El menú del día, the nap-maker

Felipe told me that the Spanish use meals to control their sleeping patterns.  A light breakfast with coffee is supposed to make for a productive morning at work.  But by the time 2pm rolls around and your stomach is grumbling, ya es hora para almorzar (it's time to eat lunch).  For this, the Spanish created the menú del día, a popular pre-siesta lunch for businessmen and students alike that could never leave you hungry.

Lunch is definitely the most important - and heftiest - meal of the day here in Spain.  The menú is a fixed-price deal that many restaurants offer.  For about 8-12 € you get two courses, a drink - bottled water, soda, beer, or wine - and coffee or postre (dessert).  It's definitely a deal for a hearty lunch of well-prepared Spanish standards, like paella, gazpatxo, pa amb tomàquet (bread with tomato) and jamón ibérico (super-delicious Iberian ham).

Today we rode the bus back to our dorm with Mar, our highly-Catalonian Spanish conversation teacher.  I asked her - in Spanish, of course - if she could suggest a good restaurant near our dorm for a menú.  She told me about Cinc Torres, and 15 minutes later I found myself there.

The meal was heavy and carb-centric but still very tasty, nevertheless a perfect nap-inducing afternoon lunch!  Can't wait to try different menus around town as each restaurant does the menú their own way :)

GREASE: This place served up the whole menu on one large plate.  I had the choice of different pastas - I went with baked ragu - and then today's menú came with calamari rings and potatoes.  Definitely delicious but didn't knock my socks off, until of course I passed out for a 2 hour siesta, lol.

BOMB FLAN: This was super good and the caramelized sugar had a potent burnt flavor. Yum!