For personal reasons, I tend to go often to Barcelona (actually, to one of the cities of the industrial belt surrounding the city), and see how popular it is amont foreign tourists (I´m a Basque). Ramblas and Boquería market area are now significant tourist traps, where you can find all kind of menus and food for all type of customers (even Basque pintxos, but they are far, very far from the real thing).

Quite surprisingly, the Gracia district goes almost completely ignored by tourists. It´s like a small SoHo district, full of real life and beautiful squares. And little cozy restaurants, offering excellent food at unbeatable prices. Last week I had a menu of the day for just ten euros, including wine. Three restaurants on the same street offered identical price. And the quality of the menu was just superb. For those looking for a different atmosphere, off the ultra beaten path in Barcelona, Gracia district is your place. Similar to Malasaña and Chueca districts in Madrid, but with a distinctive character.

You hang out in the Chueca district?????

We like the Restaurante Winsor, which is not quite up that far (www.restaurantwindsor.com)/. It's often worth the time.

Ditto what mikelg wrote.
Gracia is also nice on a warm summer night after dark. The squares that mikelg mentioned are lined with bars and cafes, and it has a very relaxed atmosphere. More like a small town..
Same with Sarria at the end of the Reina Elisanda FGC line. Not so many restaurants and bars as in Gracia, and even more of a small town feeling.

Chueca is a great place for hanging out, both for heteros and homos, and a good place to start the night in Madrid. But in any case I´m from Bilbao and don´t hang out in Chueca.

BTW, the restaurant´s name was La Singular, near the Plaza del Nord.

Mike

Please note in the world of American political correctness the word is gay not homo. But in response to Dukey's mock incredulity is almost appropriate.

Thank you...I was oppossing two antonyms, hetero and homo, but I guess guy is just the word (I´m not a native English speaker)

Mikelg,

The pintxos at Txakolín, vis a vis the Estació de França, has been superb during my three visits to Barcelona in 2012 and 2013. Have heard some rumours about changes lately, but give it a try if you get home-sick ;-). They also do the "Barcelona toothpick counting", but this is by far the best pintxos I've had in town. The cold Bacalao Marinado pintxo with some kind of tomato marmelade (I think) said it all the first time I went here. http://restaurantetxakolin.com/
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...Catalonia.html

Thank you Kimhe...I´ll take your suggestion seriously...but in Catalonia I rather go local food (not as good as Basque one, but pretty decent too

<< both for heteros and homos >>

I think this is appropriate (probably more so if Mike had spelled out the complete words). If he had said straight and homos then not PC but Mike simply took a typing shortcut. There's nothing wrong with the word heterosexual and nothing wrong with the word homosexual. What Mike didn't know is that homo is an American pejorative but not in the context he used.

(I did not know...but it should not be in a language where thousands of words are cut short...

I thought that mikelg's use of the two terms was well judged and apposite - clearly with no derogatory intent.

interesting thread, mikelg, thanks.

BTW, we found the same thing in Valencia last week - lots of places offering 3 courses with a drink, bread and coffee for €10 or so. we took advantage of this for two of the three days we were there - one was excellent, the other not quite so good, but certainly both were bargains.

It´s called "Menú del Día", obligatory in all Spanish restaurants (it was Franco the dictator that forced them to have it to provide good homemade food to workers, I believe). Price ranges from 8 euros to maybe 15 or 20, it always includes a choice of a first, of a second, dessert, water, wine and bread. I like to try different ones every Friday of the year...and my favorite is a 12,5 eur menu that includes real delicacies, top rated cuisine.

Under Franco, the Menú del Día, was also called the cubierto. We used to eat a seven course meal for $1.25 at a place in Barcelona. One of the courses was a napkin, another the fork. I still remember it was bread, soup, chicken, french fries, an egg on top and either flan or an orange.

not sure about its being obligatory as we didn't see it everywhere - perhaps some restaurants have a menu del Dia that they only bring out if you ask for it!

nice idea about having a different one every Friday - that wouldn't take me very long around here as few of our local restaurants have an offer like this, more's the pity.

Yes, even 3 star Michelin restaurants should offer a menu of the day, but well...not probably the place...

On Friday I´m going to a place that offers a superb homemade food, to choose from 4 firsts, 4 seconds, 5 homemade desserts (even the yoghourt is made there), plus wine (table year wine, not a very good one, but drinkable), plus bread and water...8,50 EUR...all taxes included and we don´t tip...

mikelg - I think that I'm living in the wrong place!

Yes, in most Michelin star restaurants you have to know, or ask for, the Menú del Día, but it will not be for anything less than €25/person, still not a bad deal, especially at places like Kokotxa in Donostia (restaurantekokotxa.com).

>> especially at places like Kokotxa in Donostia

Robert, what blows me away at places like this are the wine prices. Just looking at the Kokotxa wine list I see wines like Alion selling for 67 euros when the same wine goes for $95 in a wine store where I live, and more like $250 - $300 with restaurant markups. The same wine was just 50 euros in Getaria, where the owner had a 40,000 bottle cellar with all the great houses of Burgundy and Bordeaux represented at sometimes half the retail price in the US. Incredible.

Even a 3* like Azurmendi is pretty kind with the wine prices compared to the USA and the Paris high-end places ...

As for the Menú del Día, I've never seen it offered at a 2* or 3* Michelin restaurant in Spain, where long tasting menus are usually the norm (25 courses at Azurmendi and 26 at Mugaritz a couple weeks ago, for examples), but some of the 1*'s do offer such a menu.