Eating a fairly large breakfast is not a bad idea because the normal lunchtime starts between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. Most restaurants will not even open for lunch until 1:30 or 2:00. It is fairly typical to eat a three course lunch. Many, many restaurants offer a lunchtime menu del dia costing from 750-1,000 pesetas and including several choices of first and second courses, dessert, bread, and wine, beer, or mineral water. There is a wide range in quality in these menus; popularity is the best indicator. You can order the water with ("con") or without ("sin") gas. You can order soft drinks, but don’t expect the restaurant to be willing to substitute them for one of the other choices. They won’t. Beer and wine are generally much less expensive than Coke.
The normal dinner hour is 9:30 p.m. or later. Don’t expect to find restaurants open before 8:00 or 8:30 p.m. at the earliest. Many do not open until 9:00 p.m. There are, of course, exceptions, but even there you’ll be the only people eating (perhaps a few other tourists).
Generally avoid the tourist oriented restaurants
on the Ramblas. They are overpriced.
Barri Gotic |
|
| Restaurant Hostal El
Pintor
Carrer St. Honorat, 7 301.40.65 Metro: Liceu Elegant, little Catalan restaurant blending Catalan and nouvelle cuisine. Very reasonable prices for a special dinner out. Near Plaça St. Jaume. Full dinner with three courses plus wine and coffee will be about 6,000 pesetas for two. |
Restaurant Culleretes
Carrer Quintana, 5 317.30.22 Metro: Liceu Oldest restaurant in Barcelona. Catalan cuisine. Good food and very reasonable prices for a nice dinner out. Friendly, warm ambiance with tiles and paintings. Try the espinacs a la Catalana--it redefines spinach! Two of us ate here for 4,000 pesetas one time and 6,000 another. Tues.-Sun. 1:30-4 Tues.-Sat. 9:00-11 |
| Pitarra
Carrer D’Avinyo, 56 301.16.47 Metro: Jaume I/Liceu; then a 15 minute walk. Catalan restaurant in former home of a famous Catalan poet. Excellent food--perhaps best quality Catalan cooking we have had. Try the Arroz Negro con Pulpitos. Perhaps a bit more expensive than some of the others mentioned above, but not nearly as expensive as some of the tourist traps. For one fancy dinner out, we would suggest this restaurant. Mon.-Sat. 1:00-4:00 Mon.-Sat. 8:30-11:00 |
Els 4 Gats
Carrer Montsio, 3-bis 302.41.40 Metro: Catalunya Picasso paid for his meals here with gifts of his paintings. You can eat lightly or have a full meal. Has a lunchtime menu for 1,500 pesetas. Good deal for elegant, historic setting. In the main, back dining room there is always an art exhibit with works for sale. The seafood crepes are delicious; other dinners may be overrated. |
| Ca La Maria
Carrer dels Tallers, 76-Bis 318.89.93 Very close to Plaza Catalunya. A small gem of a restaurant with excellent food. Try the calamarcitos, and the veal with a Cabral cheese sauce Fresh Catalan cooking. Tues.-Sun. 1:30-4:00 Tues.-Sat. 8:30-11:00 |
Moka Restaurant Cafeteria
La Rambla, 126 302.68.86 This one is here for George Orwell fans. In Homage to Catalonia he describes fighting during the Spanish Civil War, which took place in and in front of this cafe. We have no idea how the food is—probably overpriced given its location on the Ramblas. |
| Lluna Plena
Montcada, 2 310.54.29 Metro: Jaume I Delicious Catalan cuisine. 1,000 peseta menu at lunchtime with large array of choices. On the same street as the Picasso Museum but further away from the Mediterranean. |
Govinda
Plaça de la Vila de Madrid, 4 318.77.29 Metro: Catalunya Hindu Vegetarian restaurant. A good refuge from the Catalan grilled meats and brown sauces you will find everywhere else. Pizzas and crepes. |
| La Perla Nera
Via Layetana, 32-34 310.56.46 Metro: Jaume I Excellent pizzas prepared in a brick oven. Italian specialities. |
Cafè de L’Acadèmia
Carrer Lledo, 1 Plaça Sant Just 319.82.53 Metro: Jaume I or Liceu Just off of Plaça St. Jaume, this is a terrific small restaurant. Everyone we have sent here has loved it. Be sure to save room for the fabulous desserts. 5,000 pesetas for 2 everything included (1996). |
| La Fonda
Carrer dels Escudellers, 10 301.75.15 Metro: Drassanes or Liceu A relatively new restaurant with delicious food. A very unusual way of preparing arroz negro, in a large pot with rather more liquid than the paella style presentation. My friends say this is the best place in Barcelona to get this dish now. Not terribly expensive. Much better than the famed Caracoles, which is just down the street. |
Senyor Parellada
Argenteria, 37 310.50.94 Metro: Jaume I A terrific and quite expensive restaurant. Owned by the same people as 7 Portas but the tourists haven’t found this one. |
Barri Xines |
|
| Restaurant España
Carrer de Sant Pau, 9-11 317.11.34 Metro: Liceu; then 10 minute walk (just around the corner from the Opera House) Eat in modernist splendor in a hotel building designed by Domenech i Muntaner. Lunch menu for 1,200 pesetas with unusual and delicious dishes. Elegant service in a spectacular setting. No menu at dinner time and therefore much more expensive. Don’t be put off by the run-down exterior of the hotel. |
Restaurante Pollo-rico
Carrer de Sant Pau, 31 241.31.84 Metro: Liceu; then 15 minute walk Cheap, friendly popular restaurant known for its pollo a l’ast—chicken cooked on a spit. Also has many other things on the menu. Best to go in the daylight—not the best neighborhood, but safe compared to American cities.
|
| Restaurant El Cafeti
Hospital, 99 at the foot of the passageway (can also be entered from Carrer Sant Rafael) 329.24.19 Metro: Liceu An old Barcelona restaurant. Extremely picturesque, but tucked away in one of the dinghier parts of the old city. Off of the standard tourist route. The whole range of Catalan cooking. Excellent food. Good prices. |
Gracia |
||
| Gràcia is a very interesting, lively barrio reached by metro stop Fontana or ferrocarrils stop Gràcia. Or an enjoyable 20 minute walk up Passeig de Gràcia from Plaça Catalunya. There are interesting markets and lots of narrow streets to wander down with boutiques of all sorts. A stroll across Travessera de Gràcia is an interesting way to experience daily life in Barcelona. A couple of excellent restaurants with good quality affordable lunch menus are: | ||
| La Troballa
Riera de St. Miquel, 69 217.34.52 Metro: Ferrocarrils to Gràcia, or Fortuna on the metro Green Line. Lunch menu for 950 pesetas. Ask for a table in the interior garden. |
Font de L’Estil
Francisco Gener, 23 218.14.14 Metro: Diagonal Lunch menu for 850 pesetas in large, pleasant room. |
|
| Asador de Aranda
Avinguda de Tibidabo, 31 417.01.15 Metro: Ferrocarrils Tibidabo Roast meat and nothing but in a fabulous modernista building. Grilled in the traditional ovens in the back. Absolutely delicious. Beautiful tables on outside terraces and porches. |
||
Poble Sec/Montjuïc |
||
| Taverna Can Margarit
Carrer de la Concòrdia, 21 441.67.23 Metro: Poble Sec This fun restaurant is built in the bodega, wine warehouse, of a former mansion. The rooms are huge, filled with farm implements. Guests are offered free wine from gigantic barrels while they wait for their tables. The plates are closer to tapas in size than main dishes, all the better if you get tired of huge Catalan meals. Try the conejo, it is delicious (but you have to like garlic). Various Catalan puddings for dessert. |
Elche
Vila i Vilà, 71 441.30.89/329.68.46 Metro: Paral·lel (?) This restaurant specializes in Catalan and Valencian rice dishes. Recommended by Joaquín Sabaté particularly for non-seafood country paellas. |
|
Vall d’Hebron |
St. Gervasi/Sarria |
| Can Travi Nou
end of C. Jorge Manrique s/n (sin numero) Parc de la Vall d’Hebron 428.03.01 Easiest to take a taxi. This restaurant is in a traditional masia (farmhouse) that dates from the beginning of the eighteenth century. It is nothing short of a miracle that it still exists in its own isolated island of Barcelona near an area that was developed for the Olympic games. This restaurant is the choice of families and corporations for all kinds of events, so many of the rooms are filled with boisterous groups having a marvelous time. The night we were there a bagpiper entertained one group, a huge bouquet of flowers was delivered to another room, and the owner’s daughter, just as cute as could be, showed us to our table and left us the dessert menu for starters! The food is excellent Catalan. We loved the grilled (a la brasa) dishes, particularly the vegetables. The arroz negro was delicious (and they are willing to prepare it for one). Before you leave you will want to sit outside on the terrace and marvel that such a place still exists in Barcelona. |
La Balsa
Infanta Isabel, 4 211.50.48 Metro: Ferrocarrils Tibidabo or Bonanova Haven’t been able to get a reservation at this one yet, but it comes very highly recommended. Renowned for its architecture—it is built on top of a water reservoir—as well as its food. Tues.-Sat. 2:00-3:30 Mon.-Sat. 9:00-11:30 |
Tapas |
||
| Tapas are a Spanish
tradition. They are small plates of a wide variety of unusual foods. The
most popular times for tapas are around noon (well before lunch for the
Catalans) or after work before supper, say around 7 PM. You can get tapas,
however, at most times of the day and some people make a light meal of
them at normal (Barcelona) meal times. Eat them at the bar with beer or
wine. It’s common to share. You can order several (although two of us have
often filled up on just three—tapas are almost always served with bread)
or go bar hopping, ordering one at each place. Note that a cervezeria is
known for beer and a bodega for wine, but each serves both as well as mineral
water and sodas. Most tapas bars will have their tapas on display on the
bar; just look them over and point.
There are lots of tapas bars in the area between Santa Maria del Mar and the lower end of the Ramblas just in from the highway that goes along the harbor. Closest metro would be Barceloneta, but you can walk there through the Barri Gotic. Best to go at lunch time or early evening. When you get within a block or two of the harbor just to the west of Laietana, wander around and get up your nerve to stop in little working class bars. Most will have only men in them, but female friends have gone in and felt very comfortable. Some bars specialize in jamon blanco (it will say so on the window). You order a little plate of delicious mild, but very flavorful, ham served with boiled potatoes. Have it with a glass of the house white wine. Then move on to another bar. Many specialize in seafood. |
||
| Cal Pep
Plaça de les Olles, 8 315.49.37 Metro: Jaume I or Barceloneta A more upscale tapas bar with a small dining room in the back serving especially fresh and high quality seafood. More expensive than most Tapas bars, but the seafood is absolutely fresh and wonderful; just point at a few things in the case, and they will fry them up on the spot. |
Also on Plaça de les Olles is Patisseria Guell "La Mallorquina," a wonderful pastry shop founded in 1878 and located in a 16th century building. These places are both very near to the Picasso Museum. |
|
| Cerveceria El Vaso
de Oro
Carrer de Balboa Metro: Barceloneta In a back street of Barceloneta, this is a very popular tapas bar, always packed. Recommended by Lluìs Bonet. |
Cerveceria Catalana
Mallorce, 236 Metro: Provenza A new tapas bar, packed with people having a marvelous time. Everything is just terrific. Stand at the bar with a beer and just point. |
|
| Irati—Taverna Basca
Cardenal Casanyes, 17 302.30.84 Metro: Liceu Basque Tapas. Run by a former student of Lluís Bonet.. Also has a full service Basque menu that is served at the tables in the back. The food is great and quite unusual. Try the ciders and the traditional Basque wines (that involve a particular tradition of serving them from great heights over your table in order to aerate them). |
||
Bocadillos |
||
| Bocadillos are sandwiches. French bread with a variety of fillings. Many are filled with varieties of sausages and cold cuts, but you can also get atun (tuna), tortilla española (potato omelette), and other combinations. Usually the bread is coated lightly with olive oil and rubbed with fresh tomato. Many bars serve bocadillos. The normal thing is to pick one up when you get hungry at 10:30 or 11:00 a.m. After all, you are going to need something to get you through to lunch time (at 2:00 p.m. or later). | ||
| Pans & Company
If you find yourself getting an urging for fast food, skip McDonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, KFC, and go to Pans & Company. Good bocadillos, reasonable salads. One of the few places you can get Coca Cola Light (i.e. Diet Coke). The bocadillos are delicious. Mark recommends the "Mediterráneo:" tuna, red peppers, and olives. There are quite a few around and more are being opened all the time. The ones that are nearest to the center of the city are at: Ronda Universitat, 7; Plaza Urquinaona, 12-13; Portal de l’Angel, 2 Les Rambles, 123; Ferran, 14; Rambla Catalunya, 13 |
||
Seafood |
||
| It would be a shame to leave Barcelona without having had one good seafood dinner. The place to go is along the Harbor in Barceloneta or now to the Olympic Port (though I haven’t had the chance to really explore these in a systematic way yet). Walk down Passeig Nacional and pick a restaurant with an outdoor table. Can Tipa is very good, though it is not too far along the street. | ||
| Puda Can Manel 1870
Passeig Joan de Borbó near corner of Carrer del Judici 221.50.13 or 221.43.05 Metro: Barceloneta We have had excellent meals here twice. It is worth waiting for a table on the outside terrace. Try thepaella, arroz negro, fideus negro, gambetas fritas, navajas. Do it yourself pan con tomate. |
Carballeira
Carrer de la Reina Cristina, 3 310.10.06 Metro: Barceloneta This Galician seafood restaurant is highly recommended by a friend of a friend. We have not tried it, but friends have and the reviews are good. Not cheap, but very unusual seafood. No outside tables. |
|
| Can Majó
Carrer de L’Almiral Aixana, 23 Metro: Barceloneta We have not visited this restaurant, but it is highly recommended by our friend Lluìs Bonet. On the expensive side, but worth it. |
||
Churrerias |
| The city is loaded with churrerias which serve up various fried delicacies. Tops on the list is churros, with or without chocolate, with or without sugar. Just pick up a packet and take them for a stroll. The real Barcelona tradition, however, is after you have stayed up all night bar hopping, stop in at your favorite churreria at 5:00 a.m. to have churros con chocolate (very thick hot chocolate), watch the sun rise, then go home to sleep. |
Horchaterias |
||
| Horchata is a cool,
summer time drink made from tiger nuts, or at least that is what the English-Spanish
dictionaries say. It is definitely worth a try. Many cafes will have signs
advertising horchata or orxata. One of the best is supposed to be:
Hochatería-Heladería Sirvent, Ronda de Sant Pau, 3 441.76.16 Metro: Paral.lel |
||
Granjas |
||
| Granjas might be called "milk bars" in English. They specialize in sandwiches, light drinks, and desserts. You usually pop into a granja to keep you going through the morning. One granja item you should experience is a Suizo, con nata if you are really daring. This is the thickest hot chocolate you will ever drink in your life; it comes with a spoon! The best is also just off the Ramblas: | ||
| Granja Viader
Carrer d’En Xucla, 4-6 318.34.86 Generally open till 1:45 p.m. and then again after lunch until 8:45 p.m. This shop is also known for its mel i mato, a Catalan honey and cheese dessert. One of the best places to try it. |
Sant Pere
Carrer dels Tallers, 71 268.06.79 Not strictly a granja, this tea room and pastry shop is the perfect place to stop for a snack after the market and before shopping, or whenever you are hungry and a restaurant is not open. |
|
Bars |
|
| Barcelona is known for its bars, particularly its designer Champagne (Cava) bars. We haven’t tried a lot, so let your guidebook be your guide. But if you want to go to a bar with an absolutely spectacular view go to: |
Or if you want to go to a very unusual bar, go to: |
| Mirablau
Plaça Doctor Andreu 418.58.97 Take Ferrocarrils to Av. Tibidabo, go out of station, walk up the hill a bit an wait for the Tramvia Blau, the only remaining trolley car on the Iberian peninsula. At the top of the cable car, Mirablau awaits (or just take a taxi, but be sure to notice the turn of the century mansions on Av. Tibidabo). The bar is located at the foot of the Funicular to Tibidabo. You can sit by the window, sip a drink, and see most of the city of Barcelona spread out at your feet. Children not allowed at night. Open noon to 4:30 or 5:00 a.m. |
La Fira
Provença, 171 323.72.71 Metro: Ferrocarrils Provença This bar is furnished with old amusement park furnishings. Sit in old seats from various rides. Watch the automata. Opens at 7:00 p.m. until 2 or 3 a.m. No children allowed. |
Friday and Saturday 5:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Sunday 6:00 a.m. - midnight
Holidays during the week 5:00 a.m. - 1:00 a.m.
Just to make things interesting the T-2 tickets come in two shapes. One is a rectangle about the size of a credit card. This one feeds into a slot on the aluminum casing of the subway turnstyle. It will feed through and pop out the other end. Don’t forget and leave it in the machine. When you remove it the turnstile will release so you can enter, and it is your evidence that you have paid and it is good for more rides if you haven’t used up your ten. The other ticket is longer and narrower. It if feed into a yellow punch box that is attached to the turnstyle. Just push it in and the machine will cut off a little square of paper. Keep it with you. It is your receipt—inspectors do check, though rarely—and it has multiple rides.
You can also use the T-2 ticket on some of the trains in a second network of underground trains. These are the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya. From Plaza Catalunya you can take the train all the way to Avinguda Tibidabo or to Reina Elisenda in the old village of Gràcia. Make sure you go in the right entrance and get on the right train because the line splits.
There is a third network of underground trains: the national RENFE trains. You will see stations marked "RENFE." There is one near you at Plaça Catalunya, and another at Passeig de Gràcia.
Most trains require you to push a button or move a lever to open the doors. All the doors do not open automatically at each stop.
The bus network is quite complete and efficient as
well, and you have the advantage of seeing a bit of the city at the same
time. Buses use a "T-1" ticket ("tay uno"). You cannot buy these 10 ride
tickets on the bus. The best place to buy them is in any subway station.
They are also on sale in some banks, tabacs, etc. but it is simplest to
buy them in the subway. These tickets cost a little more for 10 rides (740
pesetas in 1997). Most of the bus stops in the center of the city have
a complete bus map as well as a local map with all of the bus stops clearly
indicated. When you see your bus coming just give a little wave. Punch
your T-1 ticket in the ticket machine when you enter. You can put it in
as many times as you have riders.
But you didn’t come to Barcelona to shop in department stores, did you?
Some suggestions (nearly all in the old city between Plaça Catalunya and the Mediterranean):
For clothing try Zara. It is a Spanish chain with fairly moderate prices but with the latest fashion. The American college students we know who have spent a semester or a year in Spain have spent most of their leisure time in Zara. The closest one is at Pelai, 58 near the top of the Ramblas. There is another one in Portal de l’Angel and another in Rambla de Catalunya.
One of the nicest items that we have recommended
is ceramics. There are several excellent shops in the Barri Gótic,
but be sure the shopkeeper wraps whatever you purchase well. Spanish ceramics
are made from extremely fragile clay. This is definitely carry-on luggage.
| La Caixa de Fang
Freneria, 1 This is one of the best ceramics shops with their wares nicely displayed. Just behind the cathedral |
La Roda
Carrer del Call, 18 Nice ceramics and other upscale gift items. Near Plaça St. Jaume.
|
| La Ceramica Artistica
Llibreteria, 18 Very extensive collection of tiles and other ceramics. A bit more touristy than the other shops. Stop and have a coffee in Meson del Cafe, the oldest coffee shop in Barcelona a couple of doors down.
|
"1748"
Carrer de Montcada This is a beautiful ceramics shop between the Picasso Museum and the Mediterranean on Carrer de Montcada. A broader selection than most of the other shops with a few very unusual lines of pottery and glass. Less expensive too. We bought a number of items here. |
| Molsa
Plaça St. Josep Oriol, 1 Beautiful ceramics, some antiques, and nice souvenirs on what has to be one of the most picturesque squares in Barcelona. When you are in Plaça St. Josep Oriol or the adjacent Plaça del Pi you know you are in Europe. Stop in at La Xicra, the local xocolateria. |
Other unusual items:
| El Ingenio
Raurich, 6-8 This store specializes in fiesta supplies. It is worth a look around. If you can, peek into the back workshop where they make many of the large paper maché figures that are used in Barcelona’s festivals. |
2 Bis—Art Popular
Bisbe Irurita, 2 Bis Specializes in small papier maché figures of all sorts. Be sure to go upstairs and take a look at the paper models of famous buildings. |
| Papirum
Baixada de la Llibreteria, 2 Metro: Jaume I Beautiful hand made and hand painted paper items. Expensive, but definitely one of a kind. |
Xalar
Baixada de la Llibreteria, 2 Metro: Jaume I If you have to find something for a child or grandchild and are tired of bring back T-shirts, try this toy store. You will find familiar American names, but you will also find exquisite finger and hand puppets, as well as other things. |
| Vinçon
Passeig de Gràcia, 96 Metro: Diagonal This is Barcelona’s emporium of high design objects. Worth a visit just to look around and to look at its neighbor, Gaudi’s masterpiece, "La Padrera." |
Lluís Felip
Rambla de Catalunya, 77 Carrer València, 256 215.29.67 Blacksmith. Wide variety of wrought iron fireplace items, door knockers, candelabras, and hardware. For an unusual item, buy a tostador de pan and prepare pan con tomate in your own fireplace. |
| Servicio Estación
Aragó, 270-272 08007 Barcelona 216.01.12 If you are a fan of hardware stores, this is a "must see." The largest and most complete we have ever seen. |
|
| Souvenir Shops on the Ramblas | |
| If you buy souvenirs on the Ramblas in one of the many shops there is some room for negotiating. You will notice that most things are not priced, so you should always indicate that the first price they quote you is too high. Devon negotiated great deals in the middle of winter. On the other hand, when there are more tourists in town they are less inclined to negotiate. |