Restuaurant - Port Vell

Restaurant - Port Vell

March 18, 2014

Before coming to Barcelona, I knew I had to try paella.  Everyone who had been here before told me how amazing it was and how I was going to fall in love with it as soon as I ate it.  Within a few days of being here (three to be exact), I had my first paella at Restaurant Port Vell right near the beach and Barceloneta.  

I usually don't like it when the hostess stands outside and begs for you to come and eat their food as they are shoving their menu in your face, but this was different.  We had a friend who had been here a few days before and said the food was really good.  We talked to the hostess before going inside and told us he would give us free cava sangria with our meal.  We were skeptical at first about going here but since the place was crowded and the paella and other foods people were eating looked good, we went inside.

Since there were seven of us, we ordered the seafood paella.  With it, came a salad, bread and sangria all for 16.50 Euros.  The salad and bread came out very quickly and was really good.  Not too long after, our paella came out.  It was in the biggest pan I had ever seen!  There was more than enough for all of us and we had so much left overs.  We drank the sangria, ate the paella and sat at the restaurant and talked for almost three hours.  It was such a fun time especially since the whole experience was such a new one for all of us.  When we were finally done with the paella, they brought us a bouquet of cava sangria in long stem glasses.  It was so pretty and it was a great way to end the meal.

Since then, I have been back to Restaurant Port Vell two more times: once with my parents when they came to visit and last week when we had visitors for the weekend.  Every time that I go there, the hostess and waiters are very nice and accommodating and the food is great.  When I went with my parents, we got a seafood paella for two and then chicken paella for one.  I tried both and liked the seafood paella much better.  It had shrimp, mussels, little bits of white fish (I think it was squid), peas and rice. 

When I went for the third time, there were six of us and we all wanted paella and sangria again.  This time we sat outside since it was such a beautiful day.  We got the special of salad, bread, paella for six and sangria.  This time, instead of bringing us one huge pan of paella, they divided it up into two separate pans for three people each.  This made it much easier to eat than trying to ration out a big pan between so many people.  It was so good (again) and a great way to show our visitors a real Spanish dish.  

I really love this restaurant.  The paella is great, it is in a great location for walking around after or going to the beach and the waitstaff is very friendly and accommodating.  I know I will probably be back there again as my time here winds down for my last taste of real Spain paella.  I would recommend this restaurant to anyone who comes for a great atmosphere, paella, sangria and an overall nice time.