El Quim de la Boqueria

Address : La Rambla, 91, Barcelona (Inside the Boqueria market)

Phone: 93 301 98 10



For our first breakfast in Barcelona, we ate at El Quim Tapas Bar in Mercat La Boqueria, Barcelona's very famous and impressive indoor market. In New York, breakfast is quite limited to cereal, oatmeal, bagels etc so it's really not that exciting. But breakfast in Spain is a different story. People eat good stuffs such as tapas, hot chocolate, churos here for breakfast, and sometimes with a glass of cava (sparkling wine). I say that's an awesome way to start a day!

It sure wasn't easy communicating with people at the tapas bar without knowing much Spanish. But I think I know the basics - gambas = shrimp, sardina = sardine, patatas = potatoes, anchoas = anchovies. I still need to learn more Spanish so that I can order better food. But the dishes recommended by El Quim's owner - Huevos (egg) with baby squid with squid ink was really delicious. Imagine perfectly fried egg with runny yolk and chewy little baby squids. Why don't anyone make this dish in NYC? He also recommended gambas al ajillo - shrimp with garlic, which I thought was not bad. The 3rd tapas dish we ordered was sardina drizzled with olive oil. All those dishes plus a cup of coffee and a glass of orange juice came up to around EUR 50! The food was good, but I thought it was overpriced for the dishes we ordered. Perhaps that's the disadvantage of not knowing Spanish in Barcelona. We have tourists written all over our forehead!!!