kuletos
I was doing some work for Adrian this week in Poblenou. We were finished by 2pm, so Adrian suggested we have lunch at Kuletos, just round the corner.
kuletos bar
Kuletos opened in 1990 and is owned by the Recasens, a local family, who also have butchers and charcuterie shops in the area.
captain haddock
The decor here is quite sophisticated, but evidently somebody loves Tintin – there are models and pictures throughout the restaurant (along with a few other favourites).
menú tornasol
Kuletos does a Menú Tornasol (sunflower – a plant that follows the sun) – a Menú del Día which costs €13.95 and includes 3 courses with a glass of wine. They specialise in rice dishes here, so we took that into consideration when making our choices.
ca n’estruc
Thirst things first – we ordered some local wine! I drank an excellent Ca N’Estruc vi rosat, while Adrian ordered white. The wine arrived with a complimentary dish of olives.
pa amb tomàquet
We had a plate of superior pan con tomate – bread rubbed with garlic and tomato, then drizzled with olive oil, to go with the food.
musclos gallecs amb gorgonzola
Adrian’s starter was Musclos Gallecs amb Gorgonzola – delicious (I got to taste them) Galician mussels with a Gorgonzola sauce.
truita de patata, ceba i botifarra esparracada
I had a Truita de Patata, Ceba i Botifarra Esparracada – a potato and onion tortilla containing botifarra (butifarra in Spanish) with asparagus. This was light and fluffy, as any good tortilla should be and elevated considerably by the chunks of delicious botifarra and romesco sauce on the side.
uncooked botifarra
Botifarra is a Catalan sausage, which dates back to the time of the Romans. It’s probably related to Linguiça Calabresa and Cumberland sausages. Botifarra come in many forms, the regular one above contains pork and seasoning, but they can be made with tongue, ears and nose, egg, blood, rice, truffles, etc. They can be sold raw or cured.
paella marinera de peix i marisc
As arroz (rice) is a specialty here, we ordered a Paella Marinera de Peix i Marisc (fish and seafood paella) as our main course.
paella served
This was excellent – which makes me want to come back and try their other rice and fideuà. Rice dishes are normally prepared for two or more people, but according to the menu, one person dishes of arroz negro are available on Tuesdays, fideuà on Wednesdays and paella on Thursdays – there’s an arroz especial dish available on Fridays.
sorbet de llimona al marc de cava
Adrian skipped pudding, but I had (with a little encouragement) Sorbet de Llimona al Marc de Cava – lemon sorbet with Marc de Cava. The alcohol sits at the bottom and you drink it through a straw, before eating the sorbet with a spoon …well at least that’s what I did!
carajillo
…and to finish off, we both had a carajillo de coñac. The food and service here was excellent! I didn’t see the bill, as it was Adrian’s treat, but it would have been in keeping with most of my recent lunches.
Kuletos is at: Carrer del Doctor Trueta, 220, 08005, Poblenou, Barcelona.
Mad Dog TV Dinners 
Well, I did it again. I read your post prior to eating my own lunch, so now I’m famished. What a great meal you were treated to. Your Truita de Patata, Ceba i Botifarra Esparracada looks divine. I’ve never made a Spanish tortilla although I’ve eaten many. I clicked on the link in the post to your post on Tortilla Español, so now I have no reason not to make one. Thanks for letting us join you for another brilliant lunch…
Ha ha – thanks Ron! Making Spanish tortillas is quite straightforward. Do make sure you have a plate that completely covers the pan when you flip it and while I don’t normally use non stick, I did learn with an egg poaching frying pan (like the one here), which makes it very easy.
You certainly do know the best places for lunch…I would have enjoyed the entire meal.
Thanks Karen – it was fabulous and I wished I could have tasted everything on the Menú del Día, which is a good excuse for going back!
I think a return visit should definitely be in your plans.
I am definitely with you on that 😉
That tortilla looks fabulous. I’m still working on my technique but I do love a good Spanish omelette. I didn’t realize you could add things other than potato and onion to them!
Thanks Frank – potato is the most typical Spanish tortilla, closely followed by potato and onion, but spinach is common and sometimes bacalao. When using other fillings, the trick is to cook them a bit first to get rid of any excess water – especially with spinach. If the ingredients are too wet the tortilla breaks apart when you try to flip it over. My tip, even just with onion and potato, is to cook the ingredients separately, so you have sticky caramelised onion and poached potato that’s not over fried. Then put the hot ingredients into the beaten eggs, so the mixture thickens before cooking. Get the frying pan very hot and use loads of olive oil – the two together make the outer egg set as soon as it hits the pan – shake the pan often to prevent sticking. Some large tortillas are baked, but they are not as moist and you don’t get any lovey sticky egg oozing out when you cut them open – which you can have when frying, if you like that sort of thing.