Spanish cuisine is the same national treasure as the Real Madrid and Barcelona football clubs, bullfighting, flamenco and the creations of the great architect Antonio Gaudí. The choice of local dishes is so diverse, and their taste is exquisite, that all kinds of gastronomic tours in Spain are one of the key points of the program.
Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, is a paradise for gourmets of all ages. Firstly, there are more than 20 Michelin-starred restaurants here, secondly, the city stands on the coast, so almost any seafood delicacies are prepared here, and thirdly, a tourist with any budget can appreciate the taste of authentic dishes.
By the way, on the “Subtleties” there is a large selection of gastronomic excursions around Barcelona: to oyster farms, to wine cellars or around the capital of Catalonia in search of the best cava. Spoiler alert: she’s pretty much everywhere, how pretty.
Haute cuisine
If you ask the Spanish royal couple to recommend a good place, they will surely name Ca L’Isidre in the Gothic Quarter. They say that crowned persons like to visit here. The menu is to match the guests: entirely foie gras, black truffles and noble wines. The prices are also royal: a dinner for two with alcohol costs an average of 150 EUR .
Another stronghold of haute cuisine is the Gaig restaurant in Eixample. Among its main curiosities are not oysters and lobsters (although where would you be without them), but a unique wine collection of 10 thousand bottles and its own cigar room with an amazing selection of tobacco products. Spending an evening together will cost 130 EUR.
Not only delicious, but fashionable and with a history – this is about 4 Gats in the Gothic Quarter, opened back in the 19th century. They say that Picasso, Gaudi and other Spanish “grands” used to sit here. You can taste the same that they ate at one time, and enjoy excellent wine for 110 EUR for two.
A trip to the ABaC restaurant in the Sarria-Sant Gervasi area will elevate gourmets to the pinnacle of taste, and at the same time to the highest point of Mount Tibidabo. Each dish here is a masterpiece of culinary art, created by the skillful hands of chefs under the guidance of the charming brand chef Jordi Cruz. The cost of pleasure is from 155 EUR per couple.
Some establishments are closed on Sundays and during siesta.
Traditional Spanish cuisine
In Barcelona, there are two types of establishments specializing in the national cuisine, in Barcelona a dime a dozen: “for tourists” and “for locals”. The former stand at the intersection of the main tourist trails, the latter hide in the depths of the quarters. Both have a large selection of traditional dishes on their menus: escudella soup, spicy chorizo sausages, bread with tomatoes and olive oil, tortilla, sangria and a delicious Catalan cream dessert.
“Tourist” eateries will delight you with a solid interior, well-trained staff and a relatively calm environment. In establishments for locals, they will clamor and push, you will most likely have to wait a long time for an order – but there will be a lot of impressions from the “real” one. A check for two will differ by an average of a third and will be 50 versus 70 EUR.
Among the places promoted and “tested” by tourists are 7 Portes and Can Sole. Both specialize in paella and other seafood dishes. Dinner for two with alcohol will cost 70 EUR. For the best sangria, you can walk to the Casa Lolea bar (Carrer de Sant Pere Mes Alt, 49), for a refreshing horchata – in Orxateria Sirvent.
Finding the best restaurant for locals is easy because of the huge queue in front of the entrance.
In Barcelona, you should definitely combine aesthetic pleasure with gastronomic pleasure and visit a restaurant with a flamenco show. For example, Tablao Flamenco Cordobes . Here, a couple will be asked for an evening from 160 EUR, in Nervion – from 60 EUR.
Where to eat fast and cheap
In numerous tapas bars, where tapas and pinchos are served with beer, a glass of cava or something stronger – a kind of canapé snacks (the former, as a rule, are free, the latter are more refined). You can literally eat them to satiety: it’s impossible to break away, and the price tag is small – from 10 EUR per person in the popular Jai Ca bar.
Another option is to take the “menu del dia”, a set lunch in a cafe or restaurant from 13:00 to 16:00. For example, for 12-20 EUR per person you can get a Spanish omelet with tortilla potatoes, a salad with tomatoes, eggs and tuna, a cake and a glass of sangria, or beef tartar, paella, bread with tomatoes and ice cream.
Establishments in the Raval district of the Old City should be avoided – they do not have very good reviews.
In the summer, chiringuitos open on the beaches of Barcelona – street cafes with wooden walls and floors and loud music. It’s worth it to go there for breakfast and lunch – inexpensive, and tasty. There is no street fast food as such: you can buy a sandwich, a sandwich or a piece of pizza and a drink to go with it at any establishment. But street food festivals are definitely about Barcelona.
Coffeeshop – unusual place to stay
One of the interesting places in Barcelona and throughout Spain is coffee shops. When visiting a coffee shop, guests study the assortment. The salespeople in these stores are true professionals with solid experience in the use of different types of cannabis. Therefore, they will kindly advise the best option that will satisfy the wishes of the guest. When going to a coffee shop, take your passport with you so that the seller can make sure that you are of legal age. At their official website, you can find complete and accessible information about coffeeshops in Barcelona.
At their discretion, customers can smoke marijuana directly in the establishment or on the street, if permitted by law. Each institution has a special atmosphere where you can have fun and meet interesting people.
We categorize this establishment as -must visit!
Seafood restaurants
Connoisseurs of sea delicacies are ready to be pampered both in expensive and budget restaurants and cafes. Of course, you should not ask for king crabs, scallops, urchins, mussels, oysters and cuttlefish in their own ink in medium-sized establishments. But octopus, shrimp, squid and tuna, beloved by the Spaniards, are possible and necessary. In batter, fried or stewed, with vegetables, rice or noodles.
The easiest way to taste seafood at super low prices is to order it from the cafe on the beach. And it is better in the morning when the fishermen have just returned with their catch. The issue price is 5-12 EUR per piece.
In San Marti, the freshest seafood should be ordered at a restaurant with an original interior Raco De La Vila or pathos One Ocean – however, the entrance to it is available only to members of the club or invited by them. In Barceloneta – in Can Majo and Barraca . The average check for two is 150 EUR.
A more budget option is the chain of fish cafes La Paradeta which has branches in Born, on Passeig de Gracia, near the Sagrada Familia and in other parts of Barcelona. For two you will have to pay from 50 EUR.
Amazingly tasty, but very ruinous – this is how tourists speak about the oyster bar Joel’s Oyster Bar in the Boquería market. For three oysters and a glass of cava they will ask for 10 EUR, but you can carelessly spend 10 times more.
European cuisine restaurants
They are hard to find in Barcelona. Spanish cuisine is so pervasive that even the menu of a classic European restaurant will certainly show up tapas or paella with tortilla. But some still try to “keep the mark.”
Traditional Portuguese dishes – salted cod “bacalhau”, hearty soup with sausages “caldu verde”, scalding spicy chicken “piri-piri” – offer a restaurant with an original interior Sabores de Portugal at Carrer del Carme, 95. Ratatouille, onion soup, croissants, Profiteroles and meringues – a tiny French restaurant Zed on Carrer de Valencia, 399. For lovers of Italian cuisine, dozens of pizzerias are open in the city, Italian restaurants Margherita (Carrer del Rossello, 253), PerBacco are always welcome and others.
The average check for two in restaurants of European cuisine is from 60 EUR per couple.
Confectionery and coffee shops
All the wildest fantasies of the sweet tooth have long been embodied by local confectioners. Outlandish complex cakes, donuts that are ideal in shape and taste, ice cream and cakes that are not inferior in beauty to art objects – everything is here. But first of all, you should go to the place where they offer “churos” – a Spanish delicacy made from choux pastry that melts in your mouth. You should ask him for a cup of hot chocolate or fragrant coffee and, enjoying this magnificent “duet”, feel how damn good life is.
A dessert and a cup of hot drink in a cafe will cost an average of 4 EUR.
Churos are served at La Pallaresa (Carrer de Petritxol, 11), coffee at Nømad Coffee Lab & Shop and Satan’s Coffee Corner, Donuts at La Donutería.
Panoramic Restaurants
Spain’s most visited city is worth seeing from a bird’s eye view. There are more than enough terraces with panoramic views. Most are located on the top floors of hotels, and at certain hours the entrance is open to everyone, but only subject to the dress code. It is not necessary to “eat” exclusively breathtaking landscapes: the menu includes both soft and strong drinks and cocktails, including author’s ones, as well as snacks, and options for a light dinner.
Gourmet gourmets will appreciate the Terrat rooftop terrace at the luxurious Mandarin Oriental Hotel and the stylish Ohla Boutique rooftop pool bar. A beautiful view of one of the creations of Gaudí – Casa Mila – opens from the terrace of the Omm Hotel. You can see not only architectural masterpieces but also the sea from the Martinez terrace on Montjuic mountain. The price of a dinner for two with alcohol in all establishments is from 100 EUR.
