Barcelona

category: restaurants
by Yun,

Every restaurant has its own sangria recipe: a mix of red wine, fresh and seasonal sliced fruit, superfine sugar and brandy or carbonated water served over ice. It is a type of wine punch that is originally invented in Spain but now becomes a very popular refreshing party drink all around the world. While most sangria are made with red wine, Sangria Blanco is made with white wine to emphasize the fruity flavors. And we ordered Sangria Blanco when we had a dinner at Barcelona, a Spanish restaurant located at German Village in Columbus.

Tapas are what they call as appetizers in Spain. Fortunately, Barcelona offered half-price tapas on the day we dined there. I had fried calamari served with spicy mint dipping sauce and smoked jalapeno alioli; and A had grilled baby octopus from their tapas menu. The calamari was fried to perfection, but it was placed in a brown paper bag, which is something that I don’t think suitable for a fine dining place such as Barcelona. The charcoal grilled baby octopus was dressed well with saffron alioli. Having different kind of tapas accompanied with Sangria Blanco and seated at outdoor patio were simply a perfect scenario for a warm and sunny day like these days.

A is a big fan of paella. As I remember, he almost always orders paella whenever paella is on the menu. At that time, he ordered Barcelona Paella, which was Basmati rice cooked with chorizo, shrimp, octopus, squid, clams, mussels, roasted peppers and peas. And I had Zarzuela, which was amazing. It was a seafood stew with lobster, scallops, shrimp, mussels, clams, potato, peppers and pea served with grilled sourdough and spicy citrus alioli.

To finish off the dinner, we tried a white chocolate mousse over fresh strawberry, kiwi and raspberry fruit that gave a very great combination taste.

Overall, for me Barcelona is one of upscale restaurants in Columbus that features a large wine selection and also an extensive menu. Not forget to mention that I love their olive oil mixed with mashed tomato dipping oil, served with regular breads as a starter.

Barcelona Restaurant and Bar

263 East Whittier Street

Columbus, OH 43206

(614) 443-3699

Comments

2 Comments so far

arman | 05 August 2008, 16:48
wow.. menarik banget!!

Yun: Thanks man!
V | 09 August 2008, 15:59
he ordered Barcelona Paella, which was Basmati rice

Paella with Basmati Rice?! Isn’t that just plain wrong? Or is this some kind of new-age, fusion thingy?

Yun: I think that was kind of Spanish fusion. Hence, the paella was not the traditional paella like you had at Spain. They also have brown rice paella on the menu as well.