We had some great meals on this trip, but some standouts are listed here. These are places you should seek out if you find yourself in one of these locales.
Barcelona
First on your list should be Tickets. This would be a splurge meal and it’s tough to get into so you need to plan ahead by booking online at http://www.ticketsbar.es/en. The booking window opens 60 days in advance and I can tell you from experience that it is a mad scramble at precisely 60 days out from your date. The window opens precisely at midnight Barcelona time, and it really is worth the effort.
See the post for our meal at Tickets if you missed the blow-by-blow, course-by-course description of our meal including the secret dessert room. But essentially Tickets is high-end tapas. If you’ve been to Next in Chicago the meal felt very similar. Yummy edible bites of food that have been engineered to look like something else, to mimic another food, or even to look like the food but taste more like it than the real thing.
All this theatre goes a long way to breaking down the barrier in your brain over what you will and won’t be willing to eat. It’s a lot of fun, really dinner and a show, and we were there for nearly four fun-filled hours. One look at Lisa’s face tells you all you need to know about that night!
An additional mention needs to go to Bodega 1900, which is a vermouth bar across the street from Tickets.
Even if you don’t get to Tickets, see if you can stop in at Bodega 1900 it will change your mind about vermouth. And their tapas are not kidding around. A standout was the calamari on a tiny yummy hot dog bun and flavored with a vermouth sauce. Incredible.
This really had a great vibe and I wish we could have stayed longer. See more at http://www.bodega1900.com.
Barcelona is the tapas capital of the world (or at least in the top two) and so we were focused on tapas. Thus the next place on the list was also tapas, called Bar Canete, http:/www.barcanete.com.
This was a really fun, welcoming tapas bar in a somewhat out of the way location, although relatively close to La Boqueria. Everything we had here was terrific, but the standout dish was mashed potatoes with a duck egg yolk mixed in. OMG so delicious that it was tough not to lick the bowl. Just a word of advice, don’t show up before 9:30 or so – no one else does and most places don’t even open until 8pm.
No reservations are required at Bar Canete, but be ready to wait for a table if you don’t have one unless you go early. Drinks and tapas for three was about $110.
Our other favorite tapas bar in Barcelona was called Set.
They have two locations, we went to the one in Born. It felt like a corner bar where they just bring you stuff as you ask for it and may or may not write it down. As much as you want, when you want, and all of it very tasty. Casual and incredibly affordable. We were there for hours with wine, as many tapas as we could eat plus dessert and after dinner drinks and the tab came to $138 for three including tip.
Last tip about Barcelona. PBS has a show called “I’ll Have What Phil’s Having”. If you haven’t yet seen it, it’s a travel and food show where the host, a former writer for Everybody Loves Raymond, travels the world and finds the best eats in that location. Here is the link to the episode on Barcelona, it’s definitely worth watching!
Lyon
Moving on to Lyon, we had two dinners in Lyon but only made reservations at one – Café Comptoir Abel. And you should too, if you’re in Lyon. You can easily book online at http://cafecomptoirable.com.
We were only in Lyon for two days but the quality of meals we had here was high. It’s abundantly clear that they take food seriously in Lyon as everything we had there was really quite delicious.
Café Comptoir Able stood out for the ambience and the meal. We both had the chicken with morel sauce and pilaf and the dishes were absolutely divine. Dinner started with a simple Lyonnaise salad of haricot verts with a vinaigrette. We over-ordered and added a side dish of Potatoes Daupinoise just so we could get a bite and they didn’t disappoint. For dessert Jeff had the tarte aux pommes while I chose the mousse au chocolat. From beginning to end a really delicious meal.
Café Comptoir Abel has been there for nearly 100 years and was arranged in several small rooms that sat no more than about 25 people. So while the restaurant is fairly large, each smaller room felt like an intimate dining room and so it was a really fun place to spend the evening. Everyone around us was enjoying their meal and seemed to be having a good time. Three course dinner for two with wine and after dinner drinks was about $130.
Paris
Last time we were in Paris we ate at a place called Le 6 Paul Bert and loved it so much we wanted to try the sister restaurant, Bistrot Paul Bert. Le 6 Paul Bert is a more modern French restaurant, while Bistrot Paul Bert is more of a traditional Parisian bistros. Both are on a street in Paris called rue Paul Bert, thus the names.
They don’t have a web site so to book you’ll need to call them on the phone. Eek. Fortunately our friend Isabelle who lives in Paris booked it for us and we had a lovely table in the front window. Your hotel concierge may be able to take care of this for you, even before you arrive – just send them an email.
We went with the set meal here which was three courses, a starter, a main, and dessert. For starters we both had the plump and buttery scallops. For my main I had the classic steak frites while Jeff was a bit more adventurous and had the roasted pigeon. Both were delicious. For dessert Jeff had a floating island (seriously, when was the last time you saw that on a menu!) while I had black current sorbet.
With wine and after dinner drinks, the tab came to about $110 for two. We’d go back here again next time we’re in Paris.
