Travel By Jury

While you’re poking around in the Barceloneta area of Barcelona, you might as well veer off the beaten path (perhaps even with a newly-minted sorta-local, like your Barcelona-dwelling sibling) and take in some tapas, one of the few “Spanish” cultural things the prideful Catalan region of Spain still keeps (along with their lispy Castellano Spanish, yet no more bull-fighting in Barcelona – the bull ring in central Barcelona is now a mall). La Bombeta, located on a side street off the Mediterranean coastline of Barcelona, near the Drassanes metro, boasts that “aqui no hablamos ingles pero hacemos unas bombas cojonudas,” (here we don’t speak English but we’re making ‘bombs’” – meaning the “bombeta” tapas – meat rolled in dough and fried) so make sure to know your Spanish… or be willing to point to things on the menu and hope for a good bet, which you’ll probably find here. The waiters, while friendly, don’t budge on the language issue, so grab an Estrella (the local beer) or some vino tinto (red wine) and tuck in. La Bombeta has great patatas bravas covered with two mysterious and stomach-challenging sauces, and the chorizo and Spanish omelet are fantastic too. The pimientos del padron, pulpo were popular with those hanging out in the low-ceilinged, sparse-but-homey interior, and the mejillones (mussels) come either steamed (“de vapo”) or in a marinara sauce. The best Spanish tapas I’ve ever had were in San Sebastian, Spain – an area renowned for it’s gastronomical splendor – but La Bombeta is a great spot to get away from the more touristy areas (note – only cash is accepted here! NO cards!) and take in some authentic and muy rico tapas while in fabulous Barcelona.

Filed under: Europe, Great Eats | Tagged: Barcelona, Barceloneta, beer, bombetas, cash only, Catalan, chorizo, Drassanes metro, Estrella, Europe, fresh fish, friendly folk, great eat, know Spanish, La Bombeta, Mediterranean, mejillones, mussels, mystery sauce, no English, octopus, papas bravas, pimientos del padron, pulpo, side street, Spain, Spanish omelet, tapas, wine | 3 Comments »