Glorious dinner@Botafumeiro, Barcelona

This seafood restaurant was highly recommended by locals, as well as my European affiliate colleagues, who frequently have business trips in Barcelona. I had been warned that it would cost about 30-40 Euros / pax.

When we walked in, we were greeted by countless numbers of picture frames hung on the walls. If you look closely, you will notice that the photos showed all kinds of famous celebrities who visited Botafumeiro. Some examples that we saw were Shakira, Eva Longoria, Enrique, Nadal! photos, taken with the chef but I could tell that his was most proud of his picture taken with the ex- American president, Bill Clinton. The photo and its frame was the largest among all the hung pictures.

Squid ink seafood paella. I didn't get to try this dish, but those who did said it had a lot of 'wok hei' in it. Hmmm.....

We initially ordered the escargos, thinking they would come cooked with butter and garlic. Instead, they came on a pile of ice, along with the oysters. I ain't a fan of shells, but the rest who ate all gave a big thumbs up for its freshness.

This was my dish, grilled monkfish. Freshness was 10/10. Flavour was so so. Not sure what a monkfish looks like but the meat was pretty supple and tender, thinly layered of chargrill coating its sufrace.

Each table had a dedicated waiter serving, and ours did a fantastic job. Although I must say, his way of serving the crab was rather peculiar. My doctor ordered a crab dish, and at first it came on a plate, the entire crustacean, red and cold. My eyes widened thinking how to eat it.

The waiter was laughing at our reaction and later explained that he brought out the crab  to show its customer first, proving a good quality crab would be served. He even mentioned that the crab's name was Motolo. Now that made eating it a "whole lot easier"knowing its name. Minutes later, the crab was nicely dissected like an experimental lab rat, served as a cold dish.

WIERDDDDDDDD......

This was a scoop of vanilla ice cream, with raspberries and soaked with bourbon. This... would get you high just as quick as tequila shots. One scoopful of it, got the alcohol shot right up to my brain. I could feel my cheeks immediately flushing from the heat.

Definitely one dessert you woud like to eat, knowing that you're gonna have some sassytime later through the night! *winks* If you know what I mean.. haha.

This white wine was.. spectacular. Peachy, light, with a hint of grass. Perfect for seafood dishes. Deep down, I wanted to quietly have another bottle on my own. Damn..

Such nice hospitality! Since we had a big group and clearly, we gave them a pretty good profit, they gave us some local desserts .. for freeeeeeeee! The chocolate truffles were damn good, but the best was the almond flakes. Kinda reminded me of chinese new year cookies, I don't know why.

The famous Sagrada Familia church, designed by Gaudi. Gothic looking, with pastel colours on the tips of the church. It is still not fully constructed and the cost of building it fully depends on the entrance fees of visitors. However, the cost of going into the church is just too expensive in my opinion. The entrace fees was 15/20 Euros. Even more expensive than the Vatican!