Casa Jacinto, Barcelona

I know its been quite a while since I've last posted..I've just been to busy lately and have had no time. Well now I'm back with a vengeance and hopefully will be able to start posting soon. I came for a 3 week trip to Europe, so I'll be posting some of the restaurants I tried while I was there.

Casa Jacinto is a classic seafood restaurant in Barcelona, located very near my house. Its been existing for years and I've eaten there a number of times..so here goes:

For starters, we decided on a simple plate of fresh Calamares a la Romana (this may sound boring but believe mew they were so fat, juicy and tasty that I dont regret ordering them. The other appetizer dish we had was Habitas con Jamon y Salsa Romescu (small beans, ham and ROmescu sauce). This was delicious and one of my favorite dishes...love the beans slightly sauteed, mixed with the Jamon Serrano (fat included) and Romescu sauce (Romescu is atypical Catalan sauce made with almonds, Pine Nuts, Garlic, Olive Oil and a sweet small red Pepper).

All of this washed down with some fresh Albarino de Fefinanes, which I have tried several times in the past. This goes very well with all seafood and also with the main dishes we had. Very fruity, it has all the great qualities an Albarino should have.

For main, I had Bacalao a la Llauna, a typical way preparing Bacalao on Catalunya (poached in olive oil with paprika and Peppers). This was delicious, really fresh Bacalao. It was not as salty but still perfectly prepared. We also had Bacalao al Pil-Pil, which is typical Basque way of preparing Bacalao (also poached in lots of olive oil and thing cuts of Garlic in a clay pot and shaken until it emulsifies. again another fantastic dish, using really fresh fish.

We ended the lunch with coffee and a shot of Pacharan...lovely lunch. a very recommendable place if you like fresh seafood and good service.