Barcelona
Restaurants in Barcelona
Flanked by the Pyrenees and bathed by the Mediterranean, Barcelona has an unbeatable bounty that makes it one of the prime culinary destinations in the world. Feast on high-end tapas by superstar brothers Ferran and Albert Adrià at Tickets, or seasonal fare at Carles Abellán's Michelin-starred Comerç24. Restaurants in Barcelona also boast touches of Moorish cuisine and, of course, Catalan specialties like mar i muntanya (surf 'n' turf) and crema catalana. In true Spanish style, bares de tapas are also a Barcelona staple, and one of the best ways to explore the city.
You'll want to check out a variety of Barcelona restaurants to fully experience its rich gastronomic landscape; try the legendary wood-oven lechazo asado at El Asador de Aranda, a juicy suckling lamb with a crispy outside. The restaurant has three locations (in Tibidabo, Londres, and Pau Claris) and focuses on specialties from the Castilla region. When strolling around La Barceloneta, stop for lunch at La Gavina, inside the Palau del Mar building. The menu is built around seafood, and their arroz negro (squid ink rice with seafood and vegetables) is one of the best in town.
Overlooking the marina in Port Vell, Mondo is an upscale seafood restaurant by day and a laid-back dance club by night.
This small restaurant near Montjuc transports diners to Venice with its authentic Italian fare. The menu includes homemade pastas, seafood, including cuttlefish and scallops, and classic Italian desserts like tiramisu.
Taverna—which resembles a dozen other barrio bars, with Ronaldinho kicking the ball on the tele suspended above the long marble counter—has a treasure in its 25-year-old chef, Toni Simoes, an alumnus of the three-starred Racó de Can Fabes.
The opening pun (comer, “to eat,” and Carrer Comerç) is fair warning that Carles Abellán is out to play with your mind and palate. At his sleek, red-accented eatery, just around the corner from one of the central plazas in the hopping Born neighborhood, dining is pure entertainment.
This venue has closed.
The quiet dining room in L’Eixample experiments with a cuisine at the intersection of Vietnam, New Orleans, and Catalonia. The result: lamb carpaccio topped with caramelized ginger and green-apple relish, and dorado steamed in a banana leaf with coconut milk.
Just off Passeig de Gracia, the city’s Art Nouveau shopping street, Tapaç 24 is great for a breakfast of bocadillos (sandwiches) and cafe con leche.
A fine-dining institution since 1967, Via Veneto uses fresh ingredients from the Mediterranean coast in its authentic Catalan cuisine. Helmed by the father-and-son team of José and Pedro Monje, the restaurant's interior is elegant, with Jacquard fabrics, heavy drapery, and jewel-toned accents.
Among the old fishermen’s houses of Barceloneta, this sepia-toned cervecería is full of local sea dogs and other salty types who come for house-brewed lager and a dizzying array of tapas (boat-fresh squid and shrimp; flash-fried padrón peppers).
Created by the Camper shoe company which also opened the Casa Camper hotel next door on Elisabets Street in north El Raval, FoodBALL is a unique two-room eatery that serves rice balls. Seating is on three tiers of broad steps with woven cushions and small lamps along a green wall.
With its urban-chic décor and classic Catalan dishes such as a salad of tuna belly with Montserrat tomatoes.
This meringue-white L’Eixample storefront belongs to Rafa Peña, the 32-year-old current leader of Spain’s bistronomic movement. Reservations are in high demand, and with good reason with dishes like “souffléed” egg with cured ham cream.
Computer screens light up with the 3,500-label wine list at Monvínic, a wine bar and restaurant featuring communcal tables and an unfinished oak–and–stainless steel interior.
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