Quick Bites: Las Terrazzas del Maresme

Sometimes the best thing about living in Barcelona is getting the hell out of Barcelona. And one of Barcelona’s best-kept secrets is the wonderful Costa de Maresme, which is just under our noses yet so often ignored. Much of it is built up, granted, but it’s also full of hidden treasures. Time Out Catalunya recently placed the Platja de Sant Simó (Mataró) in the region’s top 10 beaches, the pretty little town of Alella makes some of the finest white wines in all of Spain, and now there’s Las Terrazzas del Maresme, a little pocket of paradise perched just above the NII that runs along the coast.

Utterly chilled and slightly ramshackle, it combines magnificent sea views with leafy gardens arranged around a shady terrace for dining and a sunny rooftop filled with palette-sofas and beanbags for siestas and sundowners. Jam pots turned lanterns dangle from the branches of a big old lime tree, kids romp around on the swings (the only road up here is a rutted dirt track that is used exclusively by restaurant patrons going slow), and then there’s the charming Harry (from Devon) and Lucia (from Buenos Aires) who camped out here for seven months without electricity when they first stumbled across it a year or so ago. Gradually, they’ve turned it into the happy hideaway it is today with a huge barbecue taking pride of place in the outdoor kitchen, a keenly priced menu (€16) from the house kitchen, and vermut and jazz sessions every Sunday from 12-noon.

I come with a gang of friends and their kids one breezy Sunday afternoon when we show up too late for the music—no matter because their playlist is a fantastic medley of jazz, funk and old rockers like Neil Young, Van Morrisson and Steely Dan—but manage to squeeze in a couple of vermuts with olives and mussels before tucking into smoky, juicy hunks of entraña and vacio (Argentinean cuts of beef), churrasco and lamb chops with insanely delicious, herby-salty-slightly-charred grilled potatoes and leafy green salads topped with creamy goats cheese. And for dessert, homemade tiramisu and a rich and creamy mango sorbet followed by chupitos of hierbas cementing that faintly Ibiza-in-the-country vibe. It’s heavenly—one of those places where lunch stretches long and late into the afternoon and by the time we leave the sun is already going down and there’s a chill in the spring air. It’s too cold for swimming, but we’re all plotting our return: possibly for every weekend this summer.

Carretera Mata 58, Mataró.  

Tel. 93 176 7319.

www.facebook.com/LasTerrazasDelMaresmeLTDM. Open daily 8.30am-10.30pm. From €30 for three course barbecue lunch and a bottle of wine between two.