This weekend saw Time Out magazine’s Barcelona team host their fourth edition of the food festival. Fortunately this fell on a week we were visiting the city, so what better opportunity?!
What is Time Out Fest?
In all honesty, I hadn’t even heard of Time Out Fest until this week. Many people may already know the magazine, with roots in none other than London. However, their Barcelona branch’s food festival was something new. I can’t compare the weekend’s food to any of the previous iterations, having obviously not been. Though from tasting food around the world and not being ashamed of liking my food, it was a great opportunity to try something new.
The ‘festival’ itself was a selection of critics’ choice chefs from 16 of Barcelona’s top restaurants, cooking their signature dishes. The variety of food ranged from tacos to bao buns, and everything in between. Even desserts were included in the mix, but we didn’t indulge too much! After all, this was just an afternoon tapas-style lunch for us…
With all these stalls offering their culinary masterpieces, one may wonder where would host such a display. Time Out absolutely smashed this by choosing Estrella’s (yes, the beer) La Antiga Fàbrica site, near La Sagrada Familia. Basking in the May Bank Holiday (for us Brits) sunshine, drinking Estrella at source and having a taste of Barcelona’s finest plates was really hard to beat!
Festival Vibes
As someone who has never been to a food festival before, it was hard to imagine how festival-like it could really be. However, Time Out Fest had that ‘vibe’ to it from the minute you pitched up.
Entry was €5 per person, and everything was done cashless. This was through either an app/QR code on your phone, or a printed QR code. We arrived at the entrance and loaded €40 onto one of the printed QR codes and made our way in. We were instantly handed a reusable plastic cup for our drinks (nicely marketed and a great keepsake) and then you’re through the usual security bag check. Feeling festival-y yet?
Once in, we were met with all of the food stalls, maps of what’s where and a few bars scattered around. The portaloos were much better (cleaner) than anything we get at UK festivals! There were demonstrations at various times, including a painting while tasting wine class (aptly named Wine Gogh) and yoga with flax & kale. It was truly a celebration fit for 2024!
The stalls were all doubled up, and popular ones certainly started drawing crowds!
To top it all off, music was blaring out of a DJ booth opposite one of the Estrella bars, with sets scheduled for the evening each day. Unfortunately our swift afternoon visit meant we didn’t catch any of that, but one could only imagine what it’d be like!
The Food
Aside from the activities, music and beer, the focus of these gastronomic festivals is the food. Obviously. This is where Time Out Fest had it, once again, spot on.
Of the 16 restaurants to choose from, we picked 4 dishes to try. These were Kao Street, Xuba, Rooster & Bubbles and Virens. It gave us a mix of styles to experience, and variations on what could so easily be such simple plates!
Xuba was up first. This was a couple of tacos with pulled chicken in them. The art came in the addition of pickled cabbage and clementines, the taste of the pulled chicken and the fluffiness of the black tacos. It wasn’t like any Mexican crispy taco I’ve ever had. A worthy starter plate and inclusion in the critics’ choice! Stood in the sunshine we had our Estrella alongside the tacos, and what a combination that was!
Second, with still half our beer to accompany, we headed to Rooster & Bubbles. The image looked like what was a sausage on a bed of mashed potato. It would semi explain the name, and I’m always down for bangers and mash! But this was something more. The sausage was a botifarra variety (a Catalan speciality), the mash was white bean, and it was topped with a pear mayonnaise. A combination I’d never even consider, but that’s why I’m not Marco Casas!
Our penultimate dish was Kao Street’s Sheng Jiah bao stuffed with meat and siracha mayo. I was very excited by this dish. We gained inspiration from seeing the queue and copious amounts of people walking around with the giant bao bun. While the beef and pork mix was really tasty, there was too much mayo for the amount of meat. Also, there was a lot of bun to meat. Fortunately it was a really nice bao bun so I didn’t mind too much, but more filling would have made it possibly my top dish of the day!
Finally, we wrapped up our tasting experience with a hot dog from Virens. But, as you’ve gathered by now, it wasn’t just a hot dog. I sound like an M&S advert at this point. The roll was almost cake-like in texture, but certainly tasted like a bun. The hot dog itself was Iberian pork cheek. It was complimented with cheese and apple chunks, again another combination I wouldn’t have considered. But it worked. It really worked.
Next Year?
This experience has opened my eyes to the world of food festivals. Or gastronomic festival if you’re feeling fancy. Whatever you call it, it’s a great way to experience a range of foods that you may not otherwise try from places you may not think to visit. I now definitely have the bug. When I’m somewhere new, I’ll keep a lookout for an opportunity to head to another one. Who knows, it might even be another Time Out Fest!