madrid... BCN is a definate must now!!!

[kpc]

And the pictures are where?

OK - see below but not the best quality pics

The taxis were needed when we stayed at W.

Rest of the time we walked. For exercise and you see more walking.

I saw the W from a distance.

Picture paints a thousand words...

The Hilton Diagonal Mar, where we are staying, does not have a gym, I believe