Food Guide: Spain Edition

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Well, we are back in the good ‘ol USA and my waistline is realllyy happy about it.  People keep asking me to tell them all about it and I don’t even know where to start. I usually spend half the time talking about all the amazing food and sounding like a chunk because that’s the first thing that comes to mind. Lyle and I have traveled to a lot of places and I think this trip (Spain/Portugal) was the best trip food wise we have ever been on (and maybe in general too). We had so much fun and quickly fell in love with both places. Before going on the trip we got a lot of advice from friends who served missions in Spain, Pinterest and food bloggers when it came to food. In all honesty, I sometimes have problems trusting food bloggers because a lot of times they are endorsed and from experience, it’s not always good. Good thing for you guys, no one pays me to eat food so this is all legit so here goes. Also, yes it is weird to take this many pictures of your food I know, but now all of you can benefit from it and I can forever dream about it.

Barcelona

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Boqueria Market- This market was pretty close to where we were staying so we went every single day. It’s open every day but Sunday from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and it’s got it all. Gelato, crepes, tapas, fresh juices, baked goods, candy, fish, kabobs and the list goes on and on. All our friends, blogs, Pinterest mentioned this place so you have to give it a try!

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Forn Boix- One of the absolute best bakeries in Barcelona. It was SO good. The first picture is a nutella filled croissant that Lyle got and the second is like a Spanish ho-ho and it’s freaking awesome. We also got a chocolate croissant but that was eaten so sorry about that. We loved this place! It’s also closed on Sundays but open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. during the week.

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Chok-  Obviously we had to try a donut place…I mean come on. We never like foreign donuts because other countries bake them which is probably part of the problem but these were so good. First off, they were kronuts (croissant donuts) but they did have regular donuts too. The one Lyle got is a nutella one and mine is a regular oreo one with cream in the center. Lyle wishes we ate there every day it was so good.

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Wok to Walk- yeah so this is not typical Spanish food but when you have Spanish food so much and you want a change this place is the shiz. Its a stirfry place, its cooked right in front of you and you choose whatever you want to go in it (not a new concept I know) but it was the best I have ever had. This is right off of La Rambla and always had a long line but seriously, doesn’t it look so good?!

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Xurreria Dels Banys Nous- Churro places are everywhere. I honestly wasn’t too fond of this because I don’t like nutella but the other one was filled with dulce de leche. The bottom one is dark chocolate which makes it not as sweet but thats the only kind they serve. Lyle says this churro place was one of his favorite treats, that and Chok.

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Beso De La Luna- I’m not saying this is the best place for traditional Spanish food but this is where we went. You have to try Paella somewhere. We got the seafood one and it was really good. I get super grossed out when the shrimp come this way but they do in all the paellas. We got the garlic prawns tapa everywhere because it is the absolute best. Also, these wings were so good. You have to try every tapa you can, they are amazing. The bars typically have the best ones.

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this is non alcoholic friends

Places down by Port Olimpico– If you decide to spend some time down by the beaches they have tons of amazing food spots. If you walk further past the pier they have all these cute restaurants in a row with fun casual seating. This one called Chicken or something like that was really good/cute. I would have loved to try more food here!

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Rocambolesc- This unique icecream shop was around the corner from our hostel so naturally we had to try it. I loved it, Lyle didn’t. It’s a little out there but mine was so good…and yes, that is cotton candy on the top! Lyle got like a weird honey flavor so maybe that’s why he didn’t like it.

MADRID

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Goiko Grill- You have to try Goiko Grill!! The picture may not make it look like anything fancy but it was really good. You can tell how hungry we were by how high the quality of the picture is haha. If it’s really good then I wasn’t hungry and took the time to get a good picture. We went and saw Beauty and the Beast one night and has some time before to go to dinner so we asked the local employee there and he recommended this place as one of his favorites and it did not disappoint. The atmosphere was really fun and it was packed! We had the best wings, burger and wedge fries. I would love to open up one of these in the states.

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Al Punto- MY FAVORITE BAKERY EVER. This bakery had the biggest selection of goods and I wanted to try everything. This is a croissant cinnamon roll and it was so good that I ate this one and turned right back around and bought another one. I mean I have a whole board on Pinterest dedicated to cinnamon rolls so I will forever dream about this and I want a recipe asap. Lyle got a Chilean empanada and said that he hasn’t had one that good since he was living in Chile so boom. Funny thing is it’s actually down in the metro but everything was bomb. I know theres tons of good bakeries but this one takes the cake.

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San Miguel Market- This is a market similar to the Boqueria but in Madrid and it has a lot more tapas and actually meals than market goods. Here we liked the pizza, paella, cream cheese thing (above, I got the Fig) once I removed about half the cheese and this marshmellow treat! I was really proud of myself for branching out and trying so many things and I was surprised at how much I liked! This market was really unique and definitely fun to check out!

Restaurante O Cacho Do Jose- This place has some really good tapas! I’m mentioning it because they had these mini bbq burgers that were unlike anything I’ve ever tasted! They had some type of marmalade stuff on them so they almost had this sweet and sour thing going on and they were yet again, amazing.

Seville

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Los Valencianos 1946 Gelateria- The main thing that comes to mind when I think of Seville besides the absolutely breathtaking Plaza De Espana, is this gelato shop. It has the hugest most unique and fun flavors I have ever seen. I got marshmellow and crema catalana which tasted like a pastel de nata in an icecream form. You can sample them beforehand too!

De Lola- Icecream and Churros- This place is right near the cathedral where Christopher Columbus is buried. You can’t miss it, it’s right along the street with a ton of other food places. Lyle got a churro here and it looked amazing and he said it was amazing ha.

To sum it up, the food is legit. Try any and every bakery you see because each one has unique stuff. Most have the chocolate croissants and those are my favorite. They have fresh orange juice at tons of places too which is one of our favorites. Try kabobs, every bakery, tapas and paellas.

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Thought this was smores even though Lyle told me it was limon. No smores treats in Spain but this was still really good despite my disappointment.

XO CAIT

Chocolate Lasagna Cake

As promised! Besides wedding planning, working or Lyle I have managed to find a couple new recipes. One being this. This is hands down one of my favorite recipes ever: I made it for Lyle’s birthday this year and for the missionary’s and my family…everyone always asks for the recipe. It’s super easy and its layered so it looks difficult but its not.
 
xoxo Cait xoxo