I know that this place is not in Dublin, but most people end up in Barcelona at some stage. It is one of the best European cities for many reasons and it's always useful to know a good place for food while on holiday.
We were lucky to have our friend Xevier, a native of Barcelona who showed us the city.
He introduced us to "Euskal Etxea" and we got hooked straight away, so much that we went back three times that week.
The place is located in the Gothic quarter of Barcelona, on Placeta de Montcada in the basque cultural centre.
There is a seating area at the back that can welcome about 30 people and there is the bar area in the front.
We decided to follow our friends' recommendation of eating our tapas the "typical way" which means you have to stand while eating. Not easy for us after hours of walking in the streets of Barcelona around Gaudi's sights. My eyes got bigger at the sight of the food that were displayed on the bar. The shelves were filled with what they call "pintxos". These are basically a little snack or canapé pinched together by a toothpick. Our friend explained that we had to take a plate, could help ourselves and that we had to keep the toothpicks as they were counted at the end to calculate the bill. I was so amazed that customers could be trusted like that, whereas in some other places you have to pay for your meal before it is even served to you. The price of a pintxo here is €1.80 each. There are many kinds: serrano ham, tortilla de patatas, mini croissants filled with ham, salmon canapés... A great variety of meaty and fishy pintxos are on display.
I loved the fact that the waiting staff came from the kitchen with trays filled of warm pintxos and shouted out the name of the food to invite the customers to help themselves. They brought the creamiest mushroom croquetas, ham and cheese with bechamel sort of toasties, etc...
The bar area was filled with locals and tourists, chatting away, drinking beer and nibbling on these delicious pintxos.
I fell in love with the place, the principle and the food. I couldn't help myself from taking pictures of every little canapé as they all looked so yummy and different.
Defintely a place to try if you're ever in Barcelona.
Euskal Etxea
Placeta Montcada 1-3 08003 Barcelona, Spain
933 10 22 00
http://www.euskaletxeataberna.com/eng/