CALCOTADA within Barcelona city, or a short taxi ride from the center??

Not easy… when in Barcelona, I’m one of those who do calçotades with friends at home. Yet, I know these places you can try:

• Can Cortada and Can Travi Nou, in a masia "in" the city. Nice surroundings.
• Disbarat, bio and casual, in Gràcia
• Petit Hípica, a no-frills rustic restaurant on the hill of Montjuïc
• Restaurant Carmen, also in Montjuïc
• Can Vador, for groups
• Hostal el Pintor, a tad more upmarket
• Adobo, in Sarrià -posh urbanites doing calçots

Anyway, in general, calçots in Barcelona usually mean pricey and not very authentic, more like a “touristy barbecue for city folks” — a few calçots, some bits of grilled meat, a spoonful of all i oli, and this illusion that you’re somehow in the countryside at a rustic masia. You know what I mean, right? It’s all nicely plated, maybe with a glass of cava and some background rumba catalana (like in Can Martí), but the vibe is more curated than genuine. You leave smelling of perfume instead of smoke, and you kind of miss the chaos, the laughter, and the mountain air of a real calçotada.

Enric I was hoping that you would respond. I know that one tourist, alone, is not going to experience a true calcotada; it would really just be me ordering a set menu at a restaurant. Even if I went to a restaurant calcotada in the countryside, it would just be me sitting alone at a table, surrounded by groups of festive locals!! I will take a look at the places you recommend and perhaps choose one for lunch.

I'll think about it, as I only have about 6 nights there and there are so many restaurants I'd like to try.

I've not been to your city in about 15 years; I remember that CAL PEP was one of my favorite restaurant back then.
Is this still a place I should take a meal at?

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond, y "Bon Dia!"

Hi Eks,

Bon dia indeed!. Always a pleasure to hear from you.

Calçotada: my list includes a wide range of very different places, from the rustic no-frills ones to the posh version of calçotada in the uptown. As I mentioned, I haven't been in most of them -for a calçotada anyway-, so I can't vouch for the whole list.

Cal Pep is one of those unshakable places that somehow survive decade after decade in the city. It’s been ages since I last went, but I imagine they must still be doing something right if they’re still around. Barcelona’s restaurant scene is brutally competitive — you either have serious financial muscle to handle the sky-high commercial rents, or you’re doing things really well and making enough to stay afloat. Otherwise, you sink fast. I'd say that Cal Pep is in the second case.

Btw, I assume you're talking about Cal Pep in Ciutat Vella, right? There's another Bodega Cal Pep (or “Cal Pep de Gràcia”) on Carrer Verdi in Gràcia, but they're not related. Curiosity: "Pep" is short for Josep (Catalan for Joseph), a popular first name here, and "Ca" is an old Catalan word meaning "house of", a term very commonly used in small towns (and neighbourhoods in the cities in old times, where everybody knew each other). So Ca'l Pep, it simply means "house of Joseph", hence you can see how the name can be common to many restaurants and bars...

WHAT IS A CALÇOTADA? (pronounced: kahl-soh-TAH-dah)

For those that don't know: a calçotada, mentioned earlier, is basically a big outdoor feast in Catalonia where people grill these long, sweet onions called calçots over open flames until they’re black on the outside. Then you peel them with your hands, dip them in a killer almond-and-pepper sauce (romesco), and eat them standing around with friends, usually getting messy and drinking wine from a porró (a glass pitcher you pour straight into your mouth). It’s smoky, loud, fun, and feels like a mix between a backyard BBQ and a harvest party.

For those natives of the East Coast, a calçotada would be 'similar' (mind me!) to your New England clam bake or oyster roast: outdoor, smoky, communal, and seasonal. I once had a dear friend -and fellow high schooler from my time in the US- coming to a calçotada, and she described it as a "Catalan clam bake with onions" LOL!

Enjoy!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBUQwkwMeNg

Gracies, Enric!!

I was meaning the Cal Pep in Ciutat Vella. I had lunch there a few times, on two different visits, but I think the last time was in 2011. Pep was behind the bar and he seemed (to me) to be ill at the time, but hopefully he has recovered and still around. I remember my first taste of butifarra, and also my first taste of those tiny clams that I think are named "tallerines." Even back then, there would be a line to get in, some tourists but mostly what seemed to me to be locals persons. Your comments on the restaurant scene are very interesting,, by the way.

I hope you will bear with me because I will have many questions in the coming months, mostly about where to eat (!).

Another thing I remember from my most recent visit was that there was a restaurant named "Tickets" that I read about in some obscure food magazine. So I went online and booked a reservation for a day that we would be there. This turned out to be their opening night and we had such a wonderful time sitting at the counter and, later, meeting AA, the (or one of) the owners. They served some very inventive dishes that I'd never even heard of, like olives that were liquid inside. Now that I've learned more, I know that all this came from El Bulli (or at least I think he was the originator). The restaurant lasted awhile, but is now closed, as you know.... Anyway, apologies for the long reminiscence here....I will do a lot of reading up on where to eat. I have a book on Catalan food by Coleman Andrews with some good background and recipes, but I don't expect I'll find the "real" thing in today's Barcelona.

You are an incredibly great resource on this forum; I've been a fan and I hope I will not drown you with my questions as my trip draws closer (I'll go in early March, arriving during the big tech show, unfortunately, when hotel rates are sky high and not so easy to book)

https://www.amazon.com/Catalan-Cuisine-Europes-Culinary-Secret/dp/1898697760

One more question: What is the difference between "cal" and "can?" More or less the same, from the same root word?

Ready when you are: shoot those questions.

In Catalan, “cal” and “can” basically mean the same thing: “the house of…” and they both come from the old phrase casa de…. Cal is a bit more formal or traditional, and you often see it in established businesses or historical names, like Cal Pep. Can is more casual and commonly used in speech, especially in rural areas, like Can Mas. So they share the same root, but one feels more fixed and formal, and the other more familiar and local.

If you feel like getting more technical... https://www.cpnl.cat/gramatica/22/8-els-possessius

PS. Btw, it seems the ban has been lifted, LOL!