ultimate barca dinner and drinks.

as might be expected, my idea of the perfect night out in barcelona includes something unlikely. or atypical. or not. dunno. although i enjoyed the catalan cuisine, my favorite night included a japanese-peruvian dinner and classic cocktails at a mixology bar. how new york of me...

anyways, i stumbled upon a culinary experience i treasure (and that i have attempted to recreate at home more or less successfully) at a restaurant a couple of blocks from our hotel.

the reason we constantly seem to stay at close proximity to our hotel is the weather: we happened to make it to barcelona during historically terrible weather. it rained pretty much throughout our trip...

as a lover of japanese cuisine, i am constantly on the lookout for interesting fusion restaurants and the combination of peruvian with japanese seemed exotic and intriguing. after some looking into it, i found out that japanese-peruvian is what nobu, probably the most famous japanese fusion restaurant, serves. figures.

the restaurant was called komomoto – curiously many other japanese restaurants in barcelona seemed to have very chinese sounding names – and we tried both dinner and their set price lunch (12€) on our visit.

i was not disappointed. the place was casual: you sit at communal (but spacey) tables and receive a menu and a pencil with a piece of paper where you write your order. the menu itself was filled with japanese specialties such as sushi and sashimi, but with a twist. additionally, there were fusion dishes that echoed south america.

and naturally, there was ceviche: my favorite was called tokyo-lima, a beautiful, fresh serving of white fish, coriander, spring onions, sisho, sweet red aji peppers, red onion and enoki mushrooms.

unfortunately, for some reason the name of the dish in finnish seems to fit this picture. trust me, it was not slimy at all, but incredibly fresh...

from our dinner we strolled towards the centre of el born, but barely made it a couple of blocks. the curtain covered window and door spoke speakeasy to me at such volumes that we had to step in. again, my intuition did not fail: inside gimlet a dedicated couple of bartenders created cocktails according to the rules of classic mixology with vigor completely mismatched with their laconic faces.


i discovered that there is another gimlet in barcelona, a more upscale, "hip" spot. not to be mistaken with this little nook...

the bar room itself was tiny, rowdy and packed, but the staff worked without difficulties along the long mahogany bar. it was the first time ever that i witnessed a phenomenon quite strange from a finnish point of view: while the bartenders had no problem wasting alcohol as they elaborately poured the liquor, they washed their ice afterwards and reused them. expensive, store-bought ice were apparently too valuable to be wasted. most importantly, my signature gimlet was flawless – i had forgotten about the drink completely. the luscious lure of the classic cocktail should never be undermined, i tell ya.

it was truly a perfect night out without any extravagance or immersion into local culture. hence, i ask my readers who frequent or have visited barcelona some tips for our next trip: where to find an upscale night of perfection? additionally, where to head for a truly catalan night out?