Eating Churros Con Chocolate

Yummy! There's something about fried bread that makes it sooooo tasty. Well, actually, you could pretty much fry anything and it'd probably taste good. Add a chocolate beverage along side and you've really got something. Located across from the Teatre Liceu in a relatively non-descript (on the outside) building on what is the busiest tourist-visited street in Barcelona, La Rambla, the Cafe de L'Opera has been dishing out churros and chocolate since 1929.

If you haven't been fortunate enough to eat churros in the past, you don't know what you're missing. They are essentially a Spanish doughnut made from dough that's been deep-fried and dusted with a little sugar. The closest equivalent that I can think of in the US is funnel cake. Think funnel cake but crispier.

I used to eat churros (that weren't nearly as delish) in Tijuana when I worked in Mexico. You could even get them while waiting in your car in the line at the border. They'd sell you like five or six small churros in a little paper bag for a dollar. It was a nice treat when you were sitting in the line for a couple of hours.

But wait, what makes the churros at Cafe de L'Opera even better is that you eat them with an incredibly thick and rich hot chocolate drink. The chocolate seems basically like a milk-chocolate bar that's been melted down. It's RICH and DELICIOUS! This combo is a breakfast tradition in many parts of Spain (especially in Madrid) and is popular with the post-bar, 5am crowd.

When I visited Paris a couple of years ago, on the recommendation of a former coworker, I went to Angelina, which is a cafe near the Louvre and is known for its chocolate drinks. I think their chocolate is just as good but you don't get churros with it. Here's the Angelina spread:

Being that Angelina is pretty far away from Barcelona and the chocolate at Cafe de L'Opera is really good, I'm sticking with my local dealer. If you're in the area, look for me eating one of my new favorites!