This Little Piggy Went to El Mercat

15 Responses to “This Little Piggy Went to El Mercat”

• mattatouille

  May 5, 2010 at 1:24 AM

  nice! straight from the source.
• Fat Fudge

  May 5, 2010 at 6:39 AM

  Maybe the Manager hates Asians. That’s probably why Chef Fong left!
• Matt

  May 5, 2010 at 9:20 AM

  I’m sure you have a list of places you want to eat at but two highlights from my trip two years ago were Pinotxo (in the Merkat de Sant Josep – aka Boqueria food market) for an amazing squid and garbanzo dish (we got there late and they were sold out of everything else) and Cal Pep (Placa de les Olles, 8) for really great seafood. If you need more ideas, I used Maribel’s guide to Barcelona (http://maribelsguides.com/mg_barcelona-03-09.pdf) to start my research and found it to be really helpful. As an office drone, looking forward to posts about your trip.
• Matt

  May 5, 2010 at 9:21 AM

  That’s Placa de les Olles, 8. Do not go looking for Placa de les Olles, sunglassed smiley guy – you will not like what you find…
• Gastronomer

  May 5, 2010 at 9:33 AM

  Thank you, Matt! We had the squid and chickpea dish yesterday! Loved it so much! We’re currently in San Sabastian and will be returning to Barcelona for one more day before flying out. I hope we can fit Cal Pep in.
• Gastronomer

  May 5, 2010 at 9:33 AM

  Fatty Fudge – Now, that’s an unlikely but hilarious theory!
• Kung Food Panda

  May 5, 2010 at 11:47 AM

  Have a blast and eat lots!!
• Diana

  May 5, 2010 at 4:48 PM

  Sigh. Missing you from sunny California!
• bagnatic

  May 5, 2010 at 8:19 PM

  can’t wait to live vicariously through you! how fun!
• Brother

  May 6, 2010 at 9:56 AM

  Sister,
  Cal Pep sucks. It is the Spanish Seafood version of Peter Luger’s and steaks, but not as good. If you do go there, the only thing good is the raw bar and you need to sit at the bar.

  Enjoy Arzak and Alejandro.
• Matt

  May 6, 2010 at 5:39 PM

  Brother Gastronomy,
  I’ll definitely agree that Cal Pep gets a lot of press but I’ve never heard one bad thing about it. I’d say Swan Oyster Depot in SF is a better comparison – well known and pretty universally loved. My meal there (out of only 5 or 6 in Barcelona so, certainly not a local’s perspective) was really good and memorable – which for me is a good sign. I don’t really remember a raw bar and seating is pretty much only at the long counter so, is it possible that we’re thinking of different places?
• Nidal

  May 6, 2010 at 8:01 PM

  Don’t miss Dos Cielos at the ME Hotel. Run by the Torres brothers. And for tapas, go to Taller de Tapas in Argenteria, El Born
• Gourmet Pigs

  May 10, 2010 at 8:24 AM

  Ohh! Is it cheaper than $60/lb at the source? I sure hope so! Smuggle back 1 or 10 lol.
  Have fun~
• Gastronomer

  May 10, 2010 at 12:58 PM

  Fiona - It’s still pretty pricey over here depending on the quality. Roughly half the price in the U.S. though!
• bokehbunny

  May 11, 2010 at 1:38 AM

  Xipirones a la plancha was soo good at Pinotxo!