Tapas and beer at Sigarra
As mentioned before, I spent a week in Barcelona earlier this summer. It was not much of a beer trip, but, as I tend to do, I managed to fit in a few.
I never really got around to reporting on the trip, but a few highlights:
We stayed at Poblenou, ten minutes by Metro to the centre, and less crowded, both in shops and on the beach. Supermarkets great and small, cheese shops and butchers filled with delicacies. Even a local market with everything from shellfish to cured ham.
The smaller supermarkets mainly have the standard national lagers, but there are micro brews to be found. An organic supermarket had both regional eco beers and a good selection of German imports. A small delicatessen had some selected bottles among the olive oils and truffles. A beer bar with more enthusiasm than knowledge had a decent beer list while the restaurant attached was less impressive. There is even a specialist beer shop in the neighbourhood, but it was closed for refurbishment during my stay.
A great place mixing the traditional and the modern was just a few minutes away from our hotel. Sigarra is a shop and a tapas bar with locally produced wine, beer, ham, cheese, honey, oil and preserves.
The food is served via a conveyor belt, similar to the Yo Sushi! chain in London. This applies to the cold tapas, which are all priced at 2 Euros. Hot dishes are 3 Euros each, and Catalan artisan beers and local wines by the glass are also moderately priced. Great service, and as the cooks spoke better English than the waiter, he came out of the kitchen to explain the concept. I had a very nice Montseny Negra, which I would classify as a Schwartzbier with nice roasted dryness. In no way extreme, but excellent with food.
I did not try any of the beer bars in the city centre, but managed to fit in a visit to Rosses i Torades, a splendid beer shop. A fridge with some cold beers for refreshment while I was given excellent guidance on how to find some bottles for my suitcase. They have a good range of imports, with Mikkeller and American craft beers being the most popular, but I chose to focus on the local and regional brews. There are some nice hoppy summer beers with a fairly low alcohol content, and you have a good range of beers all the way through the style palette up to imperial porters.
Definitely a city to come back to - with more of a beer focus the next time.
Closed for refurbishment
Rosses i Torades closed until August 18th. Learned that the hard way today…