Greek chef Stefanos Balis and Valencian chef Jordi Fenoll within the kitchen at Magarit in Poble Sec
Margarit, Greek Impressed, Poble Sec
I stand earlier than you wordless, or as near that state as I’m prone to get. Sure kitchens, resembling Lebanese, Turkish, or Greek, are greatest averted outdoors their nation of origin. The outcomes are sometimes watered down and meagre. I are not looking for a tablespoon of wilted tabouleh for instance so I bide my time till I can have the actual factor. Nonetheless, my ambivalence at making an attempt a Greek-inspired kitchen in Barcelona loosened as trusted sources tried and cherished Margarit.
I went with mates on a Saturday night time for a post-birthday celebration. The menu at Margarit units my eyebrow at an intrigued arch. The knee-jerk Taverna Greek dishes are notably absent, issues like tzatziki, horiatiki and calamari. Souvlaki is right here however created from sweetbreads. As is taramosalata.
Taramosalata with pickled mussels pictured centre. Sourdough bread basket high left. Margarit Poble Sec
Taramosalata is without doubt one of the beloved dishes of my childhood. I fortunately consumed huge portions of the pink stuff purchased from bucket-sized tubs on the Greek grocery store delicatessen. At Margarit the taramas (11.5€) it’s ivory white and creamy, with glistening pickled mussels within the centre. It’s so extraordinary we’re tempted to order a second one. And although we resist we do order a second basket of the home sourdough (6.5€).
Sweetbread souvlaki with do-it-yourself pita bread.
Let me inform you about this bread basket. And the way a carb-conscious desk who doesn’t usually “eat bread” tears by the bouncy aerated dough, slathered in olive oil and sprinkled generously with oregano. The oil makes its approach down my forearm, collects at my elbow and stains my trousers. I don’t discover till later as a result of the expertise of gobbling down this bread, glancing hungrily round for some sauce or puddle to tug it by completely subsumes me.
There are temptations a lot and penning this now, absolutely alternatives missed. We attempt the grilled bisbe with apple compote (13€). The sweetbread souvlaki (14€) comes on an ethereally mild pita bread with a tremendously scrumptious glob of tzatziki beneath it – if solely Margarit would serve tzatziki as a stand-alone appetizer!
Palestinian lamb at Margarit restaurant in Poble Sec, Barcelona.
We have now the Palestinian lamb with yoghurt and herbs (19€), tender and falling off the bone. As my paternal grandmother would have ready it. Off the menu, we order swordfish and trahanas (19€). Trahana is a fermented grain yoghurt combination, it’s a consolation meals my mom usually makes herself for lunch. At Margarit it’s served in a unfastened tomato passata and our desk roots round for extra of the sourdough to salvage the final bit.
Portokalopita or orange cake at Margarit
Given the hour, we order one Portokalopita (7.50€) orange cake to share between the three of us. It comes chilled from the fridge, laden with candy syrup and a scoop of gelato on high. At room temperature, it could have tipped into overly candy however simply chilled it’s merely lovely.
Because the night progresses the din of the restaurant intensifies. The smells from the open kitchen settle into our clothes. Our servers are a neighborhood man and a younger Armenian girl. Each are attentive and convey our invoice with a smile and three tiny glasses of candy native wine.
I spend two weeks in Athens each summer time and there’s a renaissance of all kinds however significantly of eating places which were going from power to power within the final three years. This Barcelona Greek-inspired outpost is definitely holding its personal in opposition to among the greatest in Athens. I learn later in Cristina Jolonch‘s article in La Vanugardia that Margarit is a collaboration between Greek chef Stefanos Balis and Valencian chef Jordi Fenoll. Although with my nostalgia-tinted glasses on I don’t discover.
The invoice for 3 folks at Margarit.
Margarit
C/ De Margarit 58
Poble Sec 08004
Instagram.com/margarit.bcn
