Montolio Can Maño
Where? Montolio Can Maño (Barceloneta, Barcelona, Spain) Map
When? Thursday January 6, 2022
Who? Me
Food Style? Catalan Seafood
I was looking up a place to eat by the beach and I googled the Catalan term for “menu of the day”, menú del día. This is the name given to the prix fixe menu given to workers to ensure they had at least one good meal a day. This place comes up on a list of Barcelona's best for menú del día, and it's on a small side alley that doesn't have a lot of tourists. I don't see the menu of the day though, only a blackboard with various seafood. There's no trace of English and the wait staff kinda can’t communicate with me, but pointing, nodding and Google translate has got me some food. I seem to be the only one in this predicament, even though there’s some French speakers around, they seem to know Catalan and Spanish as well.
Mains #1
Mejillones: mussels
Sweet and juicy with lots of delicious garlic and olive oil flavour. I know these are tiny and don’t have the satisfaction that NZ green lip mussels have, but this is still pretty good.
Mains #2
Pimiento: peppers
They haven’t been seasoned, but after dipping it in the mussel sauce, it’s really good. Love that smoky charred flavour.
Mains #3
Sardinas: sardines
It takes a bit of practice but by the third one I’m able to remove the meat from the main bone pretty efficiently. The flavours are simple but delicious, herbs, olive oil and that natural seafoody saltiness. The small bones are awkward but edible at least.
This was the perfect amount of food for lunch, and there's enough room in my stomach for some ice cream on yet another fine Barcelona day. I feel like some Amorino...
Posted by Jeremy at 3:01am on Thursday January 20, 2022 :: 0 comments :: 