- Barcelona
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Spain
This is a bar that I would dearly love to have just down the road at home!
Small, cosy and intimate, playing great music from Joy Division, The Smiths, Bowie, The Sex Pistols, etc.. An indie mecca for music.
Friendly bar staff, cheap prices and never that concerned about closing! I left there at gone 2am and there was no sign of people leaving, in fact others were still coming in!
Do yourself a favour and discover this little gem!
Great environment. Excellent Cava selection. Even though there might be a queue the line moves quickly - we were out the door and it took us less than 20 minutes to sit down (can't book). I preferred it to the sister restaurant - the flagship Commerce 24 (too sterile for me).
tapaC24
diputacio, 269
08007 barcelona
If you are a carnivore, and like eating lamb, then go to Asador de Aranda. If you aren't a carnivore, and don't like eating lamb, then don't. It's as simple as that. Asador de Aranda serves only lamb. but wow - it's the best lamb you could ever imagine. They stick great big wodges of the meat in a wood stove, and it comes out crisp on the outside and melting in the middle. You don't need anything with it, because anything else would simply fill a hole in your tummy which could otherwise be filled with lamb, so don't waste that space. It's a local favourite, so you won't find tourists here, just local families celebrating birthdays, or just enjoying lamb! The staff are wonderful, and delighted in watching us tuck into the juicy meat. In fact two waiters were so thrilled by our reaction that they brought us complimentary dessert and liqueurs - we really made some friends that night! Ignore the Ramblas, go to Asador de Aranda!
Avinguda Tibidabo, 31, Barcelona 08080 Spain www.asadoraranda.com/
A friendly, bohemian cafe-bar in the Gothic quarter, just off Carrer de Ferran. Expect to be sitting alongside writers and artists - writing and drawing, no less - during your stay. Food is reasonably priced (eg soup and a main - the 'combi of the day' - for 6 euros). Plus the staff all seem to know English, but avoid speaking it if possible - usually a good sign.
5 Calle de Arai
The hotel Omm is one of the coolest in the city with a price tag to match. In the lobby is the restaurant Moo (equally expensive) and also brasserie Moovida.
Although having different names, the restaurant and brasserie tables are almost next to each other so there's not too much difference in atmosphere, the food and wines (try the rose) are delicious and it's a fraction of the price.
Perfect place for taking friends to impress them!
Lobby of Hotel Omm. Rosselló, 265, Barcelona, Barcelona 08008.
A tiny dark wood bar where the ageing white-suited cocktail barmen expertly mix all the classics. It has no menu so this isn’t the place to go for a passionfruit vodkatini, but if you want to experience all the understated glamour of a bygone era, there’s no better place. Go for its simple signature gimlet cocktail or a martini. Heaven.
Calle Rec 24 (metro Jaume 1
Tiny cocktail bar (no tables, no chairs - just a bar). Though in the middle of Born still a very nice place.
Rec 24 (just off Santa Maria del Mar church) in the Born
The 'hetro friendly' Axel Hotel in Barcelona has a great roof top bar. Relax by the spa in the day and start the evening with drinks on the roof before hitting the bars below.
Boadas cocktail bar is the oldest in Barcelona and does not have a list of cocktails. Just ask for anything or describe your mood and the bartenders will mix you the perfect drink.
If you can't afford to stay at the luxury Arts Hotel on the marina, you should definitely pop in for a couple of drinks and use the terrace.
Drinks aren't expensive. In fact, they were cheaper than our three-star hotel!
Pile 43: the best mojito I've ever had, in a cool bar that doubles as a furniture shop, or is it the other way round?
For an alternative bar, filled with grungy Spaniards and cool European types, with a DJ playing cool indie tunes, try Cafe Flamingos, in the heart of El Raval, just 5 mins walk from Las Ramblas.
The 9th Floor café in El Corte Ingles department store in Placa Catalunya. Snacks. Coffee. Beer. Reasonable prices and even better views.
Medium size, you can usually get a seat although it gets quite packed.
Gritty with a good healthy crowd, DJ spinning at the back with a very good taste funky/disco/indie rock.
Film projections on the walls. Drinks are cheap. Dirtily-hip, a lot of skaters hang out here, quite like the Raval neighbourhood. Info on BCN areas:
www.way2stay.com/area-info-Barcelona-en-52.htm
Manolo bar is Moog's answer to pre-club bar as you can pick up the free entry fliers here. Shuts at 3am.
It's 2 minutes from Las Ramblas.
Turn onto Nou de La Rambla off Las Ramblas. Take the first street on your left, Calle Lancaster, its 20 metres down on the left.
To call La Rambla a street somehow appears a little demeaning, thoroughfare or boulevard seem much more fitting words, however neither really adequately describe the 'slice of life' that is La Rambla.
Running from Placa de Catalunya down to the port area, La Rambla is a place for people to stroll, meet, pass through, trade, eat, drink, people watch and be entertained. And if you think it's busy wandering down its length at midday return at midnight when it's even livelier.
Entertainment comes in the form of buskers and street performers of the 'living statue' type - give them some coins and they'll perform for you or just admire them as they stand immobile. One favourite was the headless torso with the 'detached' head alive and chatting on a plate of vegetables next to him. There are also stalls selling flowers, sketch artists offering to draw your likeness and booths selling a variety of birds and small animals. Indeed it was quite incongruous seeing pigeons hoping around the ground in front of a booth where others were on sale.
Inevitably in such a busy place there will be pickpockets so be careful with your purse, camera and other valuables. However don't let that put you off, whether it's a morning, afternoon or evening stroll - La Rambla is the place.
La Rambla
A great place to spend all night drinking!
Just off the right hand side of La Rambla as you head NW
If you feel hassled and in need of a drink, be careful of this part of town. We had been desperately searching for 'churros' to satisfy the youngster, and felt our prayers had been answered when we saw a sign. We of course sat down without checking prices, and were amazed to see huge glasses arrive - they must have held a litre. On noticing that others also had them I checked a price list - 24 euros! On asking the waiter why we had not been asked if we wanted large or small drinks, we were told that our drinks were actually small, and that 'small' is always offered. This is utter rubbish because inside their bar everybody had normal small glasses. The scam here is to give people these big glasses and demand the money for the large drink they have jst started drinking. They bank on most people not questioning out of fear, and just wanting to leave. Many people needed a credit card to pay off their bill. We felt like fools, but our questioning meant that we only (!) paid 10 euros per drink. It took the edge off what has been a fantastic stay. Watch those drinks!
This is one of the loveliest places in Barcelona to hang out and daydream. Strictly speaking, the Bar del Pi is just off Placa del Pi in Placa Sant Josep Oriol. Bar del Pi features art donated by locals over the years and has always been a bohemian hangout popular with an over-25 crowd.
On Sundays in the square, there are often art fairs and you can buy yourself a comic from the legendary Makoki comic shops - I recommend 'El Bueno de Cuttlass', a hilarious stick cowboy who has a girlfriend called Mabel and an obsession with Kraftwerk.
The old town to the left of the Ramblas. If you stand at the entrance to Liceu Metro station, facing the Colon statue, and turn left down the nearest side street, you'll find the Placa del Pi. Otherwise, it's reachable from the other end from the Cathedral.
I don't know if this is a Catalan speciality, but it is absolutely gorgeous (and I am not even a chocaholic, not by a long way). In some, but not all, cafes, the hot chocolate drink is thick, a bit like custard, so that you have to eat it with a spoon. You might think it would be too rich, but no - because it's not too sickly sweet, just chocolatey. Often served with 'melindros' - almondy cakes a bit like spongy macaroons. Or 'churros' - unsugared doughnut 'worms' that are delicious.
Found in all cafes, but some serve xocolata thicker than others.
A lively, exciting part of town, where the trendy Catalans hang out and without the Brits abroad found chugging back cans of San Miguel as you will find on the Ramblas.
El Born has amazing bars and restaurants. Calle Banys Vells houses a great Cuban called Vieja Havana, and a cosy, romantic wine bar called Va da Vie. During the daytime El Born is home to great boutique clothes and shoe shops, although be warned, they close on Mondays.
Nearest metro station: Jaume II; main roads: Calle Argenteria, Calle Banys Vells and Passeig del Born
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