Restaurante Victoria

restaurante victoria

October 15th, 2011

After our vermut aperitifs, we went for a lunchtime menu at Ristaurante Victoria, on the Raval side of the Ramblas. We sat outside and ordered three courses and a bottle of white wine – all for less than €10.

fideuà

I think we both ordered the same, which was Fideuà as a starter. Fideuà is a paella like dish, containing vermicelli pasta instead of rice, along with prawns, squid, mussels, etc. The dish came with allioli on the side, which is traditional.

butifarra

The main course was Butifarra (a spicy Catalan sausage) with a fried egg, tomato and chips. When I lived in Bacelona, 20 years ago, my Valencian flat mate cooked this dish and said me, “This is typical Catalan food, what do you have in England like that?”. He seemed surprised that the English do eat something quite similar! To be fair, a Butifarra is a lot better than most English supermarket sausages. The name Butifarra always reminded me of the Reggae singer Prince Far I, who came from Spanish Town, Jamaica – I thought there should be a Prince Butifarra from Kingston.

crema catalana

I had Crema Catalana for desert, flavoured with lemon zest and cinnamon. Crema Catalana is similar to crème brûlée, but the sugar on top should always be burnt with an iron and not a flame. Traditionally, Crema Catalana is served on 19th March, St. Joseph’s day.

We were halfway through our meal, when two ladies sitting next to us got up to leave. One of them brought over their half finished bottle of wine and offered it to us, so as not to waste it – how did they know…

All the food we ate was typically Catalan and quite delicious.

Restaurante Victoria is at: Carrer dels Angels, 8, 08001, Barcelona

Other Bar Victoria visits