4star

Today I tried a restaurant which has been on my list for a while. Firstly because it is just one block away from my flat and second because it seems to be one of the few authentic Japanese restaurants in Barcelona. Can Kenji is located in an ugly tower block near Passeig de Sant Joan in the Eixample district. If you don’t know it is there it will be difficult to find. The restaurant itself is pretty small with just a handful of tables and a bar at the tiny kitchen. I took a seat at the bar with good view on the magic happening in the kitchen. I choose the medium tasting menu, which consisted of: a vegetable salad with soy sauce and razor clams, stir fried noodles with clams and mussels, a seared beef fillet, a selection of sushi and finally a ball of sesame ice cream. All together with a water for €17.40. This was the best lunch menu I had in my time in Barcelona. Every dish was fresh and I was able to watch while it was prepared. The sushi was the best bit, finally a nigiri with rice which didn’t taste three days old and fish which melts in your mouth. The stir fired noodles were also amazing. If I had to nitpick I would say the beef was a bit stringy and the ice too frozen, but I would take it again any time. You find the restaurant at C/Rossello 325, 08025 Barcelona and on-line at: www.cankenji.com .

Onion Bhaji Last week I finally checked out Bembi. It is supposed to be one of the few good Indian restaurants in Barcelona. As with Chinese restaurants it seems to be very difficult to find a good one in the rather large selection of Indian restaurants. I went for the lunch menu, which probably doesn't represent the overall quality because it is rather cheap at about 14€. The restaurant itself is nicely decorated and non-smoking. For starters I had the a bit greasy Onion Bhaji, fried onion fritters with a sweet sauce. The mains was Chicken Assadh, a green curry style dish with a saffron flavoured rice. And for desert the Gulab Jamun, a very nice cinnamon flavoured ice with milk caramel. Overall the lunch was a good average experience and made me want to check out the taster menu, which is a bit more expensive but probably better quality. Bembi www.bembi-barcelona.com Consell de Cent 377 08009 Barcelona Chicken Assadh Gulab Jamun Menu del Dia