Exploring Food in Barcelona

March 27, 2017

I came to Barcelona with expectations of delicious food and eating tapas every day with all meals and beverages. I wasn’t entirely wrong but it does get quite repetitive after a while. The tapas are delicious and a true novelty for the first few weeks but after that, I was craving other food – Thai, Mexican, Indian. No doubt, the paella and tapas here are incredible, but being here for four months, I would like some variation.

Meal times here in Spain are something I had to get used to. Everything is so late; eating dinner at 9:30 pm is early! When in restaurants, there is often another menu in addition to the al a carte menu which is usually some sort of special where you choose your starter out a selection and do the same for your main course and dessert and all this combined would be for a fixed price. I had never encountered anything like this before but I like it, it is almost always cheaper than ordering each of those items separately and then paying the total in the end.

Since I live in a homestay, I usually eat all my meals at home. I live 5 minutes away from campus so it is very easy for me to come home and eat lunch during the day. This helps me save money on meals, to spend on other things such as travel and sightseeing.

Having said that, I have enjoyed many meals in restaurants and my favourite and most interesting meal was the Calçotada, the traditional Catalan meal. It was nothing like I had ever eaten before and they were extremely flavourful and rich. The Calçotada is made up of green onions which you dip in a special romescu sauce. The second course is grilled vegetables and/or different types of meat, all of which is followed by dessert. I was so full by the end of the meal; I was all set for the next two meals! Totally worth it!

Written By

Mitali Mirle

I am originally from India, born and raised in Dubai UAE. I am studying Environmental Science with a minor in psychology and Spanish. I chose to study abroad because I wanted to experience a new culture, travel to new places and in the process, improve my Spanish. While some people speak English here in Barcelona, the preferred language is definitely Spanish, therefore if I want to communicate with others, I am forced to speak the language, which will help me improve my conversational Spanish. While abroad, I hope to use Barcelona as a gateway to rest of Europe, say yes to almost all opportunities, try new things, eat new types of food and witness and be a part of new traditions and customs of Spain. I would like to come back and share my experiences with others like me who also want to travel the world and see the world from different perspectives.