One of the famous landmarks in Barcelona is the La Boqueria Market. Just like how you can't consider to have been to Barcelona without seeing Sagrada Familia, you're also can't say that you've been to Barcelona without visiting this popular market! Here, you'll get an assortment of foods, fruits, and groceries. What's better than sampling all the delicious dishes to understand more about a city?
How to get to La Boqueria Market?
La Boqueria market is located at the famous La Rambla street and you can get there by walking for about 8 minutes from Placa de Catalunya, or 5 minutes from the Columbus Statue.The nearest metro is Liceu on the green line.
We stayed at Chic and Basic Lemon near Plaza Catalunya and took a short 14-minute walk here! Yipee!
Get the Hola Barcelona Card (available in 48, 72, 96, or 120 hours) for unlimited travel on all public transportation in Barcelona. We always like getting these transport cards as it can be quite a chore to always fumble for coins whenever getting onto a bus, or to queue up to purchase a single-way ticket for the metro.
La Boqueria Market Hacks
While it is a touristy market, there are some #travelhacks you can take note of to get more bang for your buck (euros). First, stalls near the entrance are generally more expensive. Should you want to get better deals, go deeper into the market. There are quite a number of similar stalls in La Boqueria.
Also, Sangria are for tourists, the locals prefer drinking Tinto de Verano. This was my favourite drink that I recently discovered in Spain. After seeing locals drinking a red drink over and over again in many restaurants, I asked for it in the restaurant and never looked back. Even when I'm back in Singapore, I try to recreate it whenever I'm having a nice meal at home!
Tinto de Verano is a wine-based drink that's basically one part red wine and one part carbonated drink (bitter lemon usually). It is much more refreshing and simpler than sangria. You can also serve it with a piece of lemon.
Next, there are many stalls selling fruit juices, if you see that the juices look separated, it probably means that it has already been standing out for quite a while. Also, don't get scammed by the prices. It usually costs 1.50 euros or 2 for 2 euros. Again, go deeper into the market for better prices.
When is the best time to head to La Boqueria Market?
If you wish to avoid the many tourists, go early, right when the market opens. But really, part of the fun is the hustle and bustle of the market. So around 10am is a better time. And should you want the best deals, head to the market about an hour before closing time.
The operating hours of La Boqueria Market are as follows:
Daily, 8am to 8pm (except Sundays and holidays)
What to eat in La Boqueria?
Besides the colourful fruit juices and smoothies, try out some of the tapas bars in La Boqueria too! The big three includes Bar Pinotxo, Kiosk Universal, and El Quim. We didn't have stomachs to fit in all three and there's still so much more to eat in Barcelona so we decided to try Bar Pinotxo.
Bar Pinotxo in La Boqueria Market
The most popular and fuss-free one is Bar Pinotxo, located right at the front of the La Rambla entrance. It is always crowded and you can take your time at the bar, enjoying how the staff prepare your coffee and the various foods. We were so fortunate to be seated immediately once we entered the market. There were two seats in the corner just in front of the star, Juanito Bayern.
Since we were there close to lunch time, the Spanish tortilla has been sold-out! So sad, but Juanito Bayern recommended the huge chickpeas.
We haven't seen such large ones before and when we took bites into these little peas, it was a burst of flavours. We really enjoyed all the spices that went into these chickpeas. Although many google reviewers said that it was a let-down, this was actually quite good in our opinion!
We didn't know what else to order and saw many of the other customers having this plate of tomato-ey tripe. We decided that we have to try it and it was outstanding. The tripe was soft, yet with a little bit of bounciness. The meat was very tender and the sauce extremely tasty. It went really well with bread that Juanito Bayern served us. He even gave us extra portion after seeing that we've wiped ours clean!
We also got the beef skewer and it was so good that we ordered another portion after we've wiped it clean.
Alongside these foods, we also got two cafe con leche. The meal was nowhere near cheap (about 40 euros) but we went away with satisfied bellies!
Mercat de la Boqueria, 466-470 Barcelona · Catalunya
Opening Hours: 6.30am - 4.00pm
Have you tried the other two restaurants? How were they? Share them with us in the comments below!
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