Restaurants in Barcelona
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Cafè Zurich
It doesn’t have the atmosphere of the cafe of the same name that once occupied this prime spot, but not even the hardest of hearts can deny the location is impeccable. Pull up an outdoor pew for the human circus that is Plaça de Catalunya, or huddle over a paper on the mezzanine on a winter’s day. In summer it stays open as late as 1am.
reviewed
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Elisabets
This unassuming restaurant is popular for no-nonsense local fare. The walls are lined with old radio sets and the menú del día (set menu, €10.75) varies daily. If you prefer a la carta, try the ragú de jabalí (wild boar stew) and finish with mel i mató (a Catalan dessert made from cheese and honey). Those with a post-midnight hunger on Friday nights can probably get a meal here as late as 1am.
reviewed
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Escribà
Antoni Escribà carries forward a family tradition (since 1906) of melting barcelonins’ hearts with remarkable pastries and criminal chocolate creations. Try the Easter bunyols de xocolata (little round pastry balls filled with chocolate cream). Escribà has another branch in a Modernista setting at La Rambla de Sant Josep 83.
reviewed
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Inopia
Albert Adrià, brother of star chef Ferran, has his hands full with this constantly busy gourmet-tapas temple. Select a pintxo de cuixa de pollastre a l’ast (chunk of rotisserie chicken thigh) or the lightly fried, tempura-style vegetables. Wash down with house red or Moritz beer.
reviewed
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Bar Celta
This bright, rambunctious tapas bar specialises in pulpo (octopus) and other sea critters like navajas (razor clams). It does a good job: even the most demanding of Galician natives give this spot the thumbs up. Sit at the zinc bar, order a bottle of Ribeiro and the traditional Galician tazas (little white cups) and tuck into your raciones (larger portions of tapas dishes).
reviewed
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Speakeasy
This clandestine restaurant lurks behind the Dry Martini bar. You will be shown a door through the open kitchen area to the ‘storeroom’, lined with hundreds of bottles of backlit, quality tipples. Dark decorative tones, a few works of art, low lighting, light jazz music and smooth service complete the setting. The menu has tempting options like the huge hunk of burrata cheese with white asparagus and strips of ravishing jamón (cured ham).
reviewed
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Casa Amalia
This formal restaurant is popular for its hearty Catalan cooking that uses fresh produce, mainly sourced from the busy market next door. On Thursdays during winter it offers the Catalan mountain classic, escudella. Otherwise, you might try light variations on local cuisine, such as the bacallà al allioli de poma (cod in an apple-based aioli sauce). The four-course menú del día is exceptional lunchtime value at €12.
The orange and white decorated joint has split-level dining that makes the most of its space.
reviewed
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Igueldo
White and maroon décor and smooth lines tempt patrons into this refined, contemporary Basque option. Sink into a white leather chair or perch at the back bar for chuletón a la parrilla (one kilo of grilled chop for two), or an intense cochinillo confitado con peras (suckling pig prepared with pears). Igueldo is a winner at lunch with a menú del día (€20) that include choices such as penne con txipirones (pasta with tiny cuttlefish).
reviewed
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Parco
The Italian love affair with Barcelona manifests itself here with this branch of the stylish Milan sushi-restaurant-cum-cocktail-bar. With a little fusion music in the background, start the evening with a round of bulbous cocktails before ordering plates of sushi and sashimi. Lighting is low, while red and black dominate the décor. Those unlucky enough to miss out on a lounge may find themselves uncomfortably perched on backless chairs.
reviewed
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Cerveseria Catalana
The ‘Catalan Brewery’ is good for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Come in for your morning coffee and croissant, or wait until lunch to enjoy choosing from the abundance of tapas and montaditos (canapés). You can sit at the bar, on the pavement terrace or in the restaurant at the back. The variety of hot tapas, salads and other snacks draws a well-dressed crowd of locals and outsiders.
reviewed
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Caelum
Centuries of heavenly gastronomic tradition from across Spain are concentrated in this exquisite medieval space in the heart of the city. Sweets (such as the irresistible marzipan from Toledo) made by nuns in convents across the country make their way to this den of delicacies. There's a shop adjoining the pretty cafe where you can buy goodies to take home; there's also an atmospheric underground chamber where you can secret yourself for tea and pastries from 3.30pm to closing time.
reviewed
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Monty Café
This laid-back Italian-run cafe has a terracotta floor, art on the walls, classic marble-top tables and a series of varied, secondhand lounges down one side and a bar at the back. Great for coffee, a long list of teas and cocktails, it also offers food from pasta to bruschetta. It’s a great place to lounge around over your laptop.
reviewed
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Organic
As you wander into this sprawling vegetarian spot, to the left is the open kitchen, where you choose from a limited range of options that change from day to day. Servings are generous and imaginative. The salad buffet is copious and desserts are good. The set lunch costs €9.50 plus drinks.
reviewed
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Crusto
A French-inspired bakery and pastry shop, its wonderful perfume of freshly baked bread, baguettes, croissants and countless pastries will be enough to convince you that it’s worth pulling up a stool here for a long and tasty breakfast.
reviewed
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Shunka
Shunka is a cut above Barcelona's Oriental average. The presence of Japanese punters is reassuring, and the open-plan kitchen also inspires confidence - you can keep an eye on what they're doing with your tempura and sashimi.
reviewed
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La Panxa Del Bisbe
With low lighting and a hip, young feel, the ‘Bishop’s Gut’ is a great place to indulge in some gourmet tapas, washed down with a fine wine, like the Albariño white from Galicia, for a surprisingly modest outlay.
reviewed
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El Racò d’En Freixa
On a quiet residential street deep in the Zona Alta, this hushed designer hideaway offers all sorts of little surprises from one of Spain’s top chefs, Ramon Freixa. Let’s see: what about the Big Duck, a hamburger of duck meat served with bread made of cereals, crystallised red onion and frozen mustard, for a starter? You can follow with one of six seafood options. A coolly elegant place, with clean cream-hued lines and flawless service, it’s little wonder Freixa has a Michelin star and has twice been voted Spain’s chef of the year by the country’s Gourmetour good food guide.
reviewed
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José Luis
Welcome to Madrid! Long established in the Spanish capital, the Barcelona branch occupies a privileged spot. It is said this place introduced the montadito (delicious little canapés) to Barcelona. Pick and choose from these and a long list of pinchos and raciones, including the all-time Madrid favourite, callos (tripe). Otherwise you could sit down in the elliptical basement for a classy meal served by brisk waiters in black jackets and bow ties. Mains of fish and meat come in at about €20. You can also opt for morning bocadillos at the bar.
reviewed
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Restaurant Evo
For a five-star dining experience beneath a transparent UFO-style dome, 105m above ground, grab a cab to Restaurant Evo, located in Hotel Hesperia Tower in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat. This is gourmet dining literally under the stars (of which one comes from Michelin). Lean lines dictate decor, with lacquer-finished tables, low white chairs and the inside of the dome lit up. The high point is the presentation of Mediterranean market cooking (say, the consomé de faisà amb els seus raviolis de foie i tòfona negra – a pheasant consommé with foie-gras ravioli and black truffle).
reviewed
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Mitsui
For a city that until the early 1990s barely counted a couple of Japanese restaurants, Barcelona has turned Japanese. Or rather Sino-Japanese. The bulk of the cheaper Japanese eateries now scattered across the city are Chinese run and often not bad value, even if the quality may fail to satisfy more discerning palates. A popular formula is the all-you-can-eat option, where you may take endless portions of sushi and sashimi, grilled seafood and vegetables (they are grilled in front of you), salads, Chinese-style dumplings and an awful lot more. Typical of the genre is Mitsui.
reviewed
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Via Veneto
Dalí used to regularly waltz into this high-society eatery after it opened in 1967. The vaguely art-deco setting (note the oval mirrors), orange-rose tablecloths, leather chairs and fine cutlery may cater to more conservative souls, but the painter was here for the kitchen exploits. Catalan dishes dominate, with delicacies such as roast suckling pig or salt-baked sea bass with black rice and razor clams.
reviewed
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Cal Boter
Families and noisy groups of pals are drawn to this classic eatery for cargols a la llauna (snails sautéed in a tin dish), filet de bou a la crema de foie (a thick clump of tender beef drowned in an orange and foie gras sauce), and other Catalan specialities, including curious mar i muntanya (sea and mountain) combinations like bolets i gambes (mushrooms and prawns). The menú del día (lunch Tuesday to Friday) comes in at a good-humoured €9.80.
reviewed
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Dolso
There is a good reason for saying ‘no’ to dessert in nearby restaurants and coming here for the final dish of the evening. A constantly changing menu of sugary delights, from standards such as tiramisu to concoctions like the nemesi de chocolate (a chocolate pastry with cream of passion fruit), makes dessert in this laid-back spot a great temptation. A small selection of savoury dishes, such as the coques (a kind of open toasted broad baguette with toppings like goat cheese with honey and nuts) means that you can contemplate a full meal.
reviewed
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Embat
Enthusiastic young chefs turn out beautifully presented dishes in this basement eatery, the brown and cream decor of which might not enchant all comers. You can eat three fish or meat courses for around €20 to €25 at lunch.
Indulge perhaps in raviolis de pollo amb bacon i calabassó (chicken ravioli bathed in a sauce of finely chopped bacon, zucchini and other vegetables) followed by melt-in-the-mouth lluç amb pa amb tomàquet, carxofes i maionesa de peres (a thick cut of hake on a tomato-drenched clump of bread dressed with artichoke slices and a pear mayonnaise).
reviewed
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Coure
The minimalist decor gives away that a chef with avant-garde ideas is at work in his laboratory-kitchen. The end results are far from over the top, leaning to nicely elaborated dishes such as the cochinillo ibérico con manzana al horno (oven-roasted suckling pig with apple). The set lunch menu (€18) is a great-value sample, popular with office workers all over the area. There’s also a tasting menu at €45. A curtain of copper chains hides the dining area from the bar in the entrance (the name is a play on words, meaning both ‘copper’ and ‘to cook’).
reviewed