Eating with the Locals in Barcelona
I began exploring the restaurants of my new neighborhood long before I actually moved here. Well outside the city’s tourist core, Sant Just Desvern is a quiet, settled district.
Once, it was favored by footballers playing in Barcelona; today, it is home to an aging middle class that values calm over spectacle. And yet, for those who pay attention, it offers a surprisingly rich restaurant scene.
It is clear that being on the city’s outer edge has protected these places, at least partially, from the relentless pressures that have weighed on Barcelona in recent years: rising rents, tourism-driven transformation, the slow erosion of everyday life. Just as important is the area’s stable residential structure and its culture of regulars. This continuity has shaped a consistent clientele, and that consistency, in turn, has allowed local restaurants to preserve their standards.
La Casona de Sant Just
There are three restaurants in the neighborhood that I would like to write about in this series.
Let us begin with the most unpretentious one, the place where value and quality align most effortlessly. On Sundays, it becomes the preferred gathering spot for neighborhood families: La Casona de Sant Just.
Here, you will find almost the entire classical repertoire of Catalan cuisine and, by extension, much of what we think of as Barcelona’s culinary canon. The plates will not disappoint you. Some of them, in fact, will strike you as genuinely accomplished. My advice is simple: approach these classics with ease, comforted by the knowledge that you are paying as little as possible for dishes that deserve far more.
Bread with Tomato
Garlic Prawns
This list is also, inevitably, a list of dishes you should try in Barcelona — no matter where you end up eating them.
- Steamed mussels (CA: MUSCLOS AL VAPOR ES: Mejillones al vapor)
- Clams in sailor-style sauce) (CA: CLOÏSSES A LA MARINERA, ES: Almejas a la marinera)
Clams in Sailor-style Sauce
Andalusian-style Fried Calamari
- Andalusian-style fried calamari (CA: CALAMARS FREGITS A L’ANDALUSA, ES: Calamares fritos a la andaluza)
- Crispy pork belly from Soria (CA: TORREZNOS DE SORIA, ES: Torreznos de Soria)
Crispy Pork Belly from Soria
Broken Eggs with Ham and Foie Gras
- Broken eggs with ham and foie gras (CA: HUEVOS ROTOS CON JAMÓN Y FOIE, ES: Huevos rotos con jamón y foie)
- Artichoke chips (CA: CHIPS DE ALCACHOFAS, ES: Chips de alcachofas)
- Tripe stew like head and trotters (CA: CALLOS CON “CAP I POTA” ES: Callos con cap i pota)
Artichoke Chips
