Places to visit in Barcelona: Milk

Calling my week simply hectic would be an understatement for sure. This week I taught my first intensive class and my first business class, which involved spending 6 hours a day in an office with only one person for five days and to top it off I had to commute for an hour outside the city meaning my alarm was set for 5.45am every morning. At this juncture, I would like to point out that spending this much time with one person as a TEFL teacher is unlikely but this student needed to improve their English quickly. As well as this intensive class, I still had my regular evening classes that last between 1-1.5 hours every evening meaning that I would spend all my free time each day getting ready for those and then not get home until about 8. But enough about this, what I really want to talk about is the cosy brunch place we visited yesterday afternoon; Milk.

Burried in a backstreet of the Barrio Gótico is this small but homely place – the decor is very warm with lots of red hues and as Barcelona starts to become cooler in the winter months it makes the place very comfortable and attractive to the hungry and slightly chilly. We arrived at around 1.30 after a very slow morning, which involved sleeping right through it (in my defense,  I had been awake for 24hrs that day) and luckily managed to get a table as they don’t take brunch reservations. The place was pretty much packed and I understood why after I ordered some food off their “Recovery Brunch” menu. Before we got the food however, we both ordered some spicy Bloody Mary’s as I had never actually had one and despite the very strange initial taste the fiery feeling I got in my chest afterwards convinced me that this glorified shit mix wasn’t actually too bad.

The brunch menu offers a very varied selection of dishes from classics such as Eggs Benedict and American style pancakes to burgers and bagels; there is definitely something for everyone. I settled on Huevos Rancheros – a favourite of mine – because Barcelona is seriously lacking when it comes to spicy food and Tabasco is the only hot sauce you’ll find in a supermarket if they even have any so I wanted to see if this place would offer something with a kick. I was not disappointed when it arrived, the dish was large enough and had a good amount of spice but they also placed two types of hot sauce on our table in case we wanted to add more (Sriracha and something unknown). Macey ordered a burger that was aptly named “The 2am Burger” and was sufficiently humongous with a generous serving of bacon and a fried egg on top.

The food was so filling that we didn’t even eat dinner until 10.30pm and completely skipped lunch. The prices were very reasonable too, my breakfast and Bloody Mary only amounted to 15€ and as it was delicious and kept me full all day I have nothing to complain about. The staff here are also very attentive and polite and the whole vibe of the place is less like a café or restaurant and more like you’re sitting in someone’s lounge. Plus, the music they were playing was all very 90s nostalgia, which whole heartedly lifted my spirits whilst I was eating. I can’t go to Moose Coffee for a little while yet but at least I have Milk to ease the pain until then.