Restaurant Experience: Lonja de Tapas

     Anyone who travels to Barcelona must try tapas, a traditional food made up of small plates of various items. The idea behind tapas is that a group of people orders a bunch of small dishes to share so that everyone can try a little of each dish and enjoy a light meal over good conversation. My favorite tapas restaurant that I tried while in Barcelona was Lonja de Tapas. The restaurant has two locations, one in El Born at Placeta Montcada 5 and one closer to Barceloneta at Pla Palau 7. The El Born location was too small to accommodate my large party, so the host was kind enough to walk my group all the way to the nearby larger location and make sure that we were seated at a large table upstairs in the two-story restaurant.
     I have been to tapas restaurants whose decor I liked more than that of Lonja de Tapas. For example, Divinius on Passeig de Gracia has nice tables outside and Taller de Tapas in El Born has a traditional-looking atmosphere with a nice ambience created by natural stone walls. Lonja de Tapas is brightly lit and lacks the same traditional feeling. However, it quickly became my favorite tapas restaurant as soon as I tasted the food.
     To start, my group ordered pan con tomate, traditional Catalan bread with tomatoes and olive oil. For tapas plates, a couple of my friends and I shared tuna tataki, grilled vegetables with romesco sauce, seafood paella, and beef. The grilled vegetables, which included eggplant, potatoes, and zucchini, were served with romesco sauce, a Catalan-style red pepper sauce that I have seen on many menus in Barcelona. The seafood paella consisted of paella rice with large prawns resting on top. Some of my friends decided not to eat the paella after seeing the prawns with their heads, eyes, and tails still on, but I ate the dish and it was delicious. The beef consisted of small pieces marinated in a brown sauce. It reminded me of what American restaurants would call "steak tips." Although all the food was excellent, the standout dish for me was the tuna tataki. It was made up of three small cubes of seared tuna crusted with sesame seeds. The tuna was served in a tasty sesame soy sauce. I would go back to Lonja de Tapas any day just for this dish!
     The only problem with the food arose at the end of the meal. Being Americans, and therefore being used to large dinners, most of my party was still hungry after the meal! We decided to take this as an opportunity to try some of the restaurant's tempting desserts. I ordered chocolate-hazelnut ice cream that satisfied my sweet tooth for a perfect ending to a great traditional Catalan meal.