Takashi Ochiai

Bailey had found the delightful Japanese patisserie Takashi Ochiai for our Barcelona eating list by clicking on the first link he found when he typed "best breakfast in Barcelona" into Google. Coincidentally it is located on my old road - Carrer Compte d'Urgell. I don't know if Takashi Ochiai existed when I lived there though, if it had I would definitely have gone there all the time.

We visited Ochiai for our breakfast early on a Sunday afternoon and found it full of well-to-do Eixample folk and with a lovely, calming atmosphere.

The first thing we saw as we walked through the door was a beautiful selection of delicate cakes and pastries, some of which were being expertly guarded by the wise robot cat that is Doraemon, whose adventures we'd just been catching up on on our hotel room telly. ANOTHER COINCIDENCE!

Doraemon, probably thinking up some pearls of wisdom that no one will listen to

First up for Bailey was a Flauta filled with Serrano ham. He said this was an excellent sandwich made with amazing crispy on the outside / fluffy on the inside bread rubbed with tomato. The ham was also delicious.

He also had a huge glass of vanilla milk which was refreshingly ice cold but not too sweet. This was also perfect with his lovely Pastis de Xocolata cake made with super thin layers of cake with a light chocolate mousse, covered in a layer of shiny, sticky ganache.

As they didn't have any vegetarian Flautas left for me, I went straight onto the good stuff - a Mousse de Te Verd cake. This consisted of a slightly savoury chocolate biscuit (reminding me of a bourbon), some sharp raspberry sauce covered with a cool green tea mousse and topped with a fresh raspberry. This was absolutely delicious and one of the most unusual cakes I've ever had.

Even more unusual was the beautifully presented Cappuccino de Matxa I ordered. It was really different to any drink I'd ever had and very nice as long as you are a fan of strong green tea.

Service at Takashi Ochiai was very prompt and professional but generally lacked the warmth we'd experienced in other eateries in the city. However when we paid our bill the manageress was very chatty and was pleased about how much we'd liked her cakes!

I noticed that in my absence from Barcelona since living there (over 4 years) that Japanese food seems to have become even more popular than it was then (for example Carrefour on Las Ramblas now has a massive fresh sushi counter) and it would appear as a result, little places like Takashi Ochiai have cropped up. We thought it  was a brilliant place and would recommend popping in for a stunning cake and unusual drink or two.