BIOCENTER
This was the first spot I ate at when I arrived in Barcelona. I did a quick search for what was near where I was staying and wandered across La Rambla to check it out. Here is where I also had my first glass of wine in Spain. I didn’t drink any booze in Bilbao. Besides one apple juice.I had, I was just on my favourite H2O. So my first meal in Barcelona was a bowl of couscous with peas, carrots, broccoli, and tempeh. It was great! I was really craving some veggies and the colours of this dish when it arrived just made me feel good! The flavours were yummy and I devoured it.
While sitting down to eat another woman also decided to dine at the same place and I overheard her speak in English. So naturally I acknowledged that and said hi. At this point I really hadn’t had much conversation with anyone for a few days. She was nice, in Barcelona for the first for work. Sounded like an interesting conference she was attending this week. One on the anatomy and biology of insects. She is a Bio Scientist who works for a company developing pest control. The things you find out when you just conversationally pounce on strangers. Clearly the stranger danger about me should be do not speak english around the pink haired one, she will chat to you.
The staff here also spoke English, were friendly, and super helpful.
The Vegan Corner
While walking around getting distracted by street art I came across this cute little place. Everything vegan and a great espresso. I had some of their leek slice which was beautiful! I am sure these have a Spanish name but it escapes me right now (something starting with an L is floating around) but where ever I see vegan ones of these things I am pretty much down to eat one. They either have potato and leek or just leek and they are great. Instead of eggs as a base for the dish they use corn flour. It’s fantastic. I love it. I want to go back. I think I will on my last day.
I also grabbed a plain croissant to take back for room food. It was great for a quick bite in the morning before leaving the house the next day. The two women working here were lovely, friendly, and spoke English.
I ended up returning here on my last day in Barcelona for breakfast. I had a coffee and the leek slice again. I also picked up a pastry thing which had capsicum in the middle. I had this for breakfast the next morning before leaving the hotel to head to the airport.
VEGGIE GARDEN
I actually first spotted this joint out the window of my taxi when I firstly arrived in Barcelona. It’s pretty close to where I’m staying but I stopped here after I had been out and about checking out Passeig de Gràcia. I opted for the Thali. Flavours were great, staff were friendly and the whole place was vibrantly painted!
After walking around in the heat I also decided to treat myself to a Tequila Sunrise with my meal. It was refreshing! I especially liked the strawberries in the bottom of the glass that got sucked up the straw. Mmm…Tequila infused strawberries.
Vegan Junk Food Bar
I ended up walking past this place while on the walking tour I went on through the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. As we finished the tour not too far from here I double backed to check it out. Turns out there was quite a lot of fake meat options at this joint. Including Cod, which seems to be a popular dish in Barcelona. I opted for the nachos as it seemed to be the one item on the menu that wasn’t centred around fake meat.
I also ordered myself their rum cocktail, which was pretty tasty. The nachos, were okay. The place looks really cool but the food just isn’t really my jam. There are other places and types of food I would rather try. If you’re looking for a fancy burger joint and like fake meat options than you would probably be more interested in this place than I was.
Greenco
After doing some work for the afternoon/evening it was time to head out for a bit to eat. I did a quick search and decided to head to Greenco. I opted for their beet burger with side of kimchi and potato. The beetroot burger was delicious, it wasn’t dry at all, and had lots of flavour. Obviously I don’t really believe there is a bad potato out there, and I didn’t have any issue with eating all the ones on this plate either.
This place is situated in a central plaza square with many restaurants around it. Sitting outside at one of these places you just need to be aware that you will constantly have people coming up to you during your meal asking if you want to buy things. No. I don’t. I am eating. Go away.
Teresa Carles
After arriving back in Barcelona after Montserrat I was looking for somewhere to eat. Teresa’s had been popping up on the searches all week and I found myself pretty close by so finally decided to pop in. This place is pretty large and busy, and after tasting the food – I can taste why.
I ordered the 5 layer lasanyuki, spinach and pine nuts, mushrooms, masala pumpkin, plant-based cashew ‘cheese’, fresh and dried tomato sauce. There was so much flavour in this, it was delicious! I enjoyed every single mouthful of it. I am so glad that I ended up coming to this place and waiting 5 minutes to be seated. It was worth it.
Vegetalia
My last day in Barcelona involved walking, taking photos of street art, and eating. This has become a trend for the last days of my stays so far. I think it’s because I like to just be pretty cruisy and try to schedule a “rest” day before a transit day. I did some work between my wandering out and about and for lunch this day I found myself near Vegetalia and thought it was about time I tried a paella.
This was very yummy, and very filling. I’m glad I had this for a middle of the day meal and not an evening feed. I was still getting my step count up for the day so it makes justifying eating so much a bit easier.
All Vegan BCN
I started and ended my vegan eating in Barcelona on the same street. All Vegan BCN is directly opposite the Biocenter. This was the first time I had seen a vegan buffet and decided to check it out for my last meal. There are two options for the buffet, one is a flat rate where you can fill up your plate and then return and do it again. The other is a price based on the weight of your plate. I went for the plate weight option, as I didn’t feel that I needed to eat more than what I was going to put on my plate.
I sat on a table with a family who have all met together in Barcelona, including with their 6 year old Grandson from Perth that they hadn’t seen in 3 years. It was nice to sit and chat with some people over a meal. The grandparent couple were from New Mexico, and the boys aunt lived in Texas. They were lovely dinner conversationalists, and very friendly.
The meal itself was quite tasty and satisfied my hunger. For what it was it was pretty good. Today ended up being a very rice heavy day. Other places I ate at I would be more likely to return to and try other menu items if I found my way back to Barcelona again.
