Cream of Catalunya: drinking coffee in Barcelona

Barcelona was the 4th stop on our motorbike tour and despite the motorbike breaking down in the Pyrenees 2 days earlier, we were desperate to make it to the Catalan capital.

As ever when I travel, I had a list of coffee places to visit. This is why I experienced Picnic before the Sagrada Familia. It was well after 2pm by the time we had arrived in Barcelona, collected the keys to our apartment, found parking for our rental car and were ready for the fabulous gastronomical experiences we were promised by the guide books. Picnic was high on my list to visit and only a short walk from our flat. We happily discovered that Barcelona is not as into siesta as the sleepy Pyrenees' villages and we would be able to eat after all. Following our noses we sat at a table right next to the kitchen and watched the chef at work. We were presented with a set menu: €12 for a starter, main, dessert, drink and coffee. Even though it sounded like way too much food for lunch, having seen the creations presented to the pass and astonished by the great value for money of the offer, we couldn't resist. My huge meal consisted of fried green tomatoes with sweet corn salsa, huevos rancheros and a flan plus espresso to round it off. It was stunning, the vibrant flavours and colours married each other perfectly and every mouthful (even if there were too many of them!) was a delight. The coffee was a nice surprise after the disappointing cups we'd had up until then: a strong, punchy espresso which provided a perfect finish to one of the most delicious meals I've had in a while. 

 

Encouraged by the success of our first venture and in need of more caffeine we stopped by at El Collectivo. The place surrounded us with London underground signs on the seats' upholstery and The Beatles playing in the background. Our cortados were very good.

Federal was third that same day and having spotted seats in the window, that's where we decided to relax and enjoy some lovely flat whites and watch the world go by. Aussie vibes, funky music and communal table in the middle made me daydream and took me back to my recent Antipodean trip.

 

SKYE Coffee Co. (@skyecoffeeco) was the last place from my wishlist. It is slightly out of the way from the main part of the city so took a bit of getting lost but it was totally worth the effort. Not feeling adventurous enough to talk about coffee in Spanish I opted for my most hated phrase: 'Do you speak English?' and the answer 'I sure do!' came in a strong American accent: as it turned out both people behind the brand are native English speakers. Only 3 months old, SKYE are based in a lovely big space with a 1972 VW coffee cart as a centre piece and a communal tables scattered around. We were fortunate to find them open on a Saturday, outside of their Mon to Fri opening hours.  The coffee was the best we had in Barcelona despite the very high standard of all the others sampled. It was a Costa Rican coffee from a Barcelona-based roasters, Nomad (@nomadcoffeebcn) and it was so smooth with delicately balanced flavours that we had two rounds of it! It shows that Skye came from the love and passion for coffee. Forget Gaudi: Skye is what you should come to Barcelona for!

 

Alsur Cafe (@alsurcafebcn) provided our last dinner in Barcelona. There were some great veggie options for the 2 vegetarians amongst us, nice atmosphere and a very decent cup of coffee to finish.

We were very sad to leave the city and move on to the south France. We will be back Barca! There is more great coffee to be drunk!