Superb paella at Kaiku, Barcelona

JS with his lens at work under the warm winter sun
while Monkey was bz hopping around kicking the fine sand by the beach
yeah winter in the Mediterranean is pretty mild but that really depends


Barcelona is such a beautiful city
u get a lil bit of everything from art nouveau to gothic architecture, great tapas and ham, excellent spanish cavas for u to clink ur glasses....amazing FOOD, friendly ppl and the VIEW...
we must go again and I don't mind doin all of the above all over again
just that TIME is so limited and there's alwiz another city waiting to be explored
:))))))

and so from various readings and research, there's a quaint family run paella shop by the beach in Barcelona
it was not easy reading the address in Catalonian and locating it...
but thanks to google earth we managed to pin-point exactly where it is...
only thing was...we were standing along the beach trying to locate this shop that was SO NORMAL looking we missed it everytime we walked past


there were outstanding glass cafes by the beach
nice al fresco dining with blasting music
more al fresco nice avant garde cafe
and we didn't expect to find Kaiku here :)))


when we finally did, there weren't chairs and tables
there was nobody
even the lights were not switched on
Brave Monkey walked in and asked...if this is Kaiku? Is it open today? Are u open for lunch?
the staffs were then having their humongous lunch on a round table...all turned and looked at this tiny monkey speaking in such a squeaky voice coz I was intimidated by them and they dun speak english
hahahahahahhaa
then I continued to wave at them and smiled and did my famous HEEEEEEEEEE grin
-_-"


Lunch is only open at 1.00pm
sigh....an hour wait...
I've forgot....Catalonians have really late lunch...and tapas from 7.30pm onwards before proceeding for dinner at 10pm
and continue drinking till a.m.
just like the Greeks

the one hour was quite well spent...we walked along the famous beach
under beautiful palm trees
I felt like I was in L.A. hahahahhahaha
watching ppl rollerblading, jogging, walking their dogs
and some were sun-bathing.....
yes sun bathing in the winter


JS said they must be fr Iceland where they dun get a lot of Sun throughout the year
-_-"
Iceland???

the tall building in the picture resembling Al-Burj Arab is actually W Hotel Barcelona
built on reclaimed land out on the sea

and at 1.00pm sharp even before the staff could set up the cutlery on their table
we've already set out bums there :))))
such beautiful weather with sea view, we must sit at the terrace

what a beautiful pic composed by JS
our table was underneath beautiful tall palm trees
:))))))))))
so nice...I could hang out here forever

pickled mediterranean olives
I can't seem to find good quality olives in Malaysia
it's the usually commercialised brands


we started with a really refreshing salad
just look at how RED the tomatoes were!!!!
sun ripen on its wine...they were as sweet as nectar


lurve the pickled spanish onions innit
with the occasional refreshing bite of shaved zucchinis
toasted grains and Radiocchio
I dun really like radiocchio bcoz of the bitter after taste but this one was sweet??!?!?!!?
how come? 

another refreshing dish was this RAW Shrimps with dressing served with a very unique leaf
I can't remember the name of this dish

we have never tasted this leaf before

it has a long finish with a unique taste

I couldn't believe a small lil restaurant like this could create something this yummy and beautiful on the plate

our main course came!!!!!!!!!!!!

really really good Smoked Grain Seafood Paella
everything was just so perfect


the grain has got this smoky burnt flavour
sweetness from the broth of seafood and saffron

the grains were FAT
aren't they cute?
there were a lot of small pieces of octopus, shrimps innit

by the time we were done and Burped :P
the lunch crowd came...hehehehehhehehehe

The waiting staff was really friendly and recommended a yummy homemade chocolate cake
it's not the light type of cake but heavy ones with nuts and pieces of valencia orange peels innit


if u are looking for a fuss free simple menu, fresh produce from the market, family run paella place
this is the one....
dun waste time goin to those touristy restaurants
esp those that can speak good english
hahahhahahaha yes it's true and it applies on all countries that we've visited


we saw so many other paellas served on tourists table
and none of the looked like this
*I'm sure none taste like this too*


highly recommended
:))))


Kaiku Restaurant
Place del Mar 1, 
La Barceloneta,
Barcelona, Spain.
Tel: +93 221 9082
www.restaurantkaiku.cat