Spain
I would really like to recommend a new restaurant in Barcelona called Llamber. It's situated in the new hip area of Born. It's one of the few places in Barcelona, where you get a free pitxo (mini tapas) with your glass of wine. For the wine lover they have 150 different wines, 30 by glass and they start from only 2,5€. Also they have a really good a la carte menu with different kinds of tapas, tables of cheeses and Spanish ham, dessert etc., all served in a creative and beautiful way.
I love to go there because the food is delicious and it's a really friendly and informal place with beautiful decoration.
www.llamberbarcelona.com
Carrer de la Fusina 5, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
(+34) 933 196 250
Google map: bit.ly/UcViNJ
Cal Boter is the right place to try traditional Catalan restaurant food in Barcelona. They cook the kind of food you might find in a restaurant in the country, but they are in one of the most traditional, full of local flavor, barrios of Barcelona.
www.restaurantcalboter.com
Carrer de Tordera, 62 08012 Barcelona
+34 934 58 84 62
Google map: bit.ly/ZWmaCh
While I tried a number of good restaurants in Barcelona during our recent holiday, I also had another great experience at a cooking class I took called ‘Papa Serra – Culinary Adventures in Barcelona’. I learned how to make what was quite possibly the best tapa I tried in Barcelona. It was chicken poached in wine and lemon then mixed with saffron yogurt, black grapes and toasted almonds. Then it was wrapped in a radicchio and lightly braised in the poaching liquid. Then we dipped it in a spice mix of fennel seeds, bee pollen and lemon zest. It was so delicious and a highlight of our holiday! I would definitely recommend it to anyone that loves Barcelona and wants to learn more about Spanish and Catalan food and culture.
There are a few other nice bars and restaurants nearby but CDLC is by far the best choice. This place serves as a cool, swanky and fashionable eaterie by day and a trendy bar/club by night. Decked out in a fusion of Oriental and Mediterranean decor and ornaments, it's hard not to be drawn in. It's a great place to go for lunch after a stroll/swim at the beach. During the day we took in the glorious sunshine and relaxed on the huge outdoor loungers - the size of a double bed - at the front of the restaurant. It's very much a casual yet chic dining experience. The food was great and elegantly presented. I'd recommend the rice dishes or club sandwiches if it's a light bite you're after. It's a bit pricey but you're paying not only for the food but also the ambience and experience. We came back here later on at night. The atmosphere was completely different, but in a good way. By night CDLC is transformed into a slick, sophisticated and enchanting club where you can reserve individual indoor lounges which are partitioned by long white drapes - it has an almost mystic Middle Eastern feel. Opposite the lounge area is the bar which served a wide range of cocktails. Further back is the dance floor - music policy ranged from chart/dance/electronica/hiphop, so something for all preferences.
www.cdlcbarcelona.com/
Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta, 32 08003 Barcelona, Spain
+34(0)932 24 04 70
Google map: bit.ly/Awia8X
This cosy little place next to the Sagrada Familia is the only place I found in the tourist heart of the city that does not try to ruin your wallet. It has an eclectic decor with Banksy prints and about 100 pairs of sunglasses. All the tables are home made, and the food is extraordinary. It ranges from salads and soups, to burritos and nachos and covers tapas in between. The quality is very good and its not expensive at all. They have a terrace overlooking the Sagrada Familia, and if you stay there till night falls like we did it all goes a little bit crazy. How they fit that many people in the place escapes me, but the owners introduced us to about 20 new friends from all over the world. Great food, great company, good times, highly recommended
www.chillbarcelona.com
Provenca 424 (corner with Sicilia) 08025 Barcelona
+34 934762270
Google map: bit.ly/rr3eE4
Take the lift to the roof-top terrace for smashing views over the harbour. Open from 11.00 till 01.30 at the weekends and till midnight during the week you can book a meal or just enjoy a drink and the view. There’s live music and cocktails too. It’s a great place to cool off and chill out.
Passeig Colóm, 12, 08002 Barcelona
+34 93 268 90 90
www.hduquesadecardona.com/
Google map: bit.ly/pwC1kz
Exhausted and thirsty after negotiating the crowded Rambles? Tired after traipsing around the shops on Portal del Àngel? Pop into this four-star hotel on the Plaça de Catalunya itself and relax in the shade of the apsis of Romanic Santa Ana Church. (That’s two secrets in one.) Incredible as it may seem, 30 seconds from Plaça de Catalunya is a Romanic church complete with beautiful cloisters; this hotel backs onto it and you can see parts of it from the terrace. Open all day so you can have breakfast, a set lunch and a la carte dinner, as well as drinks. Don’t miss it.
www.oliviahotels.es
Plaça Catalunya 19, 08002 Barcelona
+34 93 316 87 00
The first stop for vegetarians and others overwhelmed by an excess of Iberian ham, fuet –cured Catalan sausage– and all the other delicious local food that can be a little resource-intensive is Juicy Jones: great for Vegan salads and a variety of juices. Service is good, prices are too, and most people I know who’ve been there are keen to go back. The guacamole is very popular and the noodles and veg done in the wok are a great favourite. Try calling before going if you want a sit-down lunch, the place is quite small.
Cardenal Cassanyes 7, 08002 Barcelona
+39 93 302 43 30
Google map: bit.ly/jXp88r
A classic, timeless favourite, Ponsa has been serving home cooking since 1940. Nacho Salanova, the chef, still uses the original wood stove, one of the few remaining in Barcelona. (If you arrive late you might be squeezed in nearby.)
Following a fast disappearing tradition, Ponsa offers certain dishes on certain days:
stew on Mondays, a warming escudella on winter Tuesdays, paella on Thursdays…
You’ll also find the entire range of classic Catalan staples on the menu, fricandó braised steak with wild mushrooms, squid in batter, pigs trotters, kidneys, canalons, white beans and sausage, steak, fresh fish, crema catalana, curds and pastries.
It’s not at all unusual to see the heart-warming sight of three generations sitting down to Sunday lunch together, sharing food lovingly cooked in the traditional way.
As an additional bonus, Ponsa has kept its original decoration: simple, elegant and
comfortable.
Dolors presides over the dining room with a fine and friendly style.
Don’t miss it.
Enric Granados 89, 08008 Barcelona
+ 34 93 453 10 37
Google map: bit.ly/kY54fD
El Filete Ruso’s mission is to return quality and dignity to the much-maligned hamburger.
The veal used is produced bio-dynamically, that is slowly and naturally in the rich, green pastures of L’Espunyola in the Pyrenees foothills. The animals are fed organically and given none of the hormone and antibiotic treatments common in industrial stock raising. The chicken is also free-range and fed naturally. Both are bought direct from the suppliers.
El Filete Ruso also tries to ensure all food and other supplies have the minimum carbon footprint by sourcing as much as they can from as near as possible.
There are thirteen kinds of hamburger: the more common variations of veal and bacon, cheese and so on, and some very unusual ones such as veal, wild mushrooms, wild asparagus and brie, or the vegetarian white beans, rice, mushrooms, tomato and lettuce. There is a wide selection of garnishes including caramelised onion or tomato, onion rings, roast potatoes with allioli.
Owners Alex and Claudio will be happy to suggest interesting combinations.
The low wooden tables are pleasantly comfortable, but most people prefer to eat
outside, if they can. Heaters will keep you warm if it’s unseasonably chilly. Well worth a visit.
Enric Granados 95, 08007 Barcelona
+ 34 93 217 13 10
www.elfileteruso.com
Google map: bit.ly/l828q4
Its a great Japanese restaurant close to the Santa Katarina food market. They have a child space called Kodomoo (child in Japanese) which offers babysitting after 1pm on Saturdays while the parents are eating. I found it unique and a great way to have a quiet lunch with our friends - meanwhile my son was playing and having a great time instead of suffering in a babychair by the table.
www.doblezeroo.com/
Carrer de Jaume Giralt, 53, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
+34 933 15 17 44
Google map: bit.ly/jjBnRO
A lot of people prefer Sucoa to the nearby, well known and consequently more popular – alright then, overcrowded – Cerveseria Catalana. Me too. I think Sucoa is a much more pleasant and relaxing option and the food is just as good, if not better. Sucoa is on the corner of Enric Granados and Valencia.
Tapas tend to be quite simple, cheeses, cured Iberian meats and ham and high quality tinned stuffs (tuna, sardines, shellfish).
And of course top ranking croquetas with extraordinarily crisp coatings surrounding smooth, flavourful yet subtle fillings.
The cod variety is a smooth mousse of cod and creamy béchamel – a delight. The Gruyere and Parmesan cheese ones defy description.
Delicious with a glass of Barcelona’s traditional beer, Moritz, and especially Epidor, the dark double-malt ale also made with water brought from Montseny mountain.
The restaurant is rightly popular and serves fine food; the lamb is highly recommendable and so is the fresh seafood. There’s a good selection of mid-priced range wines. Service is friendly and efficient.
Enric Granados, 24, 08007, Barcelona
Tel: + 34 93 451 38 44
Google map: bit.ly/lJ1YFP
Now, Casa Jaime is not the sort of place visitors normally go: it’s a workingman’s bar and lunch restaurant serving simple fare. However, Jaime, the owner, is from Soria and among the tapas you can try are his Iberian cured sausages and – my special recommendation – his homemade croquetas. Now a good croqueta is never born; it’s always made from scraps of meat and vegetables from other dishes, notably stews. At Casa Jaime, the croquetas are made from the meat and veg left over from the thick chicken and meat stew known in Catalonia as escudella.
Massive and misshapen, these authentic croquetas bear little resemblance to those industrial cylinders facetiously served as the real thing in unsavoury bars devoted to tricks on travellers.
Jaime’s octogenarian mom spends a couple of hours separating and shredding the ingredients, mixing them with a thick béchamel and coating them in crumbs.
Anyone wishing to experience the genuine traditional croqueta should drop in, order a couple and wash them down with a bottle of Moritz, Barcelona’s original beer.
Moritz appeared in 1856, disappeared in the late nineteen seventies and has now made a triumphant reappearance. Its distinctive yellow and blue label, fine graphic design and superb marketing knock the hell out of Estrella Damm’s pretentious efforts to be trendy. The beer’s great, too; Moritz brings spring water from the Montseny massif and uses only the finest hop flowers in its fermentation. The beer tastes fresh, clean and delicate.
Enric Granados 107, 08008 Barcelona
+34 93 218 10 55
Google map: bit.ly/jKeLAA
Start the day with freshly baked pastries at Cup and Cake located in the leafy pedestrian stretch of Enric Granados between Avinguda Diagonal and Carrer Paris.
As the name suggests, several varieties of cupcakes figure largely on the menu, alongside traditionally popular breakfast favourites such as toast, ham and other freshly made sandwiches.
All products are freshly handmade using the finest natural ingredients and there’s a strict no additives policy.
Coffee is 100% organic and the baristas are all qualified by the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe, guaranteeing you a first class café con leche.
Cup and Cake has no terrace but there are cushions on a bench just by the window where you can enjoy your coffee and the bright Barcelona mornings.
Inside, the décor is a quaint mixture of odds and ends with a welcoming, informal feel.
Cup and Cake is open for breakfast and tea but closes at lunchtime.
Enric Granados, 145, (Barcelona), Spain
+ 34 93 200 28 72
www.cupcakesbarcelona.com
Google map: bit.ly/iWKRcw
The long, skinny street of Calle Verdi in Gràcia is dotted with cheap eateries and interesting bars. The restaurants are mainly Arabic (Egyptian, Syrian and Lebanese) although there’s also a smattering of Japanese and the odd other ethnic eatery, from Mexican to Chinese. There are a handful of squares and each one seems to be lined with small bars that hum with the chatter of friends late at night. Locals head here around 9pm to eat although the bars don’t start happening until after midnight.
Calle Verdi, Gràcia
Google map: bit.ly/lTCrbU
The creative Catalan cuisine that you find in Barcelona makes the city one of the world’s best dining destinations. Not only is the food inventive, it’s also terrific value for the fine quality. You just don’t find food this innovative and affordable in New York, Paris or London. The most experimental and most affordable food can be found in the tiny ‘bistronomic’ restaurants where you can get superb tasting menus that you’ll want to savour. The most representative of this genre and my favourite is Cinc Sentits by talented chef Jordi Artal; his sommelier and maître d' sister Amelia is also a star. The dishes and menu change constantly so I can't recommend specific dishes, but if you’re only going to have one meal in Barcelona, have it here.
Aribau, 58, 08011
+34 93 323 9490
www.cincsentits.com/
Google map: bit.ly/kWwGq2
Chanced upon this gem of place while headed to the bustling Rambla del Poblenou. Doesn't look much from the outside, but inside it's spacious and modern. Staff are friendly and more importantly it's a vegetarian place in Spain! Popped here twice during my stay and the food was superb. Had some scrumptious nachos, artichoke dip and hummus to name a few. The bread (free with dip before drinks even arrived) was outstanding. Understand from the menu that it comes from the organic Reykjavik bakery. Two main meals with beers and coffee came to less than 25€. Would definitely recommend this place to all followed by a stroll down the Rambla del Poblenou to the beach.
aguaribay-bcn.com/
Calle Ramon Turro 181, Barcelona
+34 93 300 37 90
Google map: bit.ly/fHqxp2
This off-the-beaten-path culinary tour is a great find. We walked for about three hours between four different shops and restaurants and got a fabulous introduction to Barcelona's Gothic neighbourhood. Excellent.
I recommend a quick drink and a bit to eat with the kids in the Obama Bar in Barcelona. We were walking around in the rain looking for a nice place to have a drink, and by luck we came across the Obama Bar, just days before he was elected!
Gran via de les Corts Catalanes 603
08007 Barcelona
Tel: 933016524
www.obamabcn.com
Google map: tinyurl.com/y8g8j3a
A small, stylish restaurant near the Sagrada Familia serving excellent, imaginative modern Catalan cuisine. Great value menu at lunchtimes. The staff are fantastic, friendly and welcoming, fabulous wine list too at reasonable prices.
Calle Corsega 537, Barcelona, 08025. Tel: 934358048
libentiarestaurant@yahoo.es
tinyurl.com/lmykep
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