Bar entertainment in Barcelona
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A
Palau de Dalmases - Espai Barroc
Perhaps the most pretentious bar in town, this 'baroque space' occupies the ground floor of a handsome 15th-century palace. Like a Peter Greenaway set, it is often the stage for a little light baroque music or operetta - the perfect accompaniment to your outlandishly priced goblets of wine.
reviewed
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B
La Caseta del Migdia
The effort of getting to what is, to all intents and purposes, a simple chiringuito (makeshift cafe-bar) is well worth it. Walk below the walls of the Montjuïc castle along the dirt track or follow Passeig del Migdia (watch out for signs for the Mirador del Migdia). Stare out to sea over a beer or coffee by day. As sunset approaches the atmosphere changes, as lounge music (from samba to funk) wafts out over the hammocks. If the cocktails don’t inebriate you, the smell of the pines will. It also puts on BBQ food at lunch and crêpes after 4.30pm.
reviewed
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C
Kiosco la Cazalla
For decades from 1912, the Kiosco La Cazalla served passers-by beer, wine or a glass of morello cherry-based firewater known as cazalla. This little-known Andalucian beverage, often served with a few raisins floating in it, is an acquired taste (some Italians claim it is similar to sambuca). After years closed up, the hole in the wall just off La Rambla (claiming to be Barcelona’s smallest bar) is back in business. A shot of 50-proof cazalla costs €1.50.
reviewed
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D
Barcelona Rouge
Decadence is the word that springs to mind in this bordello-red lounge–cocktail bar, with acid jazz, drum and bass and other soothing sounds drifting along in the background. No, you’re not addled with drink and drugs, the corridor leading out back to the bar really is that crooked. The walls are laden with heavy-framed paintings, dim lamps and mirrors, and no two chairs are alike. Stick to simple drinks, as the €10 glamour cocktails are on the watery side. It also offers sandwiches and snacks.
reviewed
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E
Bodega la Penúltima
There is a baroque semi-darkness about this dark timber and sunset-yellow place, which gives off airs of an old-time wine bar. In Spanish lore, one never drinks la última (the last one) as it is bad luck. Rather, it is always the ‘second last’ (penúltima) round. A mixed group crowds into the lumpy lounges around uneven tables at the back or huddles at the bar for endless second-last rounds of wine, beer or cocktails.
reviewed
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F
Santa Marta
Foreigners who have found seaside nirvana in Barcelona hang out in this chilled bar back from the beach. A curious crowd of Rastas, beach bums and switched-on dudes chat over light meals and beer inside or relax outside over a late breakfast. It has some tempting food too: a mix of local and Italian items, with a range of filled rolls (bocatas) for €5, or a dish of mozzarella di bufala (buffalo-milk cheese) for €8.
reviewed
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G
Lika Lounge
The publicity noise about Barcelona’s only ‘ice bar’ (a bar with a strip of ice to sit your drinks on) is a bit of a distraction. But this backstreet cocktail lounge is a low-lit, fashionable place to sip on creative combinations. The Pornstar Martini, with Cointreau, passionfruit and a side glass of cava, hits the spot. Through the back is a second smaller bar, and DJ sounds cover a broad, mainstream spectrum.
reviewed
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H
El Paraigua
A tiny chocolate box of dark tinted Modernisme, the ‘Umbrella’ has been serving up drinks since the 1960s. The turn-of-the-20th-century decor was transferred here from a shop knocked down elsewhere in the district and cobbled back together to create this cosy locale. Take a trip in time from Modernisme to medieval by heading downstairs to the brick and stone basement bar area. Part of the walls date to the 11th century.
reviewed
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I
Noise I Art
Step back into the 1980s in this retro den. Red, green and other primal colours dominate the decor in a place where you might encounter Boney M on the video music play. Drape yourself on the circular red lounge, have a light meal (served up on old LPs) at red-lit tables alongside floor-to-ceiling glass windows, or perch yourself at the bar. The daiquiris may not be the best you’ve ever had, but probably the biggest!
reviewed
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J
Taverna La Violeta
They just don’t make bars like this anymore. A broad and sociable space with a pool room next door, this crumpled, cheerful bar was long something of a working-class meeting centre. Drinking goes on much as before at its mostly marble-topped tables, but the bulk of the punters are now of the student variety. The atmosphere is good-natured and rowdy, and you can pick up tapas and bocadillos (filled rolls).
reviewed
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K
La Fira
A designer bar with a difference. Wander in past distorting mirrors and ancient fairground attractions from Germany. Put in coins and listen to hens squawk. Speaking of squawking, the music swings wildly from whiffs of house through ’90s hits to Spanish pop classics. You can spend the earlier part of the night trying some of the bar’s shots – it claims to have 500 varieties (but we haven’t counted them up).
reviewed
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L
Toscano Antico
Bored with running the family Tuscan restaurant in Milan, the young Italian owners of Toscano have transported the classy Milanese aperitivo to Barcelona, mixing it with local energy. On the bar are snacks alla Milanese, to be taken (free) with generous cocktails. Let the bar staff fix you a special, unlisted concoction and grab one of the handful of tiny tables out back.
reviewed
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M
Ars
An attractive cocktail lounge is squeezed like toothpaste into this long locale (that’s how they build things here!). Décor is predominantly white, with split levels (each level with its own bar) and a smattering of leather lounges and stools. Drinks are a little pricey but the casually cool 30-something crowd loves it. They offer wi-fi and sometimes have art exhibitions.
reviewed
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N
La Confitería
This is a trip into the 19th century. Until the 1980s it was a confectioner’s shop, and although the original cabinets are now lined with booze, the look of the place has barely changed in its conversion into a laid-back bar. A quiet enough spot for a house vermut (€3; add your own soda) in the early evening, it fills with theatregoers and local partiers later at night.
reviewed
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Barraval
With its designer looks, greys, black and subtle lighting, this is a hard-to-categorize, all-in-one evening-out location split over two floors. Mediterranean fusion dishes reign in the early evening as people crowd in for dinner. From 11pm, DJs fill the air with mixes of jazz, funk, R&B, soul and Latin sounds. Wednesday nights there is a free snack buffet for tipplers.
reviewed
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P
Alfa
Aficionados of good old-fashioned rock love this unchanging bar-cum-minidisco, a Gràcia classic. Records hang from the ceiling as if to remind you that most of the music comes from the pre-CD era, ’60s to ’80s and the occasional later intruder. Take up a stool for a drink and chat or head for the no-frills dance area just beyond. There’s another bar right up the back.
reviewed
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Q
Bar Pastís
A French cabaret theme (with lots of Piaf in the background) dominates this tiny, cluttered classic. It’s been going, on and off, since the end of WWII. You’ll need to be in here before 9pm to have a hope of sitting, getting near the bar or anything much else. On some nights it features live acts, usually performing French chansons. Tuesday night is Tango night.
reviewed
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R
Bocayma
Bocayma starts in quiet fashion with patrons gathered around its low tables lined up on one side of the rear bar area. Two backlit bars also keep the drinks coming to this low-lit honey pot of good-looking 20- and 30-somethings. After 1am the music takes off and punters rev up for an outing to nearby clubs. It often opens beyond its official hours.
reviewed
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S
Betty Ford
This enticing corner bar is one of several good stops along the student-jammed run of Carrer de Joaquín Costa. It does some nice cocktails and the place fills with an even mix of locals and foreigners, generally not much over 30 and with an abundance of tats and piercings. Those with a hunger fear not – they cook up some decent burgers here, too.
reviewed
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T
Plata Bar
A summer seat on the corner terrace of this wide-open bar attracts a lot of lads in the course of an evening hopping the area’s gay bars. Inside, metallic horse-saddle stools are lined up at the bar and high tables, the music drifts through modes of dance and trance and waiters whip up drinks from behind a couple of candelabra on the bar.
reviewed
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Blondie
Long a dark little dive that had slowly sunk into oblivion, this simple, backstreet bar has subtle, multicoloured lighting, Estrella Galicia beer (the country’s crispest lager) and something of a conspiratorial air. Italian run, it lures folk in for happy hour from 7pm to 10pm. You could find yourself locked in until 4am.
reviewed
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London Bar
Open since 1909, this Modernista bar started as a hang-out for circus hands and was later frequented by the likes of Picasso, Miró and Hemingway (didn’t they have any work to do?). Still as popular as it was in Picasso’s time, this place fills to the brim with punters at the long front bar and rickety old tables.
reviewed
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Sinatra
Lurking back a block from boisterous Plaça Reial is this no less raucous location. It’s largely patronised by foreigners (Spanish-speaking staff are hard to locate!) who flop into splotchy cowhide-pattern lounges, perch on long stools beneath the mirror ball and sip Desperados beer while listening to ’80s tracks.
reviewed
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Bar Aurora
Once a dark and crowded early opener, the Aurora has morphed under Italian management into a cheery, laid-back multicoloured spot. Set over a couple of floors with variegated lighting, low music and a good vibe, this place is worth wandering just off the Rambla del Raval as you search for beer or a mixed drink.
reviewed
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Y
Café San Telmo
This narrow bar has an appealingly busy feel, with big windows along Carrer de Casanova revealing the crowds and traffic of nearby Avinguda Diagonal. Perch at the bar for a couple of low-key drinks early in your night out (some of the area’s key bars and clubs are just over the other side of Avinguda Diagonal).
reviewed
