Barcelona Eats: Japan Fever
In my weekend in Barcelona, I got the sense that all things Japanese are really hot now in Barcelona. As I wrote in my last post, there's even a Japanese-style Chinese restaurant in Barcelona, something I've never seen outside of Japan. Around the corner from my Airbnb was a place specializing in okonomiyaki and yakisoba, and a few minutes away was an udon place where they make the udon noodles in house.
Fan Shoronpo, that Japanese-style Chinese restaurant, was one of my highlights in Barcelona actually. Situated at the southern edge of the Gràcia district, I came across it just walking down the street from my Airbnb. Not (yet) hyped up, it was easy to just walk in at a normal lunch hour (2pm) and get a table. The servers are all Japanese and some don't seem to speak any Spanish at all.
Absolutely excellent was the Banban Ji, or chicken with sesame sauce. The chicken was so moist and tender, and the sesame sauce was nice and nutty with just a bit of spice. I liked that there was a bowl of spicy oil on the table!
The shoronpo, or xiaolongbao in Chinese, was okay. Not the best I've had - the dough was a bit thick and stiff -, but there was a good amount of juice inside.
The Plaça de la Vila de Gràcia is the center of the Gràcia neighborhood, about 15 minutes walk away. There I came upon a spot for kakigori, or Japanese shaved ice. In fact, the place was called Kakigori! There were dozens of flavors available, and I chose lemon ginger which was quite nice.
The ice was piled up high, with syrup added in an intermediate level before more ice and syrup being put on top. This was a pretty good deal at 2.50 €.
I wrote in my previous post about gyoza that there is also very hyped place called Ramen-ya Hiro, also in the Gràcia neighborhood.
Here was the line at 8:20pm, 10 minutes before opening and very early for Spaniards to eat dinner!
Apparently they do make their ramen noodles in house, and they were indeed quite good. The choices are shoyu ramen, miso ramen, and a seafood broth ramen. I always shy away from ordering miso ramen because I'm afraid the miso flavor will overpower the meaty flavor of the broth, so I ordered shoyu ramen. Unfortunately, the soy sauce became the dominant flavor of the broth.
A tip, they don't say it on the menu, but the "basic" ramen already comes with nori, fish cake, and a slice of chashu. On the side there is a list of toppings, but only order chashu if you want additional slices. Egg and bamboo shoots do not come with the standard ramen.
As if to underscore the hotness of Japan, at the Center for Contemporary Culture, Barcelona where there were some cool exhibits on the future of humans and technology, urbanism, and Mexican wrestling masks, there was also a festival for anime fans!
With some dressed up as princesses and sailors!
