La Broqueta

Nos fuimos toda la family (pareja con dos niños), a comer un viernes por la Rambla de Poble Nou…, después de deambular acabamos aquí y la verdad es que mereció la pena.
El trato del camarero fue súper atento, bromeando con los niños y variando el menú del día para que fuera de su agrado (cobrando lo mismo), respecto a la comida espléndidos garbanzos con sepia, buenas carnes a la brasa y tarta casera para rematar.
A partir de ahora nuestro restaurante de referencia en esta rambla!

Hotel recommended for late night «light» food. It was just okay. Ambiance is nice and staff wants to please but he VIP mixed skewer meat was all dry. The tapas shrimp dish was good but not unusual. Overall if you are stuck for a place to go to, well then it isn’t too bad, but there are fabulous restaurants in Barcelona, so why waste your time?

Let me prefixes by stating that good food is good regardless how «it’s suppose to be». That being said, La Broqueta was horrible. Some of the food was overcooked, and some were undercooked. The price of the food is very overpriced. The wait staff was rude; they would not admit their food was bad, they kept saying, «it’s suppose to be like that. I had the paella, and no caramelized crust. I was very disappointed. I asked a waiter about it, and he said it was suppose to be like that. I maybe wrong, but I thought that was the signature part of that dish. I scooped a spoonful, and show him how runny it was. He kept insisting it was suppose to be like that. At any rate, the plate was bland, tasteless, and watery. Many better restaurants and at cheaper prices around that area. Grotesque

I just came back from La Broqueta. Our hotel concierge recommended it as a place for paella and I will speak to it specifically as a place for paella. DO NOT, under ANY circumstances, order the paella. There were 2 loops of calamari, 2 shrimp, two crawfish, two mussels, two clams. The rice was undercooked. The shellfish was overcooked and not properly cleaned. Thus, the mussels and clams were still gritty. This is not only bad cooking, it’s UNSAFE.
My husband could not eat his portion. I had to spit out the shrimp because they were so overcooked. There were no vegetables in the dish. The sauce was all wrong. There was no saffron whatsoever in the dish and it lacked a crispy bottom. There was no attempt to make it authentic in any way, shape or form. For 30++ Euro, it was on the cheaper side of paella for 2 (16×2=32), but it was absolutely, positively, and completely inedible. It was the worst food of the trip and one of the worst meals we have ever eaten. My husband will eat most anything and for him to not be able to eat that rice… it’s a one in thirteen year event.
We also ordered bread w/​tomatoes, for which we were charged twice because two people ate it. Our garden salad came with canned white asparagus and canned tuna on the top.
An inedible, overpriced, disgusting meal.

Restaurante de cocina tradicional catalana, buenas botifarras y carnes a la brasa.
Recomendables sus caracoles de la casa. Bién de precio.

La Broqueta translates to The Skewer so you know it’s a grilling spot It’s on La Rambla de Poblenou (aka, the other Rambla) and was recommended by our hotel when we asked for a traditional restaurant, not tapas, within walking distance.
We peeked in and it looked about ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ locals and touri and I heard the group ahead of us say they were also referred by their hotel. It has a cute rustic atmosphere and smelled strongly of grilled meats so we gave it a whirl.
First out was our first DIY pan con tomate (
). We stared dumbfounded at the whole tomatoes until the waiter gave us a quick lesson.
— Cut garlic & tomato in half
— Rub garlic on toast
— Rub tomato on toast
— Drizzle with olive oil & sprinkle with salt & pepper to taste
— Eat & repeat. Yum!
Next came gambas al ajillo or shrimp with garlic (
) a very simple and traditional dish. Less than half the places in Spain we ordered this de-​veined the shrimp. This was one of them. Bonus points!
I got the mixed grill (
). Short ribs, pork chop, grilled chicken, sausage, grilled pepper & tomato, and a grilled /​baked potato. This was a LOT of food. Mostly good except the chicken which was dry.
The g/​f got the pan roasted fish (
) which was nicely seasoned, moist, and flaky. Came with grilled asparagus and potatoes.
Very good service. Our waiter was pretty funny, but YMMV.

Impecable demostración de cocina catalana. Aunque tienen una oferta bastante diversa, lo más recomendable son los platos típicos de la tierra, como el bacallà amb samfaina, las carnes y verduras a la brasa con romesco, y la fideuà. El hecho de que complementen cada mesa con un plato de tomates y dientes de ajo para aderezar el pan ya es un detalle por el que merece la pena quedarse.
Y como pasa con casi todos los bares y restauantes de la Rambla, si hace buen tiempo no hay que dejar escapar un asiento en la terraza.
Además, tienen un menú de mediodía muy recomenable.
Aunque el local está abierto en un horario más amplio, la cocina sólo está abierta de 13h a 16h y de 20h a 24h, aproximadamente.