La Barca Restaurant – An Inland Boat
Restaurant La Barca is a traditional Catalan cuisine restaurant located on the shore of the River Ter in Bescanó, a town just 8 km away from Girona city. But how does the boat theme mix with the inland location of Bescanó, river aside, you might be thinking. It’s all explained once you get into the restaurant and see a large turn-of-the-century black and white picture of a man in a boat: this used to be the crossing of the River Ter (one of its narrowest points in the area), where travellers would pay for a small fare which would allow them not have to divert their route several kilometres further down the road in search of a proper bridge. Thus they would be able to get to Sant Gregori and Riera de Llémena without having to even get to Girona.
It is only natural that the boater’s family would offer travellers the chance to wait indoors and have a morsel to eat along with a drink. From those early beginnings the restaurant has evolved -particularly with regards to the indoors arrangement- but kept a close tie with the cuisine of the area; traditional Catalan food with top quality and seasonal ingredients.
The à la carte menu offers then the usual basic dishes, typical of the inland Catalonia diet: pork croquettes, goats cheese warm salad, oven-roasted aubergines and peppers, cod-stuffed bell peppers for starters and their main courses include duck confit, beef fillet, rack of lamb, entrecôte and cod wrapped in a tender garlic muslin. The seasonal touch includes in autumn cod with wild mushrooms, snails with tomato sauce and the additional side order of quince jelly mash, for example. All dishes were prepared with an excellent eye for its cooking point, as we requested different temperatures in our meat orders, all perfectly executed.
The service is as the surroundings: simple and to the point. It is not the type of place where waiters will refill your glass or will bring more bread to the table; everything is brought at your request.
It is a highly recommended restaurant, which has the added bonus of being far off the beaten track, allowing for ample car parking space and great views of that part of the river. Having said that, the restaurant is hardly deserted, so make sure you book ahead, especially if you’re planning to go there over the weekend.
Average price: 30€
Opening hours, Monday-Sunday: 13:00-16:00, 20:30-23:00
Tags: Catalan cuisine · Girona province · Home cooking · Mediterranean cuisine · Regional products
1 Comment
#1 Karl Dahl commented, on 12 Jan. 2010 at 17:09
An excellent place as to location, atmosphere, service food and wines. We passed by and had a great lunch there, we will definitely come back, another time, thank you !!!!