fifteen raval
October 4th, 2013
I went to Manning Lobby Bar for lunch today, but when I got there it seemed to have undergone a name change…
fifteen raval
Well the menu looked good (click the image above to view) and the location is special, so I thought I’d eat there regardless.
courtyard
Fifteen Raval is situated at the top of El Raval in a beautiful courtyard behind the Iglesia Sta. Maria Montalegre, it’s opposite the Facuilat de Geografía e Historia and adjacent to the Centre de Cultura Contemprània de Barcelona. All the references help, believe me, there’s just a little blackboard outside the huge doorway of a historic building, with Casa Provincial de Caribao carved in stone above it – it doesn’t look like the entrance to a restaurant. Once you get through the doorway however, you enter a beautiful courtyard with tables and chairs on one side and it becomes apparent that you’ve found the restaurant. I must have walked past the place hundreds of times without ever realising what was inside!
carpaccio de carbassó al pesto
I started out with something light, a Carpaccio de Carbassó al Pesto – a carpaccio of courgette with pesto. Unusual I thought, because I don’t remember eating raw courgettes before – I’ll be doing it again!
suprema de lluç
My main course was a delicious Suprema de Lluc a les Fines Herbes – hake fillet cooked with herbs on slices of onion and potatoes, with chopped mixed vegetables. Oddly hake isn’t popular in northern Europe and therefore most of it is exported to Spain where it is revered and I think quite rightly so.
pa
I have to mention the bread – it came as individual little rolls which were obviously made with love and affection. It was perfectly crusty with a light fluffy interior.
pera pochada
For pudding I had Pera Pochada – a pear poached in red wine and spices, served chilled with cream. I’ve made these myself, they are very simple, but require 3 hours or so of slow cooking and very careful handling.
I drank a glass of red Rioja with my lunch as they don’t serve rosado.
The menu del dia at Fifteen Raval was excellent and cost 12€. The staff are friendly and the courtyard setting is fantastic.
Mad Dog TV Dinners 
Great lunch!
Thanks Tessa 😉
Good price.
Thanks Rosemary, the cheap lunchtime menus make it hard not to go out to eat 😉
Great find. Beautiful location and very good menu. We spent a holiday on Gomera ( Canary Isles) some years ago where we ate wonderful hake with a green mole…also brilliant potatoes, from the island, dry cooked in a “diable”. It was in my meat eating days, so I enjoyed the best beef, from Argentina, that I can remember eating.
Thanks Roger, it’s a wonderful location – I tried to find out what the rest of the building is used for, but couldn’t find much on the internet.
I like the sound of the potatoes cooked in a diable – I’ll have to look out for one 😉
Beautiful. This is making me so jealous. That carpaccio looks good. I want to try to replicate it!
Thanks Amanda, I think that should be reasonably easy to achieve, it was quite simple 😉
Honestly, you poor thing! I love raw courgette and sometimes make a little canape of thin ribbons wrapped in something (usually cream cheese with something tasty mixed into it). Love hake and bought some here the other day – it came from Devon and cost a fortune! It was very good though.
Ha ha – I’ve had a hard life! Luckily there are good fish stalls in Chapel Market and Goldborn Road. Hake is reasonably priced as are dorada at 4 for £10, though I believe Morrisons are selling them at 2 for £5 lately 😉
Ooh – I’m off to Morrisons then!
I think they make a thing of selling them cheap mid week 😉
As tasty as I’m sure your lunch was, MD, each dish was very well-plated and presented. That bit of finesse for a lunch menu says much about the restaurant. I’d definitely go back for super.
Thanks John, it was all perfect 😉
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