El Jardinet

A house in the old town

It opened on Good Friday 1980 in the old town of Vic, between the Plaça Major and the cathedral, and in its first decade it was a meeting point for musicians, theatre and film people. In 2000 it was refurbished and Ivan Vilanova joined the kitchen, having trained in places such as Racó de Can Fabes, Via Veneto and Neichel. Since then he has run it with Fanny Plans, who is in charge of the dining room. The dining room is cosy and has an interior terrace, sheltered from the street.

What to order

The menu changes with the season; the rice dishes and fresh fish stay. There is paella with vegetables, with chicken and Dublin Bay prawns, with lobster and prawns or with cuttlefish and butifarra, and also fideuà. To start, llonganissa from Riera Ordeix, the cured sausage of Vic, chicken or Iberian ham croquettes or garlic prawns from Palamós. If you prefer meat, there is shoulder of lamb cooked at low temperature, veal cheek with ceps sauce and Pyrenean beef entrecôte. For dessert, crema catalana or torrada de Santa Teresa. Off the menu there are usually suggestions of the day.

When to go and how to book

It closes on Mondays. From Tuesday to Thursday and on Sunday it opens at midday only, from 13:00 to 15:30; on Friday and Saturday it also serves dinner, from 20:30 to 23:00, with its own evening menu. At midday there is a set menu of the day as well as the à la carte menu. Book by phone, on 938 86 28 77, or by email. For groups and company lunches it prepares set or tailor-made menus.

The centre of Vic is explored on foot: leave the car in one of the free public car parks around it, such as the Miramarges one or the station one, or in the paid one at the Plaça Major, on the Rambla Davallades, open 24 hours. From there you walk in a few minutes, and you can combine lunch with a stroll round the Plaça Major, the cathedral of Sant Pere and the old town.