El Quim de La Boqueria

I was extremely excited to go back to Mercat La Boqueria after my first visit to Barcelona about 5 years ago. I was backpacking through Europe with 4 other friends and we were on a poor-college-kid budget so we frequented La Boqueria a lot for groceries. This time, I went back specifically to try out a tapas bar that was recommended by Sarah.

El Quim is basically a 10×10 bar smack in the middle of the market completely packed with diners on every side of the counter. There’s a frenzy of cooking activity in the kitchen and they can amazingly still fit 4 chefs inside.

We took our places behind a couple who were obviously enjoying their lunch, albeit very slowly. After waiting for about 30 minutes, we managed to secure 2 spots for 5 people. We made a makeshift table out of 2 other stools and dove right in to ordering the food. Notable dishes: Deep fried artichokes, salted cod (bacalao), the leg of lamb (with its meat falling off the bone) and spiced shrimp. I cannot begin to describe how amazing the food was so I’ll let the pictures tell you.