Tapas restaurants in Barcelona
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A
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.
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B
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.
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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.
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D
La Bodegueta Provença
The ‘Little Wine Cellar’ offers classic tapas presented with a touch of class, from calamares a la andaluza (lightly battered calamari rings) to cecina (dried cured veal meat). The house speciality is ous estrellats (literally ‘smashed eggs’) – a mix of scrambled egg white, egg yolk, potato and then ingredients ranging from foie gras to morcilla (black pudding). Wash it all down with a good Ribera del Duero or caña (little glass) of beer.
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E
La Pubilla del Taulat
Get inside the eatery in this late-19th-century building quickly, as you’ll find the bar has been stripped of all its tapas delights if you arrive much after 10pm. Tucked away in backstreets still partly lined with low-slung houses of another era, this place is a popular stop. All the classics are present: patatas bomba (spicy meat stuffed potatoes), mejillones al vapor (steamed mussels), chocos (lightly fried cuttlefish slices) and more.
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F
Bar Velódromo
The reopening of this once-classic tavern in 2009 brings back a fine-looking establishment in which to take breakfast, stop for an aperitif or sit down for a meal. The low, corner building retains much of its original look, with timber omnipresent. Food largely consists of tapas and smallish renderings of fairly typical Catalan and Spanish dishes. More than anything, this place is about its history and atmosphere.
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Inopia
Albert Adrià, brother of Barcelona’s star chef Ferran and something of a kitchen celebrity himself, runs this popular corner tapas temple. If you can’t grab one of the handful of tables, don’t worry, just stand inside or out and 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.
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Cal Pep
It’s getting a foot in the door here that’s the problem – there can be queues around the square with people trying to get in. And if you want one of the five tables out the back, you’ll need to call ahead. Most people are happy elbowing their way to the bar for some of the tastiest gourmet seafood tapas in town.
Pep recommends cloïsses amb pernil (clams and ham) or the trifàsic (combo of calamari, whitebait and prawns). Its other pièce de résistance is a super smooth tortilla de patatas (Spanish omelette) and tuna tartare.
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I
El Roure
This old-time locals’ bar is what Hemingway meant by a ‘clean, well-lighted place’. Sidle up to the bar or pull up a little wooden chair and tuck into good-value tapas from the bar, washed down by a few cold Estrellas. The bunyols de bacallà are delightful battered balls of cod that demand to be gobbled up. The place is full to bursting most of the time.
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Tapaç 24
Carles Abellán, master of Comerç 24 in La Ribera, runs this basement tapas haven known for its gourmet versions of old faves. Specials include the bikini (toasted ham and cheese sandwich – here the ham is cured and the truffle makes all the difference) and a thick black arròs negre de sípia (squid-ink black rice).
The inventive McFoie-Burguer is fantastic and, for dessert, choose xocolata amb pa, sal i oli (delicious balls of chocolate in olive oil with a touch of salt and wafer). You can’t book but it's worth the wait.
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K
Terrabacus
Food exists to accompany wine, or so one could be led to believe here. In this ‘Land of Bacchus’, one of the joys is sampling from the extensive wine list and choosing bites to go down with the nectar. You might try the various cheese platters or select a dish of high-grade Joselito cured ham. More substantial dishes range from risotto to steak tartare.
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Nou Candanchú
The liveliest locale on the square, Nou Candanchú is a long-time favourite for various reasons. Many flock to its sunny terrace just for a few drinks. Accompany the liquid refreshment with one of the giant entrepans (filled rolls) for which this place is famous. Otherwise, it offers a limited range of tapas and reasonable grilled-meat dishes.
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M
Rosal 34
Exposed brick and stone walls and a sinuous bar, accompanied by wafting lounge sounds, set the scene for a gourmet experience. You can opt for one of two tasting menus (€48/60) or search the menu for such numbers as saltejat de xipironets de platja amb trompeta de la mort i ou escalfat (sautéed small beach cuttlefish with mushrooms and egg).
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N
Bar Tomàs
Many barcelonins have long claimed that Bar Tomàs is by far the best place in the city for patatas bravas (potato chunks in a slightly spicy tomato sauce), prepared here with a special variation on the traditional sauce. The place is a rough-edged bar, but that doesn’t stop the well-off citizens of Sarrià piling in, particularly for lunch on weekends.
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Bar Central
Hiding out towards the back of Barcelona’s best-known market is this fabulously chaotic lunchtime bar. Marketeers, local workers and the occasional curious tourist jostle for a stool – get there early or be prepared to wait. Order a few generous raciones, and make one of them the grilled fish of the day.
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P
Cata 1.81
A beautifully designed venue (with lots of small lights, some trapped in birdcages), this is the place to come for fine wines and dainty gourmet dishes like raviolis amb bacallà (salt-cod dumplings) or truita de patates i tòfona negre (thick potato tortilla with a delicate trace of black truffle). The best option is to choose from one of several tasting-menu options ranging from €28 to €45.
The cheapest option is the fixed lunchtime menu at €16. Since wines feature so highly here, let rip with the list of fine Spanish tipples.
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Q
Cerveseria Brasseria Gallega
You could walk right by this modest establishment without giving it a second glance. If you did, you’d notice it was chock-full of locals immersed in animated banter and surrounded by plates of abundant Galician classics. The fresh pulpo a la gallega (spicy octopus chunks with potatoes) as starter confirms this place is a cut above the competition.
Waiters have little time for loitering, but always a quick quip. The setting is simple, the meat dishes succulent and the fideuà (similar to paella but with vermicelli noodles as the base) full of seafood flavour.
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R
D.O
A bright, perhaps overly lit spot, D.O serves vins i platillos (wine and little dishes). The accent is placed on the opportunity to taste various wines by the glass, accompanied by small dishes of anything from salads to seafood.
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S
Santa Maria
Swing through the doors of this snazzy place for a smorgasbord of gourmet tapas. Beautifully decked out and always busy, Santa Maria turns out innovative and specialist creations ranging from falafel to fried plantain with mussels.
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T
Bar Pinotxo
Bar Pinotxo is arguably La Boqueria's, and even Barcelona's, best tapas bar. It sits among the half-dozen or so informal eateries within the market, and the popular owner, Juanito, might serve up chickpeas with a sweet sauce of pine nuts and raisins, a fantastically soft mix of potato and spinach sprinkled with coarse salt, baby soft baby squid with cannellini beans, or a quivering cube of caramel sweet pork belly.
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Ciudad Condal
This place 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). >.
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Quimet i Quimet
Quimet i Quimet is a family-run business that has been passed down from generation to generation. There’s barely space to swing a calamari in this bottle-lined, standing-room-only place, but it is a treat for the palate. Look at all those gourmet tapas waiting for you! Let the folk behind the bar advise you, and order a drop of fine wine to accompany the food.
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