Café de L'Academia
PRICE:
Frommer's Very Highly Recommended
ADDRESS: Carrer Lledó 1
CITY: Barcelona
COUNTRY: Spain
PHONE 1: 93-315-00-26
In the center of Barri Gòtic a short walk from Plaça Sant Jaume, this 28-table restaurant looks expensive but is really one of the best and most affordable in the medieval city. The building dates from the 15th century, but the restaurant was founded only in the mid-1980s. Owner Jordi Casteldi offers an elegant atmosphere in a setting of brown-stone walls and ancient wooden columns. At a small bar you can peruse the varied menu and study the wines offered. Dishes of this quality usually cost three times as much in Barcelona. The chef is proud of his "kitchen of the market," suggesting that only the freshest ingredients from the day's shopping are featured. Try such delights as
bacallà gratinado i musselina de carofes (salt cod gratinée with an artichoke mousse) or
terrina d'berengeras amb fortmage de cabra (terrine of eggplant with goat cheese). A delectable specialty sometimes available is
codorniz rellena en cebollitas tiernas y foie de pato (partridge stuffed with tender onions and duck liver). On warm evenings, go for one of the outside, candlelit tables on the atmospheric square dominated by a Gothic church.
Copyright: Excerpted from
Frommer's Barcelona, 3rd Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

Barcelona
, Spain