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Besta Restaurant, Seafood, Eixample

19th July 2021 1 Comment

Besta Restaurant

I’ve got a list of places to try that keeps getting longer despite efforts to eat my way through it. It feels counterintuitive because it turns out that we haven’t slain Covid with two jabs. That ultimate sigh of relief isn’t even on the horizon. And yet, that is not standing between Barcelona and new restaurant openings.

Like Besta. A seafood gastro restaurant in Eixample. This is Barcelona – isn’t seafood ubiquitous? Well, yes, sure, it is in the amber nubbly paellas or the deep-fried calamari. Besta is another beast, though. (Ha!) The menu changes weekly.  Commandeered from a kitchen behind thick green velvet curtains so that I can still hear muffled kitchen clangs and hisses.

The day I visit, I try a Gilda. A Gilda is as perfect as a pintxo can get. Named after Rita Hayworth’s character in the film Gilda who was spicy and salty. At its simplest, it is a toothpick threaded with anchovies, spicy guindilla peppers and green olives. I love it. It’s as good out of the deli counter at the supermarket as from a vermouth bar. Besta makes its own version, substituting oily mackerel for the anchovy and some slow-roasted tomatoes to add an atypical sweetness. It sits in a pool of green that is acid and salty and leads to much tilting of the impossibly flat plate to create a slurpable puddle.

There are scallops from Galicia, missing the distinctive orange roe that is typical with imported Scottish scallops. Another dish of two fat spears of white asparagus looks like they have pulled up a green blanket of sauce right up to their chin. A tortilla with deveined, just cooked shrimp sitting prettily on top begins to ooze just as it should when cut into. The unctuous tortilla is topped with more asparagus, but this time the wild kind, thin in the body with a bulbous tight head that looks like a young miniature pine cone. Summer Spanish truffle, something I tried recently at Fonda Pepa, is heaped atop a fish cooked in a thick tarp-like seaweed.

The dishes are original without being frivolous or silly. Like the chef knows when he has made the last brushstroke. Chefs, it turns out. Chef one, Carles Ramón, sports a small mohawk when I peek into the kitchen. He worked for the Brindisa group. Chef two, Manuel Núñez from Ciudad Condal and coproprietor at Arume.

The food I have at Besta goes deeper than what I would expect or assume. With lots of emphasis placed on well-sourced, lesser-known seafood, particularly from Galicia. The signature mini gin and tonic feature an oyster gin, as in gin with oysters in it, named Ginebra from the small distillery La Destilateca. So another one for your list with a mini oyster G&T a must.

Besta Barcelona 
Aribau 106
08036 Eixample
facebook.com/restaurantbestabarcelona
instagram.com/bestabarcelona/

More seafood on Foodie in Barcelona :
Bicos in Eixample
La Barra Carles Abellan 
Lluritu in Gracia 

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Filed Under: Restaurants

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I feel like the one coffee shop per block thing ha I feel like the one coffee shop per block thing has been done ad nauseam - instead I would like to petition for one cheese shop per block. Found this darling one on the corner from one of my favourite restaurants.
What about you? Do you think we have reached peak coffee shop saturation in the city?
22:22 Cultura Dulce is all about pretty patisserie 22:22 Cultura Dulce is all about pretty patisserie and many layered savoury butter pastries. I think we may have tried a calçot riff when we were there. It’s a large place with corners occupied by big personality plants. 

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The foie sauce pasta @maleducat should be illegal. The foie sauce pasta @maleducat should be illegal. It’s not a plate to share - even with someone you love. 🫣
Of course the tomato tartar with mackerel continues to make me happy.

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We had such a great lunch @williswinebarparis ! Un We had such a great lunch @williswinebarparis ! Unexpected because it’s right behind the Louvre, it’s gorgeous, good value with charming servers. 

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Out of curiosity I joined the queue @bouillonlinst Out of curiosity I joined the queue @bouillonlinsta - a warehouse of a restaurant with continuous service and small prices. I can see the appeal - the rice pudding with caramel sauce was ace. Three courses with cider 18€!

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Something for the weekend @tangana_restaurant beca Something for the weekend @tangana_restaurant because it’s chef led, with good chairs and just the right feeling. Gilda - yes. And the Mitake mushroom but with way more colour then this picture - I hadn’t realized that apricot panna cotta is what’s missing from my life - (not pictured because the best moments often aren’t captured.)

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Here is a great share for the Easter weekend @lacu Here is a great share for the Easter weekend @lacucanya in Vilanova. 

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Another solid lunch menu option st Club Nàutic de Another solid lunch menu option st Club Nàutic de Sitges. 24€ menu with coffee or dessert, two courses and a drink. Reservations necessary- even on a Monday. 2/4 of the restaurant has the sea lapping at its  side. 

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Incredible brunch at Cecconi’s today. I am not s Incredible brunch at Cecconi’s today. I am not sure anyone is doing it better. Shout out to the staff who were doing a great job of serving us today! 

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I am going to increasingly direct you outside of t I am going to increasingly direct you outside of the city. To places like @barquet_tarragona - a multi generational fish restaurant with many accolades. Inside it’s a mishmash of nautical references- and an extraordinary selection of things from the sea along with arroces. Even though it’s in Tarragona, I recommend booking in advance. 

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