Back to Barcelona & fast food overdose!

 Last weekend me and Matteo went for three days to Barcelona to a friend's wedding. I was excited to go back, have only been in Barcelona once, in 2009. And it was probably my last travel until the baby is born (and also after for a while). We had a great time! Weather was amazing (so warm!) and we saved the Friday to walk around and eat (of course).


We didn't go to many different places. I have to admit we got addicted to vegan fast food place Gopal. In 2009 we didn't go there because the reviews on Happy Cow weren't good (huge mistake!) but for the last two years I've heard just good things about the place so when we arrived there on Thursday night we asked my friend to take us there. OMG! The burgers there are just perfect. I could say as good as the ones from Yoyo in Berlin. Gopal has a huge menu of burgers (19 options I think!) and they also sell cakes from Lujuria Vegana - and I was dying to try some of them cause a Brazilian friend of mine is working there and I've seen some pictures that looked like heaven in the format of sweets. We asked for burgers and french fries and there was no more room (even in my giant belly!) for the cake. Of course we asked to take away and it was our Saturday breakfast. We got the Excelcior cake (hazelnut praliné-chocolate textures) and it was the best cake I've ever tasted in my life.

Ice cream from Gelaaati! and food from Juicy Jones

On Friday we didn't come back to Gopal and decided to go to Juicy Jones, one of the restaurants we've been in 2009 that we really liked it. Everything there is vegan too. We got the daily menu (starter, main dish, dessert and water or wine for €8,50) and the food was amazing again. Their entire menu is vegan and we also asked for a Guacamole Tapas (I was craving avocado for weeks). We definitely had more food than we should but it was worth it (and in our defense I'll say we walked a lot before an after)! I got hummus as starter, cheesy pizza and salad as main course and pineapple and orange mousse. Matteo got gaspacho, a huge Indian plate with rice and three different sauces and a apple cake. Everything besides the desserts was perfect (they weren't bad but not amazing too if you get me!). At night we went to a pizzeria for a lovely pre-wedding dinner and met great people!


For our Saturday lunch, after a quick stop at Gelaaati! for a rice ice cream, we decided to go back to Gopal to try some different burgers. With so many options we had to go back you know?! Too good again. And one more cake to take away, this time the Supreme one (raspberry, pistachio and bourbon vanilla). The vanilla butter cream had a strong buttery flavour but the cake was delicious. Do you think we already had too much of Gopal at this point? Well, they were also responsible for the wedding catering! Too bad I couldn't take pictures but the menu was just perfect.

Burgers and cakes at Gopal

To finish up our trip in great style, after we checked out from the hotel on Sunday we decided to have our last meal in Barcelona before going to the airport and... yes, you got me, we went to Gopal again. But I just got a piece of the Excelcior cake and some bites of Matteo's burger (have to admit we had left overs from the party and I ate most of them as my breakfast).

If you're not afraid of addictions, go to Gopal if you're in Barcelona! Great staff, food, atmosphere, prices and desserts from Lujuria Vegana!


PS. Forgot to mention that Gopal also offers meal options at lunch time if you don't fancy having just burgers all the time!

Vegan MoFo III - Day 5 - All about... Barcelona

Today I'm not blogging about my favorite food but about another passion: traveling!

Finally I have time to write about the vegan places I went to during my four days in Barcelona! My Brazilian friend Lubia lived there for an year and gave me some great tips (gracias!). I couldn't check them all, but I went to good places with Matteo and family.

So, here there are the places:

*Juicy Jones: we took some time to find the place (not the street) because it's a small door with the name in graffiti letters that we didn't understand at first what was about. It is famous because of its juices but we went there for lunch. Everything was vegan! When you arrive you can't imagine how cool it is inside with all the colors. It's really a great place. The staff is very nice and the food is amazing! We had the “plate of the day” that was seitan with mushrooms and tomato sauce, salad and baked potatoes. My sister in law asked another option that was rice with a vegetable skewer and a very good sauce (with nuts). I also had a strawberries with orange delicious smoothie. And, of course, we had TAPAS!!! We couldn't go to Spain without trying this typical dish! We chose the black olives one and it is great. It's a kind of pate that you eat with fresh bread.

Address: C/Cardenal Casañas 7, Ciutat Vella

* Gelaati!: if you heard that Italy makes the best ice cream ever, you did hear right! Doesn't matter where you go, if you find an Italian shop, you'll be happy. And a lot of them have vegan ice cream. In Barcelona, we went to this one, Gelaati, that is in the Barrio Gothic (in the Old Town) and have soy and rice options. We got both rice options they had that day: strawberry and chocolate. So, so good!

Address: Llibreteria 7, Ciutat Vella

* Vegetalia: this is a place that we found at HappyCow (because we had another tip but all the reviews said that the place wasn't good, so we decided to try another one). And I'm glad we went there. It was a little bit hard to find it and I had my feet with big blisters after tree days of walking but it was 100% worth it. I loved it. The restaurant, the staff, the food. The menu is vegetarian but they have a lot of vegan options. I asked for a vegan paella (another typical dish that we had to try!) and Matteo ordered a “capricho” (it's a dish that is the specialty of the restaurant), that is rice, seitan, eggplant and a delicious white sauce (that tastes like a tahini). My mother in law got the veggie burger of the day (vegetarian) and my sister in law had sweet potato with brie.

The famous (vegan) paella

The amazing "Capricho"

Address: Escudellers 54.

And during the nights, we had the luck of finding an Arabic restaurant close to our hotel (that wasn't in the central area that has most of the vegetarian/vegan places). I can't believe that I don't remember the name now, but I will add it here when I find the name and address because this place saved us every single night with its delicious hummus, falafel and spinach snacks.


Hope the tips can help you in Barcelona! And if you have any other great vegan places in the city, please share it with us!

You can also check some tips about Berlin, Prague and Paris.

Back from Barcelona!

I'm back after five days in Barcelona and it was amazing! First time in the city and I loved it. We (me and Matteo met his mother and sister there) had a great time and saw a lot of places. The city is lovely and we went to some great places to eat too (yes, you'll read about it here this week).

VeganMoFo starts tomorrow and I'm really excited about it! We're moving to a bigger apartment on Saturday and I have some other news to share with you soon too. That's a great begin for this Autumn.