Its very easy to find somewhere to eat in central Barcelona, there are countless tapas bars, falafel outlets, international eateries and very posh looking restaurants, but having said that one night during our recent stay we wanted something a bit different. We asked our hotel reception staff to recommend somewhere romantic but Spanish to help us celebrate our honeymoon. They suggested Ānima.
Situated in the Raval district, which is on the lefthand side of La Rambla when you're facing Plaza Catalunya, Ānima is based a little bit away from the usual tourist beaten track. We found we usually tended to wander round the Gothic quarter for bars and restaurants so it was somewhere new for us to explore. Our hotel was based on c/ de pelai so we decided to go from there but there is an easier route detailed below.
Going from there meant it was bit further to walk to but gave us the advantage of exploring this entirely different district. With trusty guide book in hand we also found many bars and places of interest along the way which meant we spent an entire evening in this area. You are often warned in guide books that the Raval district is not a completely safe place to be after dark as it used to be Barcelona's red light district and still attracts "unsavory characters" - me and Lee for a start, but don't be put off just be wary as usual. You will see the people who actually live in Barcelona out and about and normal life going on.
Ānima itself is a small discreet venue, prettily situated in the middle of other small restaurants on a fairly quiet side street. A menu is clearly visible at the door so you don't have to go in and just hope and it helpfully has an English translation as well. It has outside pavement seating which seems very popular. Luckily we got there quite early - just after 9pm and got a table, although I wouldn't have minded sitting inside as it looked lovely. It had fairy lights hanging from the ceiling with camouflage netting to create a colourful and stylish looking modernist atmosphere. Outside there are about 5 or 6 tables with enough room at each table not to feel crowded or notice the other eaters. The street is tree lined and you have a nice view of MACBA - the museum of Modern Art. There are candles on the tables inside medium sized white paper bags which look really good for such a simple idea (we are now doing this at home). At first I felt a bit conscious of the people walking past us on the street looking for their own places to eat or drink but after a while it all faded as we relaxed and enjoyed the food.
We perused the menu whilst munching on delicious varieties of bread and oil. As this was going to be a romantic meal we were prepared to pay a bit more than usual but were pleasantly surprised as it all seemed moderately priced, while looking like quite an expensive place to eat. As far as I can remember the starters were under 10 euros (or £7) and mains between about 10-20 euros (£7- £15). The menu is quite short and there aren't endless choices so make sure you have a look beforehand. The cuisine is called a Mediterranean Fusion blend which we found we liked very much indeed. It included fish, meat and duck and vegetarian. We ordered a bottle of house red wine which was fine and improved with drinking.
I chose a duck and mango salad for my starter, you could also have something similar for a main course. It arrived in a huge bowl and threatened to fill me up straight away. It was succulent and delicious and completely different to what we had been eating elsewhere. I really enjoyed it.
My main course was a feta cheese and spinach ravioli pasta dish, with thin savoury biscuits. The pasta was very tender and melted in the mouth and again was very nicely presented.
Lee had king prawns as a starter in what seemed like a kind of clear soup. I didn't try it as I don't like them myself but he said it tasted very nice but he was a bit disappointed that there weren't more prawns. He followed this with shredded duck on a bed of mashed potato with a raspberry sauce which was delicious. The sauce gave it a nice fruity tang.
Desert - this was a gorgeous, dark chocolate sponge pudding with a warm chocolate syrup oozing out of it when cut into, served with vanilla ice cream. Lee had ice cream which was no match to mine but was still very nice!!
Overall we were impressed with the meal sizes, myself particularly but Lee afterwards said he was full up and wouldn't have wanted to eat more. The dishes were artfully presented. We liked the ambience of the restaurant, the staff were attentive and not over powering. We were never hurried or asked to make our choices before we were ready but our meals came very quickly. I think we were there for about an hour and a half but I lost track of time.
I did enter the restaurant to nip off to the loo before we left - very advisable because you don't know when you're going to find the next one in Barca and can say that the toilets are very clean and swish. They're quite well hidden too so if you're sitting near them you wouldn't mind. At the back of the restaurant you can see the through an open archway window into the kitchen and watch the chefs preparing your meal. The window feels like part of the decor. The type of people we saw eating at this restaurant were mainly young trendy people, some Spanish, some holiday makers. Myself and Lee are in our 30's, not particularly trendy, only speak pigeon Spanish but we didn't feel out of place here and it wouldn't matter what age you are as long as you want a little bit of sophistication. We throughly enjoyed our whole experience of this restaurant and recommend it for the way it made us feel when we left - very content, happy and romantic. You can easily walk back to La rambla and carry on your night or find local bars to drink in afterwards as we did.
Ānima according to my online translator means: "it encourages". This certainly is an encouraging place to go but I am not convinced of the translation, if anyone Spanish speaking can enlighten me I'd be glad.
Again, you should probably write a review having visited somewhere more than once, but it left such a memorable impression on us we'd like to let people know about it. It's nice to find your own places but also to have a recommendation.
Ānima Address: c/ angels no 6 1 08001 BCN 1 933 424912. Situated behind La Boquería it and can be found easily by turning left off La Rambla (when facing Plaza Catalunya) down c/ del pintor fortuny which brings you onto c/ angels itself. Ānima is down on the left.
