This trip I decided to do a churro tasting tour. Every morning I would follow Lingon in his taxi to his conference hotel and then do a run to get some churros and chocolate so I wouldn't feel quite so bad. We went to two other churro places last year when we came to Barcelona, Granja 1872 (the churros came from Churrería Manuel San Román) and some place else that I actually don't remember, but I don't want to focus on those since I don't remember them that well, but I just want to say that the chocolate at Granja 1872 was extremely bitter.
So, let's go.
The first was a place called Churrería J. Argiles, which one article described as a street churro icon. I'm a big fan of street food and food stands and the carts, so I must admit that is one big reason I came here. The article recommended the churros and xuxos (soft crullers filled with cream), so I got one of each, plus a hot chocolate, for €3.50. My churro was the lone churro left of the old batch (price determined by weight), which I was a bit sad about, but it surprisingly was still kind of warm and very crispy and rather good. The xuxo was like a soft Asian doughnut with cream filling, and I chose the one with a chocolate exterior, and it was cold and just so-so. The crunchy chocolate exterior was yummy but otherwise mediocre. The hot chocolate was thick, as most of the Spanish chocolates are, but I found the taste rather lacking. If anything there was a strange unidentifiable scent about it, and of the 3 places I tried this had the worst chocolate. Maybe it had to do with the styrofoam cup? The location left much to be desired, but since I was running it wasn't the worst thing to get there.
The second, Churrería Layetana, had the highest Tripadvisor rating at #248. This was my favourite place of all. I managed, with my bad Spanish, to order one regular churro, one chocolate churro and a hot chocolate. As I dug into my churros, I realized EVERYONE was eating this other thing called porras, so I decided to get one too. This was by far my favourite place. The thick chocolate was a little sweeter, and since I preferred milk to dark chocolate, this suited me just fine. Both the churros were amazing. The naked churro (I coined this term) was fresh out of the oil, super crunchy, the batter was delicious. The chocolate on the chocolate churro was also super crunch and the churro itself maintained its delicious taste. The porra was interesting, it actually reminded me of you tiao, the Chinese donut. I did not mind it so much but I think I preferred the crunchy churros. This set me back €2.85. Come here if you have the time! It is in a great location on a main street in the heart of town.
The third place was Granja La Pallaresa, also in the old town area, #870 on TripAdvisor. Charming little cafe. I got an order of churros and a small hot chocolate for €3.80, so by far the most expensive, and sadly my least favourite. The chocolate was thick, almost goopy, which I actually don't mind. However, it lacked any kind of flavour, so that was kind of a bummer. The churros were cold, slightly soggy, and did not have a good taste. Needless to say, give this place a miss.
Here is a map I compiled from the 3 churro articles I read, together with the TripAdvisor ranking at this time, if it existed.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/
Here are the 3 articles I read in determining where to go (sort of).
http://www.
http://barcelona-home.com/
http://www.barcelona-tourist-
When I started out my journey, I thought I would find them all of the same quality. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to differentiate the tastes and make a judgment call on everything. I think the key to churros is to get it freshly out of the oil, and for the chocolate it depends on whether you prefer it really bitter, or sweeter. I am all churrod out, so toodles for now.
So, let's go.
The first was a place called Churrería J. Argiles, which one article described as a street churro icon. I'm a big fan of street food and food stands and the carts, so I must admit that is one big reason I came here. The article recommended the churros and xuxos (soft crullers filled with cream), so I got one of each, plus a hot chocolate, for €3.50. My churro was the lone churro left of the old batch (price determined by weight), which I was a bit sad about, but it surprisingly was still kind of warm and very crispy and rather good. The xuxo was like a soft Asian doughnut with cream filling, and I chose the one with a chocolate exterior, and it was cold and just so-so. The crunchy chocolate exterior was yummy but otherwise mediocre. The hot chocolate was thick, as most of the Spanish chocolates are, but I found the taste rather lacking. If anything there was a strange unidentifiable scent about it, and of the 3 places I tried this had the worst chocolate. Maybe it had to do with the styrofoam cup? The location left much to be desired, but since I was running it wasn't the worst thing to get there.
The second, Churrería Layetana, had the highest Tripadvisor rating at #248. This was my favourite place of all. I managed, with my bad Spanish, to order one regular churro, one chocolate churro and a hot chocolate. As I dug into my churros, I realized EVERYONE was eating this other thing called porras, so I decided to get one too. This was by far my favourite place. The thick chocolate was a little sweeter, and since I preferred milk to dark chocolate, this suited me just fine. Both the churros were amazing. The naked churro (I coined this term) was fresh out of the oil, super crunchy, the batter was delicious. The chocolate on the chocolate churro was also super crunch and the churro itself maintained its delicious taste. The porra was interesting, it actually reminded me of you tiao, the Chinese donut. I did not mind it so much but I think I preferred the crunchy churros. This set me back €2.85. Come here if you have the time! It is in a great location on a main street in the heart of town.
The third place was Granja La Pallaresa, also in the old town area, #870 on TripAdvisor. Charming little cafe. I got an order of churros and a small hot chocolate for €3.80, so by far the most expensive, and sadly my least favourite. The chocolate was thick, almost goopy, which I actually don't mind. However, it lacked any kind of flavour, so that was kind of a bummer. The churros were cold, slightly soggy, and did not have a good taste. Needless to say, give this place a miss.
Here is a map I compiled from the 3 churro articles I read, together with the TripAdvisor ranking at this time, if it existed.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/
Here are the 3 articles I read in determining where to go (sort of).
http://www.
http://barcelona-home.com/
http://www.barcelona-tourist-
When I started out my journey, I thought I would find them all of the same quality. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to differentiate the tastes and make a judgment call on everything. I think the key to churros is to get it freshly out of the oil, and for the chocolate it depends on whether you prefer it really bitter, or sweeter. I am all churrod out, so toodles for now.
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