Sureny

Sureny has got to be the best kept secret in Barcelona. It is located in Gracia, on the Plaça de la Revolució de Setembre de 1868, which is well out from the tourist areas of Barcelona but totally worth the metro ride and walk, because it is a world-class foodie place. Absolutely fabulous food, no if ands or buts about it.

We had our good-bye dinner here the last time we were in Barcelona, and it was the top of the list of places we wanted to go back to, mostly because of the superb caramelized foie gras dish we had there.

I would have taken pictures, but I was so busy pigging out that I didn’t want to bother.

We started with the “famous” tuna, which they had been out of on our previous visit. Raw ahi marinated in soy, ginger, and honey. Maybe other things. As our friends said “it’s like ahi candy”. So decadent - rich, slightly sweet and smoky from the soy. It had a great texture, too. Wow. I could have eaten a pound of it; the decision to order one plate per person was so right on, if I’d only had one chunk of this fish instead of four I might have stabbed someone with a fork trying to poach theirs.

The caramelized (or brûléed) foie gras was different from the last time, we both thought it was a smaller portion but still very tasty. However, the other foie dish we ordered simply blew our minds (and my stomach, everything after that is just a blur). It was a foie mousse with mango. Basically, a glass cup full of whipped foie topped with diced, marinated (?) mango and a nice, light mango sorbet. Sounds strange, but it was amazing. Amazing. No hyperbole here, folks (for once). This is the kind of dish you dream about later and know you’ll not reproduce or see elsewhere, much to your sorrow. Man. So yummy.

After the pair of foie dishes and the tuna, everything else tended to suffer in comparison. The salad with fresh mushrooms, octopus with morcilla (served like a pâté), and lamb dishes would normally have stood out as being excellent, but I honestly barely remember them. I just want to imagine licking the glass that held the foie mousse when I think of that meal.

Desserts had a few interesting twists. Brian was the brave one and ordered the black olive ice cream with chocolate cake and olive oil crème. He liked it. I thought the olive ice cream had potential, but the olive oil sauce just ruined it for me, too strong of an oil taste. I know olive oil desserts are all the rage right now, but I’m having trouble finding the attraction. I had a set of three small desserts, one chocolate and mango, one like a cheesecake with a red fruit compote, and one with almond foam and I think strawberries (so not sure of anything but the almond part). I remember fairly little about the desserts – I was in a food coma from all of the amazingly rich food we’d just consumed. Steve ordered the chocolate lava cake, which looked like it was wonderful. Nikol ordered a nice banana dessert with coconut sorbet that I tried and also liked. Basically, everything here is good, and a few dishes reached sublime heights.