Barceloneta in the BCN near Port Barcelona

Although a was renting a room at artist's Nuria Canal's apartment, I didn't see a lot of her so towards the end of my stay, we decided to go out for lunch. She'd been working on a new venture, a tour for foodies and had a place she wanted to visit with me. Barceloneta has been a local spot for generations. Located near Port Barcelona but in a area I had never been to. The other interesting thing I found was that there's no signage or at least very little of it. Walk in and there are no tourists. Nuria had called in earlier so they were expecting us but that really doesn't matter, they treat everyone well there. The specialties are the croquettes, baby octopus and a vinaigrette fish that might be anchovies or sardines, i wasn't sure. The first thing Nuria ordered was Vermouth. She explained to me that the older places made their own house Vermouth and that this was something you sipped on at the appetizer stage but I ended up sipping on it throughout the meal. The Vermouth was delicious, a little sweet and intoxicating both literally and figuratively. Each dish was brought to our table rather matter of factly but with a proud gleam. they know. It's an amazing place, their food is extraordinary and the family discipline there is exceptional. Nuria told me they have odd hours, meaning they are open sparingly because they can. Their dishes are prepared daily and there's always a line so they really don't need to be open for more. They've been doing it for generations so they have it down. This was easily the best meal I had the entire trip and that's saying something because I had some incredible meals in the mighty BCN.