Pintxo/Pincho me!
The Poble Sec neighborhood of Barcelona is a vibrant, not as touristy area of the city, close to everything, but leafy and feels more local. Apparently Basques moved into the area and brought with them pintxos: small bits of tasty creations on a small piece of baguette. I had them in San Sebastian a few years ago and wondered why they hadn’t spread. Last year in Madrid I came across them but it did not seem to be a big thing. But in Poble Sec they are the center of a burgeoning pinchos scene. There were many bars serving many different kinds of pinchos. They are cheap, delicious, diverse, and can be had with good but inexpensive wine, or whatever else you desire. The waiters figure the price based on how many toothpicks you used. Toothpicks are what hold the pinchos together. Being in Barcelona the pinchos used many Catalan ingredients. My cousin and I tried many pinchos from every place on the strip I believe. Pincho J seems to be the most popular. It was a small cozy bar, like you could find in Brooklyn, but had a wide assortment of tasty pinchos. This bar actually was the most ambitious, as we saw entire ribs and small chicken legs on bread! It was truly amazing what they put on bread! The variety is endless. However, down the block was my favorite bar, Vi Beers. It was also quite homey and the pinchos were more varied, even more creative, and tastier. They featured many different types of seafood salads, cured meats, vegetables, mixes of all three. It really is impressive how much food a small piece of baguette can support! We had a whole pile of toothpicks there, but it didn’t hurt our wallets! Basically, when you are in Barcelona, are not sure what to eat, want to try lots of different things, and not go broke doing it, take the Metro to Poble Sec and go on a pincho crawl! Salud!