The “brunch” pressure is getting stronger each time, but there are still pockets of resistance fighting, spoon in hand, against the advance of eggs Benedict. Breakfast with a fork remains a constant in Barcelona, thanks to inns that feed parishioners traditional dishes at odd hours. Early risers are valued in these shelters for hungry sleepers. Tripe, omelettes, fricano, pig's feet, sausages with beans, and cutlets to drop it all, we're in for a scary day at the office today. Breakfast Fork: Barcelona's answer to Red Bull.
1. Morning Courage. Better than at home
Bebo Mesa Loc and Montserrat Esteve greet me on a harsh, rainy morning. It's 11 o'clock. I'm cold and hungry, and I place myself in his hands. For 18 years, they've been at the helm of Sant Josep (Zaragoza, 33), a neighborhood restaurant and bar that opens before dawn to patronize the just-awakened faithful to their stratospheric culinary delights and countless traditional recipes, which embroidery to the rhythm of xup-xup. Bar Sant Josep is not afraid of indulgences in the morning: excursions, fricando, capipota, garro, galta…, dishes change every day, there is no fixed menu, but it is the same, because you know that in the house of Bebo and Montserrat you will always have a pot waiting for you. I go for courage. My jaws relax with a lot of pleasure and clenching. They don't believe it. And also the tortilla skewer: thick, juicy and accompanied by bread with tomatoes. Incoming prices and family treatment are on the verge of extinction. Thank you for that.
2. Ultramarines for gourmets. Breakfasts in capital letters
With a product with another dimension, which they prepare themselves on most occasions – attention to sausages – Ultramarinos Marín (Balmis, 187) has become one of my favorite restaurants. There are few better places to eat than this old bar converted into an inn, without a single dish that doesn't impress the staff. Obviously their breakfasts are great, but they don't waste any time on this nonsense.
In Utramarinos, toast triumphs with flammable ingredients: bacon, truffle butter, caipota, pickles of the day and other delicacies. You can also enjoy a plate of la gremita with good sausage or zestura, fried eggs and green beans. It's Saturday, and in the small print on the menu I see that you can order an old cow rib for breakfast, and I almost press the red button. It will be another morning.
3. Morning triperia. Containers of energy
Start your day with energy, start your day with triperia. Known for its highly recommended menu of the day, Gatzara Bar (Diputació, 437) prefers to open in the morning and bet on tournament breakfasts over dinners. And there are not a few customers who appreciate that. If you've had a tough day, recharge your energy at this parish serving famous Catalan cuisine.
Triperia Gazzara makes one hundred million rounds from all of Barcelona's avocado toast combined. Mom, the breakfast menu is a symphony of the intestines, the head, the ears, the nose, the tongue, and the unseen. And don't miss some good fried eggs with sobrasada! Popular high-flying cuisine at low-flying prices.
4. In the ville de… for those who rise early
You'll need a lot of bread to finish traditional stews. The barbell guts of the Olimpiada 92 (Pellaires, 1) are legendary. Homemade cuisine with a generous amount of sauce and love and the dishes are very affordable. They play everything, and as their fans tell me, they play it well. I go there on Thursday at 8am and find the blackboard with the day's dishes. Some are as little as 4 euros. Turnips with potatoes, garu, tripe with head and legs… but I have meatballs with squid and squid between the eyebrows. They leave the kitchen on a plate covered in sauce, with hand-cut French fries and a bun. For 6 euros, and with the fresh daily newspaper in my hands, I happily observed a mural featuring a Kobe doll. anytime
5. “Sabah” barbecue. Knife and fork
The Tramendu family has a new brother in Bordetta. In addition to the winery and the restaurant, we must now add the bar (Barcerissa, 11), a space that believes strongly in traditional Catalan cuisine and uses the old farmhouse “look” that I find irresistible.
The “prasa” is the seat where the faithful prostrate, who come on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings at the call of their strong, generous and delicious dishes. Cheeks that crack at the first puff, a pig's ear that's not easily forgotten, a bean sausage! And feel free to spoon the aioli, even if it's 11 a.m.; At their checkered tablecloths there is room only for the brave.
6. Good and cheap. Complete honesty
Related to Gelida, El Bo de Bernat (Urgell, 27) is the quintessential Barcelona breakfast. This young restaurant in Sant Antoni is headed by Bernat Dalisay, former chef of Gileda, a professional in the kitchen who knows all the secrets of the most popular Catalan cuisine. It is enough to look at the endless blackboards to make sure: nothing is missing.
More than just chalkboards, they're love letters to Grandma's kitchen. Stews, roasts, meats, fish…, all prepared and ready early in the morning to start your day with a warm fricando, some pork feet with snails or a fresh omelette. And all at very reasonable prices. Good morning, Bernat!
7. Popular distinction. Breakfast in the free zone
The best breakfasts in the city are served in a truly legendary place, located light years from the centre. Granja Elena (p. de la Zona Franca, 228) is a relaxing getaway in Zona Franca, to a galaxy far, far away, outside touristy Barcelona. A galaxy of massive stews, cosmic grilled sandwiches and fried eggs cross the dining room like comets. What can I say about their astronomical entrails and torahs?
Excellence rules all the proposals of this sacred house of a product that takes popular cuisine to the top of everything, even to the universe itself.
8. Marinated meatballs. It never fails
More reliable than a German techno, the Can Ros wine cellar bar (Roger de Flor, 303) is a classic that the breakfast fork addict knows right at home. At this family business, you know you'll be welcomed with delicious, house-famous meatballs, the mainstay of a menu full of stews, triperias, omelettes and sandwiches: everything to lick your fingers dry and start your day like a Miura.
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