On our last day in Barcelona, having had quite a lot of proper restaurant lunches, we decide to mix it up. The day before, we had time to kill and had a browse of the Mercat De La Boqueria, just off the bottom of La Ramblas, and thought something of a picnic would be in order.
We take a more detailed browse today, scoping out the options before we each part ways to gather our individual lunches before meeting back again. It’s fascinating to see the recurrent themes across the market - so many fruit juice stands, so many cones of meat and cheese, so many strawberries on sticks.
I go for a nice variety of things - admittedly, the first thing to catch my eye are some macarons, but beyond that, some fruit juice, some mango, some croquetas, and some Jamon Iberica.
It’s a game of two halves - the croquetas are a tad underwhelming, and whilst the salami is nice, there is simply too much of it.
The rest, though, (arguably everything but the main course) is pretty much perfect. The pineapple and coconut juice is divine, the macarons (one coffee, one lemon, one chocolate) are a delight each, stongly flavoured, well textured, the feeling of an actual cookie. But the mango. My god the mango. You’ve never eaten anything like it, boy. Never had mango fresher, juicier, fleshier. I regret not getting more.