Restaurant: Ca l’Isidre
Location: Carrer de les Flors, 12, 08001 Barcelona
Date: June 13, 2016
Cuisine: Catalonian
Rating: Awesome, best we had in Barcelona
This traditional family run Ctaalonian resteraunt I found off Chowhound and was recommended by many as one of the best in the city.
Classic city exterior.
A classic but updated interior.
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The Menu.
A round of Cava to start.
Followed quickly by some Albarino. This crisp white from the corner of Spain above Portugal has turned out to be one of my favorite start whites and is a perfect tapas wine as well. This specific bottle was the 2013 Tricó Rías Baixas.
Bread with tomato. My son likes this classic.
Croquette with chicken and ham.
Anchovie from Cantabria. The salty kind.
An elaborate bread box.
Bread. Olive and rosemary I think.
Seabass tartar with parsley oil. A lovely “western” tataki or even a poke if you like. Soft fish and nice parsley notes almost like a pesto.
Toasts to go with the tartar.
Tomato salad with onion, capers and tuna. Classic Catalonian salad.
“Gazpacho” Vegetables cold soup with lobster and sea fruits. Before the soup…
And after. This turned out to be one of the best gazpachos I have ever had. It wasn’t super vinegary, but had an exquisite balance.
Simple pasta for “the boy.”
And accompaniments of cheese and red sauce.
Olive oil.
Langostin raviolis with lime and ginger vinaigrette. Deliciously light and aromatic with a serious spa vibe from the flowers and herbs.
Morel mushrooms with duck liver cream. Rich and stunningly delicious. Fresh morels too, in season, and that duck liver sauce… oh my.
2013 Ferrer Bobet Priorat Denominacio d’Origen Qualificada. An unusual blend for priorat, big and grapey.
Fries. You can find them at almost any Spanish restaurant, from street corner to Michelin 3 star.
Grilled wild turbot with potatoes and garlic.
Codfish with “romesco” sauce.
Beef tartar. Surprisingly spicy. Lots of capers too. The meat was very good but the spice was a touch distracting.
Roast baby goat with small onions. Very tender (for goat) and decently strong.
Fillet of beef grilled.
Fries and crisps (for the tartar).
A selection of Spanish cheeses!
Vanilla ice cream.
Apricot tatin with milk ice cream. Very nice “cobbler.”
Eggs with chocolate fondant and sabayon with rum. The sabayon was inside the egg with the chocolate at the bottom. Yum! Didn’t quite get that interesting Marsala/citrus blend that my favorite Zabione gelato gets – but still deliciously eggy.
Catalan cream with burned sugar. Consistently a little looser than creme brule. Same flavor, but I prefer the firmer custard (or even flan).
Chocolate soufflé with vanilla ice cream. Several of us thought this was the best chocolate souffle we have ever had. It was VERY intense though and perhaps needed even more ice cream (not pictured).
Coconut milk ice cream with toffee. These not only looked cool, but were awesome — ice you like coconut ice cream (which I do). Basically coconut ice cream rolled in coconut and then (optionally) dipped in toffee.
Gels and little cakes.
There was some contention in the group about Ca l’Isidre, with the pescatarian contingent not feeling the love and the rest of us thinking they knocked it out of the park — particularly with the starters and desserts. This is basically classic Catalonian as far as I can tell, with a touch of modern prep and presentation. The execution and ingredients though were really top top notch. Many dishes (like the gazpacho and morels) were really singing.