Conesa (Barcelona, Spain)
Jun 22nd, 2010 by mary-jane
If you’re flat out visiting Barcelona, you might like to grab a quick bite at Conesa, a traditional sandwich shop in the centre of the old town. They serve up hot baguette-rolls with tasty Spanish fillings to a steady queue of tourists and locals. Ninety-five percent of the sandwich menu is available gluten-free (fillings with gluten are marked) and you just have to ask for “sin gluten”.
Well, what’s the catch? They do have salads but the mainstay of the sandwich menu is meat with a bit of dairy thrown in. The best vegetarian options (the vegie burger and the vegie sandwich) are not gluten free and/or dairy free. But it’s a great place to go if you feel like the Spanish equivalent of a steak sandwich, as I did. The grilled pork loin with roast vegetables (onions and green peppers) was delicious and although the bread contains egg, it is spot on. Most of the sauces are gluten-free too.
Carnivores can sample everything from Catalan butifarra to Basque chistorra to cured ham and cheese lovers can enjoy blue cheese or Manchego. The sandwiches cost around 4 euros with a supplement of 75c for gluten-free bread.
One of the most popular local beer brands has brought out a gluten-free beer. I didn’t see it on offer at Conesa but it might be worth asking for “cerveza sin gluten” just to check.
The restaurant area is small, with standing room only at times, so you might be better off going diagonally across the square and out the other side to a row of benches, if you don’t mind a bit of sun. Remember to keep a close eye on your belongings.
Conesa now have another restaurant near Plaza España, which is another popular tourist destination and also handy to Montjuic. Check out the website www.conesaentrepans.com for more details, as well as other restaurant options in Barcelona and Spain on the Catalan Celiac Association web site www.celiacscatalunya.org
And have a great trip!
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Thank you. This place sounds great. We will be visiting Barcelona in September with our daugther who is a coeliac. Is it located in the tourist area of Barcelona. We will be staying at the port end of Las Ramblas?
Great blog by the way. Found out about it in The Age.
I’ll ask Mary-Jane to reply about the exact location of the sandwich shop (and to post more reviews!) but I can tell you that when I was there and also in Peru I found it very handy to have a card with “Soy alergica al gluten. No puedo comer trigo, centeno, cebada y triticale o las farinas de estos granos. ¿podrÃa por favor se lo informe al chef?” For you it would be “Mi hija es alergica”.
Conesa is in the Plaza Sant Jaume, which is just down from the Cathedral. It’s to the right of the Catalan Parliament (Palau de la Generalitat).
Viena, one of the Frankfurt restaurants, also does gluten-free food with two locations near Plaza Cataluña – at Las Ramblas no. 115 and Pelayo no. 16. The Telepizza chain is also listed as gluten free (it’s take-away or delivery).
From a quick check of postcodes on the Celiac website, restaurants in the old town are the restaurant of Hotel Barcelona Catedral, right next to the Cathedral, La Lluna Restaurant, at Bonaventura no. 7 and Les Onze Virtuts, at Ataülf no.5.
Also in the coffee shop line, there is the Granja M. Viader, Xucla no. 4-6, just off Las Ramblas.
When I have a free moment I will check for places near the Sagrada Familia.
According to my friend Anna, in Spain the card would be “Mi hija es alérgica al gluten. No puede comer trigo, centeno, cebada, avena ni las harinas de estos granos. ¿podrÃa comunicárselo al chef, por favor?”.
Best wishes!
Thanks Admin and Mary-Jane. That is really handy information. I do intend to have the translation card with me and apparantly there is an I-Phone App you can get with translations. Again, thanks for your efforts, I really appreciate it. Will make our stay there much easier.