Barcelona Sandwich Special. Bocadillos for the boys!

Bocadillo may sound like a dinosaur, but it's actually the Spanish word for sandwich. While on a recent trip to the Catalan capital I naturally spent most of my time trying to find the best places to chow down on some Spanish sarnies. And so I present to you here the three best examples of stuff-in-bread Spanish style.

Let's start with Bar Fidel, a great little bar/café found at the heart of the trendy student area of Raval on Carrer de Ferlandina, just off Carrer de Joaquin Costa. Like most good cafés in Barcelona, this was a very understated, relaxed little place; just a few tables, a few chairs and a couple of people chilling behind the bar taking orders. The menu on the other hand was a much less relaxed affair, hosting more than 60 different sandwiches, these guys mean business. Sounds like a dream come true. But wait, no, it was all in Spanish! 60 Sandwiches, the delights of which I could only imagine. It had become a most haunting nightmare- all these sandwiches locked away from me by the cruel mistress of language. I fruitlessly span my gaze across the menu, left to right, right to left. But then, like a beam of light from the heavens, I spotted the beautiful, glorious word I knew deep down I was looking for, the word no language can keep from me, the word, the holy grail....'Chorizo'. The fact that moments later the kind waitress behind the bar leant over and handed out a copy of their English menu is neither here nor there. My choice had been made. Chorizo. With Camembert.

Chorizo and Camembert - Bar Fidel

It came served in a delicious crusty baguette and was amazing. The rich, sweet, salty thick sliced chorizo perfectly accompanied the creamy smooth Camembert. There is one other ingredient which I will reveal at the end, it is the secret to all the sandwiches I sampled, and which I can say without fear of contradiction has changed my life forever.

Next I shall move onto Bracafé, a Brazillian/Spanish chain of cafés, as far as I can see only found in Barcelona. It was in fact a misjudgement that caused me to visit the Ronda de San Antoni Bracafé establishment. I had intended to investigate the adjacent San Antoni market, but to my dismay it was closed on the day of my visit. Hunger took the better of me and so I was drawn to the nearest scran spot, which happened to be Bracafé. It would be an understatement to say that the menu wasn't quite as inspiring as Bar Fidel, and perhaps being given the English menu right away took some of the magic from the precedings. But nonetheless, I decided to go for a classic Spanish sandwich I had eaten many times during my first visit to Barcelona, the Tortilla de Patata; Spanish potato omelette.

Tortilla de Patata - Bracafé

To my surprise - because to be honest I didn't have the highest of hopes - it was pretty dam good. Served in a lovely crusty, floury baguette, the omelette was well cooked, nice and moist, with plenty of potato and of course the secret ingredient, which the keen eyed amongst you might be able to spot it in this photo.

And now, last but not least Café Vienna. Now this little venture was most definitely a premeditated outing. While googling away for the best sandwiches in Barcelona in preparation for the trip (as you do) I stumbled across an article in the New York Times by their food critic Mark Bitten. In the article he describes his visit and makes the not so insignificant claim that Café Vienna serve the world's best sandwich. What makes this claim so intriguing is the fact that this is not some grand Spanish deli or a tiny hidden away little café; Café Vienna is essentially a fast food chain. And so naturally I decided this had to be investigated!

The sandwich in question is a baguette filled with Iberico ham or in spanish Flauta de Pernil Iberic. Iberico ham is a Spanish salt cured ham. But it's not just any cured ham, this stuff is considered the best of the best. It costs around £60 per pound and is produced exclusively from black Iberian pigs fed on a diet of acorns.

Upon entering Café Vienna, it becomes very clear that they are aware of Mark Bitten's review. By this I mean they should probably rename the place to Café Mark Bitten. The walls are plastered with posters of the sandwich with a NY Times seal of approval and the review itself is actually printed in every menu. At this point I began to wonder if Mark had been paid a few Euros for the review, but nevertheless I went ahead and ordered the infamous sandwich with a large glass of beer (you know, the ones only English tourists buy).

Flauta de Pernil Iberic - Café Vienna       

I sat down at a plastic table with my tray of food and unwrapped my sandwich from its waxy paper surround. First impressions were good, it looked great, nice deep brown baguette and the famous dark slightly glossy ham poking out the edges. I'm going to cut to the chase. It was amazing, the baguette wasn't crusty, it was crunchy, crispy even, and the Iberico ham was insane. Forget proscuitto, this is the shit. It has a deep, rich, sweet and slightly nutty flavour which is apparently thanks to all the acorns. There is a third essential ingredient to this sandwich, the secret ingredient I have kept from you that has featured in all these sandwiches. And that ingredient is......wait for it......tomato. That's right the humble tomato. But not sliced and chucked in as an after thought. The secret to all of these sandwiches is that the baguette is rubbed with tomato so that all the pips and juices get soaked up into the bread keeping it incredibly moist and delicious. This technique was used to optimum effect with the Flauta de Pernil Iberic; the tomato ensured the super crunchy baguette didn't dry out the sandwich and the subtle flavour of the tomato let the incredible ham shine centre stage without distraction. But is it the world's best sandwich? I don't think so, I've had better in Amsterdam (see some of my earliest posts). But don't get me wrong this is a blummin' good sandwich and deserves some applause.

So there you have it, tomato is the key to Barcelona's bad-boy bocadillos. Try it for yourself instead of  mayo or butter, it's better for your figure and downright delish.

Adiós

Gaby's Deli, Charring Cross Rd, London. Falafel fest

Gaby's Deli is found adjacent to the horrid, culture-void, baudrillardian tourist hell-hole that is London's Leicester Square. It is the shimming needle in the face-less chain infested haystack, the dazzling diamond in the bland tasteless tacky rough, and so on. Gaby's has been around for almost 50 years, serving some of the best falafel and salt beef to be found anywhere in London. In fact the owner, Baghdad born Gaby Elyahou claims to have been the first to serve falafel in the UK, making him in my book, one of the best people to have ever lived, ever.

The first thing you notice when approaching Gaby's is the window. Like Sirens pressed up against the glass, an array of delactable deep fried, crispy little treats draw you in. Some recognisable and some a little more alien. But we weren't there for the window treats, we were there for the main event, we were there for the falafel.

Unsurprisingly it did not disappoint. Like most human people I've enjoyed my fair share of delicious deep fried chickpea balls wrapped in a flat bread or stuffed in a pitta. But this wasn't delicious, no no, this kind of enjoyment deserves a new word, or at least a combo word to express the taste sensation that is Gaby's falafel. This falafel was super-amazing-incredelicious.

I'm not going to go into the intricacies of the arrangement, we all know what goes into a falafel, all I'll say is this. If you have any respect for your taste buds you will eat this falafel, you will do anything to get your filthy little mitts on this golden, crunchy, buttery amazing falafel. Do it. Do it now.


N.B. I had the falafel in a pitta with all the trimmings, I picked this photo to show off the how amazing the falafel themselves are. The pitta, hummus, salad and sauces were all great and for £4 it's an absolute steal. Go!

(Photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/bellaphon/6847892873/)

The Breakfast Club, Soho. My kind of club

The Breakfast Club is a great little chain of 4 cafes dotted around central London. I visited their Soho establishment, found at 33 D’Arblay Street, nestled amongst Soho's numerous other trendy eateries, bars and boutiques. The decor subscribes to the vintage cafe feel; unmatching wooden tables and chairs, old fashioned posters, rusted signs, and a dusting of retro bits and bobs. Once a quirky surprise, the retro look is now the standard in ‘cool’ cafes in the capital and nationwide. However The Breakfast Club pulls it off well, creating a great, cosy little cafe.
The menu is instantly engaging, offering numerous mouth-watering treats, from American style pancakes with maple syrup and bacon (which I have had and which are disgracefully sweet, salty and delicious) to pie and mash and almost everything in between. However, as you may have gathered this ain't no pancake or pie blog, this is a sandwich blog! So after a cursory scan, I focused my attention on the section entitled 'Hot sandwiches & wraps'. Well, what can i say, it is quite a star studded affair, featuring the likes of the steak sandwich, the pastrami sandwich, the fish finger sandwich, and even the 'When Haloumi Met Salad Wrap'. But I went for the ‘Breakfast Club Club Sandwich', a truly classic number rammed full of chicken, bacon, cheese and a little salad.
Now, I've had good club sandwiches before, but this wasn't a good club sandwich....this was an incredible club sandwich! The sandwich arrived cut into four big wedges, on toasted brown bread. Huge great chunks of beautiful moist chicken breast, thick, salty bacon and crisp lettuce were held together by rich creamy melted cheddar. The crunchy toasted bread was the perfect thickness, not so thin that the sandwich fell apart and not so thick that it dried it out, teaming up with the filling to create a truly delectable texture and utterly satisfying bite. If the sandwich gets a bit too much for you the side of beautiful creamy coleslaw and fresh salad, which come with the sandwich, provide a refreshing interlude to the occasion.
Accompanied by one of their amazing milkshakes (I would highly recommend the banana) this is a lunch hard beaten for less than a tenner. A true gut buster. If you like a lot of sandwich in your club, eat this club (sung to the tune of the 90's Club chocolate bar advert)!

Frankie Vaughans, Brighton. Brielicious

Frankie Vaughan's is a great little deli/coffee shop combo found on Edward St in Brighton, virtually opposite the Royal Pavilion. Depending on how fussy you are you can either go into the coffee shop and pick up one of their prepared sandwiches, or if you're a bit fussier and like to see your sandwich being made, like me, then you can just pop next door to the deli. Upon entering you are welcomed by a huge cabinet full of ingredients, and numerous chalk boards with various tantalising specials and suggestions. Truly overwhelming, but in the best possible sense.
After a long, long deliberation I opted for one of their specials, a brie and pastrami ciabatta with sweet onion pickle. There's a lot going on in this sandwich, lots of big flavours coming from the pastrami, the brie and the sweet pickle, but despite my fears it's actually a combination that worked well together. The brie was fairly mild and so didn't overpower the pastrami, the creamy cheese complemented the salty spicy beef, and the pickle brought a welcome sweetness in the background. The crunchy salad added a freshness and the lovely soft floured ciabatta tied the whole sandwich together perfectly.

Oklahoma, Northern Quarter, Manchester. Indie sarnies

Oklahoma is hidden away in the back streets of Manchester's creative, cultural, artsy Northern Quarter. It's a super indie cafe, come querky gift shop, come foreign film rental. Full of vintage, kitsch charm the cafe is full of mismatched retro furniture and old fashioned plates and cups. Oklahoma serves a nice selection sandwiches, jacket potatoes, cakes and teas, perfect for a lunch or late afternoon snack. The food is mostly vegetarian apart from the odd slice of salami here and there. I went for the Mozzarella, red pepper and rocket toasted sandwich. The crunchy toasted bread perfectly contrasted the lovely smooth, melted mozzarella, while the sweet peppers, still with a nice bit of crunch, worked beautifully with the salty cheese and peppery rocket. Very nice indeed!

BagelMan, The Lanes, Brighton. You can keep your bagels, sir!

BagelMan is situated on Bond Street, one of the streets that makes up Brighton's fantastic, uber trendy 'lanes'. After a morning perusing the record shops and vintage stores (or not), BagelMan makes a great lunch spot. But as you may have gathered, I was not there for a bagel. I had heard that word on the street (or should that be lane) is that Bagelman makes a mean falafel - so naturally this had to be investigated. The street did not lie, this was a falafel and a half. Lovingly crafted, the falafel balls were carefully arranged with the tomato and cucumber inside a soft, slightly toasted pitta, and covered with just the right amount of chilli sauce and tahini. The careful arrangement ensured every bite was a treat; the perfectly cooked falafel (crispy on the outside, nice and soft in the middle) made spicy by the chilli sauce, was deliciously cooled down by the fresh tomato, cucumber and the cool savoury tang of the tahini. And for around £3 it's also a bargain. So Mr Bagelman can keep his bagels, the falafel is king!

Husk, Melbourne, Australia. A Rather Fancy Affair

For those of you who aren’t in the know (or more so for those of you who don’t hail from Melbourne, Australia) Husk is a rather trendy/overpriced clothing and homewares store favoured by affluent thirty-something ladies who lunch. Now, while it may not be such an obvious choice for those of us with rather less disposable incomes, there is indeed a saving grace. That being the “Famous” Husk Chicken Sandwich, from the stores self-titled cafe. Although this fame may be self-anointed, it is deservedly so, for this is one delicious sandwich. Finely poached chicken, seasoned liberally with cracked black pepper and the most gourmet of sea salts, sits atop delectable multi-grain bread with lashings of avocado, rocket and finally, a scintillating squeeze of lemon juice. A rather simple affair it may be, but that is where its beauty lies. And beauty is indeed in the details. The bread is firm and crusty, the chicken seasoned to perfection, the rocket crisp and fresh with the lemon juice adding a welcomed zing to the whole affair. However, the perfection of this sandwich lies in the generous application of avo. Nothing is worse, in my eyes, then a sandwhich-hand who is stingy with their avo and thankfully the lovely café staff at Husk are anything but. So while it may be completely overpriced at $9.50 (around £ 6 apparently), go ahead and treat yourself, sit back and relax amongst Husk’s luxe Moroccan inspired décor. After all, that chicken sandwich is “famous” for a reason.

By Foreign Correspondent Sophie Lamell