Origen 99,9%

This time we went to the ever-active Born district of Barcelona. This is one of the best spots in town to find nice places to eat, snack, drink or simply hang out. A friend had recomended us a restaurant that specializes on Catalan cuisine. In fact, the Origen 99,9% is a chain of restaurants present throughout Barcelona, that not only offer regional specialities, but also claim that all products used in their kitchen are local (at least 99,9% of them!).

We were presented with a vast menu, and ended up choosing the following for 4 persons:

Starters
Coca d’escalivada amb romesco
Coca de ceba i anxoves

Main Course
Calamars farcits
Ànec amb préssec
Vedella amb peres
Espinagada

Of course, like in any Catalan place, the meal started with the usual bread with tomato. The novelty was that we just got bread, whole tomatos, whole cloves of garlic, some olive oil, and knives. We had to do the spreading ourselves. Fun!
Then came the cocas. Coca is a special type of bread, somewhat similar to pizza, and the ones we ordered were nicely covered with caramelized onions (ceba) and anchovy fillets from l’Escala (anxoves); and grilled red peppers, onions and eggplant (escalivada) served with romesco sauce. Delicious.
Then we had Calamars farcits, squids stuffed with minced meat, mixed with hard-boiled egg, garlic and parsley. The squids were covered with a sauce made of chick peas and the squid's own ink. Apparently this is one of the most resounding
recipes in Catalunya. Continuing the meal, the Espinagada is a spinach pie served with fresh vegetables. Both other dishes were made with meat and fruits. Anéc amb préssec means duck with peaches and it looked just as tasty as it sounds. The duck is an animal highly valued in the Catalan gastronomy. There are many fruits that can combine with duck: pears, apples, plums, cherries or peaches, like in this case. Vedella amb peres is veal with pears. Again, the fruity taste mixed well with the meat. Of course all of these were drunk down with a delicous Sangria de Cava, a sangria made with Cava, the traditional Catalan version of Champagne. The ambience was completed with soft music, including at least one Portuguese fado, and of course great company. Origen is a great place for a meal that is both informal and exquisite.

Price: 18 euros/person
Address: Passeig del Born 4, 08003 Barcelona
Phone Number: +34 932956690


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