Secrets of Barcelona: Parking Pizza

Last week my book The 500 hidden secrets of Barcelona was released. In the most recent posts on this blog, I’ve expanded on some of the book’s entries. This is one more episode in the series. Today: a brand new pizza restaurant that will make the second edition of my guide. 

The pizza crust that made me jealous 

One of my teachers in the hotel school I went to last year, had a rather outspoken opinion on eating pizza in Barcelona. It’s not our kind of food, he stated. Most of the pizzas served in Barcelona restaurants are barely better than a Dr. Oetker’s. So, he concluded, you could just as well stay at home, pop the industrial “real thing” in the microwave and drink red wine that doesn’t give you a headache. 

Few pizza restaurants in Barcelona are really worth a visit. La Veronica, on the Rambla del Raval, serves good Italian cuisine in general, but the pizzas aren’t memorable. 

The first time I made pizza at home, I wasn’t used to handling dough yet. What ended up on the table had a one-inch layer of bread underneath an iffy tomato sauce. It certainly was memorable. 

But things are picking up, on both fronts. Last week I was able to serve a thin-crusted pizza, with bits of chicken, banana, ginger powder and a creamy tomato sauce. (I was so happy with the result, I almost didn’t care about eating it.) (Until breakfast the next morning.) Also, there’s a new pizza place in town. It’s a keeper. 

When I dropped by Parking Pizza, last week, I found a small but pleasant space, with a remarkably mixed crowd: young and middle-aged people, locals and guiris (= the pejorative Spanish term for foreigners). The seats are cardboard boxes, which sounds uncomfortable and it isn't. Also, they’re hollow, so you can put your coat and/or bag in the seat. No worrying about where to leave your belongings, or about keeping an eye on them. 

There were eight types of pizzas on the menu. I chose the one with bacon, green asparagus and spinach leaves. The leaves huddled together on one side of the pizza, which gave it a mildly designed look. The asparagus were sparse but fresh, and all in all I really enjoyed the sum total. The crust was so wafer-thin, I felt a pang of jealousy. If the staff hadn’t been so friendly and welcoming, I probably would have taken it out on them. 

Now, Parking Pizza [Carrer de Londres 98, +34 936 33 96 45, www.parkingpizza.com + https://www.instagram.com/parkingpizza] is not anywhere near the centre: you’ve got to climb to the top of Eixample, until it almost turns into yet another neighbourhood. Then again, the Modernist marvel called Casa de les Punxes (Secret number 255 in my guide) is quite nearby. And a stone’s throw away is concert hall Luz de Gas (Secret number 150 in my guide). Mix & match: you could take a stroll, marvel at the city’s modernist beauty, enjoy great pizza and then have a classy night out.