Avocado Generation or not, you will like Cosmo La Central Bookshop Cafe Barcelona

An article in the Sunday Times on 28 May 2017 asked: “Is it fair to label the millennials the avocado generation for spending on ‘luxuries'”? Using an average cost of $20 per avocado toast, ST computed that they spent $1,040 per year as compared to $205.40 if they made it themselves at home ($3.95 each). Whichever side of the debate you are on, we think you will probably like Cosmo La Central Bookshop Cafe Barcelona, a lovely place that serves avocado toast at 4€ (S$6).

La Central is a medium-sized bookshop along Calle Mallorca, a busy thoroughfare in the heart of Barcelona City, Spain. It takes up two floors in an old building. I love the wooden floor boards that gently creaks as people walk by. It is set up the way I would do a bookshop if ever I get to own one. Traditional wooden chairs scattered throughout the shop. Most of the books were not shrink-wrapped. Browsing is part of the charm of a bookshop. A vast majority of the books were Spanish with a small proportion of international titles. But there were enough books that had interesting pictures to keep us occupied without knowing Spanish. But to us, the highlight of this place was the Central Bookshop Cafe Barcelona.

The Central Bookshop Cafe Barcelona takes up a small strip of space on the side of the upper floor. It is simply decorated. The crisp white natural lighting and the splashes of colour from the flowers were enough to brighten up the place. There is a small garden outside with a few more tables.

Here is a picture of the Cosmo La Central menu. Notice something? Everything costs 8€ or less. Our eyes were drawn to the Bikini (3€). It seems that toasted ham and cheese sandwich is known as a “Bikini” in Barcelona and possibly in Catalonia in general. We are probably not young enough to quality for the avocado generation, but we do love the buttery taste of the fruit. We decided to splurge and topped up our order with an extra of avocado (1€ ).

Here are pictures of the 4€ Bikini – toasted ham and cheese sandwich with extra avocado. It is an average sized portion. Enough to be a tea time snack for two. It was a good sandwich, well toasted bread with the usual fillings inside. The cafe also serves a mean cappuccino.

We try not to make repeat visits when on holiday so as to try as many new places as possible. But the charm of the Central Bookshop Cafe Barcelona was strong enough to make us do a repeat visit.