Tuesday 2 February 2010

Shanghai 1930 -- Another Chinese Restaurant in Barcelona

Shanghai 1930 – Buenos Aires 11-13, Barcelona; tel. 933 634 370

Although I lived in Barcelona for a few years, the Chinese restaurants that I had been to were countable. On the one hand, I had not been to one that made me want to go again; and on the other, it is more appropriate to visit restaurants specialised in Spanish or Catalan cuisine.

There used to be one that was extraordinary, even in Chinese standard. It was in Maremagnum and the dim sums were simply delicious, even better than some restaurants in Hong Kong. However, it had been closed for quite some years.

Some time ago I paid a visit to Shanghai 1930. It was a big restaurant with a Baroque decoration with a variety of miscellaneous objects.

There were not a lot of clients that evening, and the huge space looked a bit desolated. We were treated in a very familiar manner in contrast with the formal setting

Our table cloth had holes on it. At the background there was a continuous humming noise of some type of machine, and there was a continuous loud chatter somewhere. Service was fast, and in fact the staff were quite anxious to take away the dishes as fast as possible.

There were some interesting dishes on the menu which you do not often see in Chinese restaurants in the city, such as sea cucumber (which, unfortunately was not available that evening), abalone and jellyfish.

We asked for cava, a Catalan sparkling wine similar to champagne, but it was warm and when we complained, we were persuaded that it would cool in time with the wine cooler.

There was nothing memorable. We were only two, so there were limited dishes that we could try.

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