Ciutat Comtal was recommended by the desk clerk and we were glad that we followed her recommendation. Rather than eat at the bar, we preferred to relax at a table and had a half-hour wait, which gave us time to familiarize ourselves with the various offerings on the menu. We were fortunate to get a table in the main downstairs dining room and a delightfully engaging waiter, Tony. We ordered primarily from the tapas menu but had one dish from the main menu. All were artfully presented and delicious. Our choices included Salmon & Prawn with Cream Cheese (2.70 Euros), Fig with Ham & Mascarpone (4.65 Euros), Prawn with Avocado & Asparagus (2.75 Euros), Cod with honey allioli (10.95 Euros), Sirloin with foie (5.95 Euros), Shrimp Skewer (4.45 Euros), Eggplant Chips with Honey (5.70 Euros), three mini desserts - Cream Catalan, Apple tart, and Torrija St Teresa for 2.85 Euros each – and a small pitcher of amazing sangria (11.60 Euros). It was our second most expensive meal in Spain but well worth the splurge. I hadn’t coached my husband that tipping wasn’t expected, and when he added 15%, Tony encouraged us to return to see him the next night for the featured suckling pig!
We did return the next day and should have asked to be placed at a table with Tony as our waiter but instead ended up tucked away in a dark corner upstairs with a not-nearly-as-helpful-or-personable waiter. We would have been wise to order the things we’d liked the night before before but in our quest to try new and different tastes, ordered the canelloni (5.70 Euros) we had seen delivered to another table and found it only OK, especially as we couldn’t figure out what it was stuffed with! The scallops gratin (7.40 Euros) was better but the winner was a dish recommended by the waiter, a tasty mixture of cuttlefish, squid, prawns, and clams (9.35 Euros).