Fashion, book, movie and music addicts!

On our all too brief Spanish sojourn, it was a must of course to partake of tapas. But in a city where literally every street had a tapas bar, it could get difficult to choose one that is actually good and not a tourist trap. On our first night, famished after a rather long day, we took the chance to ask our hotel for a suggestion. And we lucked out because the restaurant was one of the nicest tapas bars we’ve ever tried.
Ciutat Condal is nestled comfortably in the stretch of Gran Via Cort des Catalans and is certainly one of the happening places. On the night we visited, it was jam-packed full of cool Catalans dressed to the nines and ordering copious amounts of tapas. The restaurant serves a good variety of tapas divided roughly into cold, hot and specials of the day. Of the tapas we tried, what was particularly special was the lightly battered baby squid fried to a golden crisp and served piping hot. It is so good you’ll be sure to order a second round. Another worthy dish was the fried green peppers, apparently a Catalan specialty, though it has a particular taste that perhaps needs some getting used to.

For me however, THE discovery of the whole weekend was this delightfully tiny hole in the wall place serving delicious churros con chocolate. We originally had in mind another place which was once again recommended by our trusty old Lonely Planet but was unfortunately closed for the summer. Undaunted, we asked the closest seemingly local resident if there was another one around the area and was told rather vaguely that there was in fact another, just down the street. We nearly missed it except for the sign above the door which read Dulcinea. It helped that there was a display window of churros. It was a rather old fashioned place with plenty of locals enjoying their afternoon merienda. What luck! They served deliciously thick hot chocolate that was just the right blend of sweetness and chocolateyness. It was absolutely divine to dip the piping hot churros into this molten cup. Together they form a mélange of tastes in the mouth that is just unforgettable.

Despite all the great things I saw that day, I have to say that this just about made my day!