flor de maig
I was on my own for lunch today and searching for something hearty. I looked at the Victoria’s (one of my favourite cheap lunch places) menú del dia, but felt uninspired. I was considering going to Iposa or L’Antic Forn (all these restaurants are within a minute or two of each other), but I passed the window of Flor De Maig and saw a few groups of elderly Catalans eating what looked like tasty comfort food – always a good sign when considering somewhere new. I looked at the menú, displayed by the front door and was sold when I saw the first item, fideuà negra.
vermut de la casa
I sat outside and drank a very good vermut de la casa, while I considered my main course.
menú del dia
As you can see above, the menú del dia includes first and second courses, plus bread, a drink (wine, beer or a soft drink) and a pudding for €11.30. There is a supplement of 10% for sitting outside (something that’s not uncommon).
fideuà negra
So I did order the Fideuà Negra con Ali Oli – a paella like dish of short pasta (fideu) containing seafood and blackened with squid ink (you may remember that I had the non squid ink version at Cantoni del Poble 9 recently). It was excellent, dark and sticky – just what I wanted.
albondigas de ternera
For my main course I chose Albondigas de Ternera (casero) en salsa – homemade beef meatballs in sauce, with chips. I was very pleased with these too – they tasted amazing (and so did the sauce), full of flavour and not just balls of minced beef.
vi rosat
I drank a chilled vi rosat with my lunch – no surprises there!
mousse de mango
For pudding, I had a mousse de mango – it was light and fluffy and I’m fairly sure, made in house.
carajillo
I finished with the usual carajillo de cognac for courage and a little lift, after the heavy lunch.
I considered visiting Flor De Maig in the past, but I was a little put off by signs outside for pizza. I shouldn’t have been, the food proved to be excellent – I hadn’t realised that they have a Pakistani chef, so on top of traditional Catalan cuisine (and pizzas), they do curry! There were even two choices on the menú del dia for Lamb Madras and Dahl – I’m sure the mango mousse is relative to the chef too.
I paid €11.30 for the menú del dia, there was a supplement of €1.50 for sitting on the terraza. The vermut de la casa cost a further €3.20 and the carajillo de conac was €2.30.
Mad Dog TV Dinners 
*big smiles and thanks you for the invite to lunch* OK, am learning to expect the vermouth and the rose wine and the carajillo and wanting to sit outside and the incredible prices. . . . I fully agree on three out of five!! It is the fideua with black squid ink that really reached me . . . . and, living in Oz, I always smile at your use of ‘pudding’ for dessert!! Don’t eat any but yours sounds delish . . .
Thanks Eha, it was a fabulous fideua. I never eat pudding at home and only eat it when I’m out, if it’s one of the few sweet things that I still like. I would always swap pudding, in a flash, for a cheese course, but you don’t get that with a menú del dia. On the bright side, the menús are generally so good I don’t even think about cheese.
Mad dearHeart – huge smile: I know what ‘pudding’ means!! Just that we generally do not use the word Down Under!! It’s like a beloved bfriend having talked about his ‘cane’ a few times recently . . . . In Oz we would ask ‘sugar’ or ‘bamboo’ ? !! OK, I knew he meant his walking stick but . . . !! . . . . And my US friends still wonder what I’m on about when I talk about ‘punnets’ and ‘trays’ if planting annuals!!!! And I still wonder what ‘flats’ are . . .
I did get that from what you said previously.
*biggest smile NW-wards* . . . .
Those prices over there for what you get never ceases to amaze me! Looks like a fabulous lunch.
Thanks Kathryn – it was a very good one and I still marvel at the prices.
Another great value and delicious sounding lunch. Do Spanish people generally eat a bigger lunch than dinner as in France?
Thanks Nadia, that’s a good question. A lot of busy people would probably just grab a sandwich at lunchtime. You do see lots of workers with characteristic bocadillos (baguette sandwiches) wrapped in foil on the Metro in the early morning. The menú del dia goes back to Franco’s time and was copied from the French to ensure that ordinary working people got one decent meal each day, when times were hard. I think people do eat salads, carved ham, sliced sausage and cheese in the evening. It is all done much more leisurely than in the UK.
Don’t laugh, but ink in my pasta always made me quite s..K – was never able to look at it. Reason? No idea! On the other hand I envy you for having those great little restaurants near you – and their prices, simply fantastic. Had to laugh reading yours and Eha’s banter re the English language . One of my pet word is “jacket” (as in “coat” – only potatoes wear jackets). 😁😁😁😁
Hi Carina – how odd, though I think everyone has something that they are strongly averse to. There are quite a lot of differences between English speakers, even in England. …and when learning a language at school, the text books are often a bit antiquated. Personally, I find the similarities and differences interesting, especially between words in Latin languages 🙂
Carina – never thought of that one ! But agree !!!!
How fun. You know, I actually love restaurant meals alone.
Me too, especially outside watching the world go by 🙂
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