I went to Calella twice this week with Oli and Nookie. We had been warned that restaurants in Maresme and the Costa Brava could be for tourists only – all pizza and bad tapas (tapas do not come from Cataluña), but we embarked on a mission to find somewhere good regardless. Earlier in the week we thought we’d found and excellent restaurant, the menú diari looked good, it was full of Catalans and the camarera was charming. It all went well until we got to the main course where the fideuà was tasteless and rubbery. I think it was the first time I’ve ever had a bad fideuà! Needless to say, my camera went back in my bag and the restaurant will be nameless.
Today our luck changed and we found an excellent place called Can Miguel. with huge parasols to shade us from the sun and friendly staff.
You will see from the menú diari, above, that the food promised to be good – 3 course with wine or beer for €12.50.
I ordered my usual vi rosat, which did a very good impression of Carlsberg in the film, Ice Cold In Alex.
To start, Nookie ordered musclos “Can Miguel” – Can Miguel’s signature mussel dish. Normally these come with garlic, but they were very happy to adjust the recipe to suit their guests. The bowl was enormous, so we all ate them. Despite the missing garlic, they were delicious!
Oli ordered Amanida Russa – Russian Salad, a very popular dish in Iberia, made of potatoes and other vegetables in mayonnaise. It is said that mahonnaise originally came from Mahón in Menorca.
As it was about 30º C outside, I chose gaspatxo a la andalusa – an Andalucian Gazpacho, a cold raw tomato soup, chilled in the fridge and designed to cool you down. Note the little bowl of chopped crunchy vegetables to float on top of the soup.
Nookie quite often wants a second starter instead of the main course. You will see here, that she was very well looked after with an Amanida Mixta amb Tonyina – a mixed salad with tuna.
Oli ordered Pollastre al Curri – chicken curry, which he pronounced excellent.
I ordered Lluç a la Planxa – hake cooked on the griddle, which came with a generous helping of potatoes, mixed vegetables and asparagus. Nookie had half the asparagus – her second favourite vegetable after artichokes and she did give me lots of mussels!
For pudding, Nookie had fresh fruit which came in a lovely glass bowl in the shape of half an apple.
Oli ordered Panna Cotta, an Italian sweetened, cream pudding, set with gelatin in a mould.
My pudding was a Tarta de Fresas – a strawberry tart, which I expected to be more French in style, but nevertheless, it was astonishingly light and quite delicious.
Nobody will be surprised to see me finish my lunch with a carajillo de cognac, a fantastic pick me up of espresso topped up with Spanish Brandy. They even serve it with a Malteser like sweet.
We werendelighted with Can Miguel, which compared extremely well with some of our favourite restaurants in Barcelona. It’s also worth noting how good value it is at lunchtime.
Can Miguel is at: Riera Capaspre, 4, 08370 Calella, Cataluña.
You always seen to post as I am about to prepare for lunch 🙂 ! This, as usual, is delightful – way back when I would order 3-4 primo piatti instead of a ‘boring’ main course! Like the mussels, and, as usual, the price 🙂 !
Thanks Eha – we were very well looked after here!
You can’t beat that for price/quality!
Definitely – amazingly, several people came and went on tables next to us and ordered toasted sandwiches, salads an beers. They paid a lot more than we did for a lot less! I’m sure most people have no idea about the menú del día because it sounds too cheap.
What fun, Oli’s Amanida Russa looked festive and indeed your Lluç a la Planxa looked quite tasty. But, the best image was of the bill. 51.80 euros, wow that would only buy lunch for two here without the wine or beer.
Thanks Ron, you can see why I spend so much time in Cataluña. I’ve had equally delicious meals twice this week in Bar Victoria, where they charge €9.50 per person and frequently give us shots of hierbas, after we’ve paid! I’ll see if I can find somewhere else as cheap for you…
I am always amazed at how inexpensively you manage to eat fabulously well in Spain. Makes me want to get on an avión right now!
Thanks Michelle – I had to get Nookie to pinch me to make sure it was real 😉
Back in England, we’re missing the menú del día! That’s a lot of lovely choices you had, delicious.
I’ve done a bit of wandering round looking for some good ones this week. There seem to be a load of places doing spaghetti Bolognese currently. I have, on the whole though, been having some excellent lunches – there’s always something good round the corner if you keep looking.
I was ambivalent until I saw the panna cotta.
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