Els Quatre Gats
A restaurant that my grandparents wanted to take me to for a meal is a famous restaurant called Els Quatre Gats. In Catalan this is a saying that means to say a place was empty--nobody was there, just four cats. The restaurant is located off of the busy shopping street, Avinguda del Portal de l'Àngel, which leads from Plaça Catalunya into el Barrio Gótico. During the mondernista period in Cataluyna during the late 19th century and early 20th century, popular artists and architects lived in this area and frequented this restaurant café. With its well known history of its regular customers such as Picasso, Casas, and Gaudí, the restaurant has turned into a popular tourist destination. The walls of the front cafe are decorated with photos and paintings the regular customers would sketch or paint. Behind the bar, the café turns into an open dining room with larger tables on the floor level and a narrow wooden balcony lining the walls with seating for tables of two.
My grandparents and I ordered from the menu of the day, which included a starter, a main course, and a dessert. Personally, I thought the food was tasty but it was not necessarily worth the price. I concede that restaurants that cater to tourism, you are partially paying for the experience and not necessarily just the quality of the food. For starters I ordered the cold pumpkin soup with a cooked tomato stuffed with cheese. I liked the flavor, however it did not taste very fresh as if it had been chilling in a fridge for a day or two. For my main course I ordered the veal with potatoes and beat hummus. The flavor was nice and the presentation was beautiful with the bright pink sauce but, again, it did not taste super fresh and seemed as if it as just reheated. For dessert I had a chocolate brownie with walnuts. An interesting touch they added was chocolate Poprocks as a topping that fizzed in my mouth when I bit them.
I am grateful my grandparents want me to experience a variety of restaurants in Barcelona, however I believe that this restaurant does not have the best meals to match the price. I am fascinated by the history of the place, but I would have been content ordering an espresso and sitting in the café for a little bit.
