Los Caracoles/Barcelona
As we were making plans about visiting Catalonia a few years ago the first thing we did was making reservations at a restaurant named Los Caracoles, we had heard about, in Barcelona.
Catalonia has a distinctive identity, with its capital, Barcelona, being one of the most vibrant, exciting and sophisticated cities in Europe. We had formidable dinners at several restaurants in Barcelona, one of which was Los Caracoles.
Los Caracoles which means "The Snails" is a popular touristic restaurant in Barcelona. You can spot the restaurant right away as it has a spit grill in the main entrance window roasting chickens and other meats. You are lead to your table through countless fascinating rooms, up stairs, around corners. The restaurant walls are adorned by photos of famous people, celebrities, politicans, and other personalities who have dined there. Cured hams hanging from the ceiling and big wine-casks along the walls are very interesting. Even the bread rolls are shaped like snails here.
The restaurant with its rustic decoration is named after its specialty however they offer a wide variety of seafoods and roasted meat dishes with accompanying side dishes and salads. Sea food paella and the sangria were the best I had in Barcelona. Grilled prawns with garlic were to die for.The artichoke hearts sautéed with Iberian ham was amazingly good. For dessert, I would say , go for their catalan cream, which is cream caramel with a very thin sugar crust. Yummy!
All in all you get good food with a very interesting, l ively and crowded ambiance. The layout of the restaurant is fascinating, from the kitchen location to the decor and table layout. Much of the professional service staff have been there for many many years so the service is excellent, friendly and fast. As I mentioned earier the ambiance is great, the Catalans dine very late and their dinner almost turns out to be a banquet.
We had a wonderful time in this restaurant which is run by the 4th generation of the Bofarull family now. The service was excellent, the place was really authentic Spanish and one of the best attraction that I still remember is that we walked into the restaurant via the kitchen. Hard to forget.
Wine list is reasonably priced and as I remember we paid approximately 50 to 60 Euro's per person wine included. It's worth a visit if you like sea food or roasted meats. I highly recommend Los Caracoles.
Los Caracoles
Adress: Carrer d'Escudellers, 14 08002 Barcelona / Spain El Gòtic.
Phone: +34 933 012 041/933 023 185 13
https://www.oyascuisine.com/index.php/en/oya-suggests/810-los-caracoles-barcelona#sigProGalleriac379b755fb