Mesón David

Address: Carrer de las Carretes 63, 08001 Barcelona, Spain. 93 411 59 34.

Review: So, dinners in Spain are late night affairs. We discovered this after attending a concert and finding ourselves quite hungry. We found Mesón David from a reputable travel guide and walked and walked until we found it down a side street across from a church.

The atmosphere was very laid back. We were within six inches of the next table (temporary inhabited by a nice Australian couple). The television was on blaring the Italy-Germany UEFA semifinals. (Mario Balotelli scored Italy's two goals, and gli Azzurri won 2-1. Forza Azzurri!) The tables were dark wood, reminiscent of mountain restaurants in the Alps. Good start.

For whatever reason, probably all the testosterone exuding from the soccer match, I decided on a meat and potatoes dinner. First on tap: beef kidneys cooked in a sherry sauce.

I've eaten liver and heart quite a few times in my life, but I'm not entirely familiar with the full range of cow offal, so this was a new experience. These kidneys were thoroughly cooked, and while I usually like my meat a nice medium rare, I think fully cooked kidneys is the way to go. As with most offal, there was a wonderfully metallic taste and grainy feel. The sherry sauce was meaty and rich. The sop on the left-hand side of the plate was drenched in sauce and intense with sherry and kidney flavor. This was the best offal I've ever had, bar none.

And for the entree, there was more meat. 

Surrounding the fried potatoes were: fresh sausage, beef rib meat, a scallop of pork, a chicken leg, and a lamb chop. All were drizzled with a light herb and olive oil sauce. The chicken, lamb and sausage were particularly good. All were perfectly cooked, juicy, and crusted with grill marks to perfection. (The chicken stood out to me, not because it was necessarily better than the lamb chop or sausage, but because it was so well cooked, which is hard to do with chicken on a grill.) The pork was tasty, although slightly dry. The beef rib meat is simply not a cut I like because it is far too tough unless it's braised. That said, it was as good as it could have been cooked on the grill. And the potatoes, ah, man. So crispy and light. Dipped in a bit of mayonnaise, they made the day.

My wife ordered the scalloped veal.   

She said it transported her back to eating in Argentina, which is a high compliment coming from her. 

Such a satisfying meal. Well done.

Rating: 7.5/10 (5/10 is average).