Price Categories
Prices for a three-course dinner per person with a bottle of house wine:
€ = under €25
€€ = €25–40
€€€ = €40–60
€€€€ = over €60
Restaurants
At the hub of this area is the trendy Born district, whose recent rise to fame has resulted in a constant turnover of bars, cafés and restaurants, so there’s plenty of choice and increasingly multicultural options. There are also many old, established favourites as well as new stars where you need to book, or join the queue, if visiting on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday.
Catalan
Plaça de les Olles, 8
Tel: 93-310 7961
Open: Tue–Fri L & D, Sat L, Mon D. €€€ [∞ [map], C2]
Jostle and queue to sit at the bar (the dining room at the back is more expensive and less fun), where you can witness the chefs tossing and flipping fat prawns and succulent squid. Mediterranean cooking at its simplest and very best, with atmosphere to match.
Comerç 24
Comerç, 24
Tel: 93-319 2102
Open: Tue–Sat L & D. €€€€ [§ [map], C2]
One of the leading lights in new-wave Catalan cooking, chef Carles Abellán, inspired by several years working in the laboratory-kitchen of El Bullí, has several restaurants in the city. This designer-smart but relaxed space was the first. Choose between two tasting menus, the Festival de Tapas or the Gran Festival – both are a trip for the taste buds.
Nou Celler
Princesa, 16
Tel: 93-310 4773
Open: Mon–Sat L & D. € [¶ [map], B2]
This attractive, bustling restaurant is very restorative after a long session in the nearby Picasso Museum, serving authentic homely Catalan dishes, like canelons or civet (wild boar stew).
El Passadís del Pep
Pla de Palau, 2
Tel: 93-310 1021
Open: Mon–Sat L & D. €€€€ [• [map], C2]
This is a place for people ‘in the know’, the kind of place you walk past if you are not. The regulars keep returning 30 years on for whatever the chef Joan has on his menu that day. Be prepared to spend a lot, but otherwise relax; you don’t even have to choose your food – it is simply brought to you.
Pla de la Garsa
Assaonadors, 13
Tel: 93-315 2413
Open: Daily D. €–€€ [ª [map], C2]
This tastefully restored medieval stable with attractive decor is a peaceful option for an evening meal. Enjoy Catalan specialities, especially their range of cheeses, pâtés and embotits (cured sausages, ham and typical pork products).
Senyor Parellada.
Greg Gladman/Apa Publications
Senyor Parellada
Argentería, 37
Tel: 93-310 5094
Open: Daily L & D. €€ [q [map], B2]
A mixture of unusual and classic Catalan dishes in sophisticated and attractive surroundings, run by the Parelladas, a well-known family of restaurateurs.
Set Portes
Passeig Isabel II, 14
Tel: 93-319 3033
Open: Daily L & D. €€–€€€ [w [map], B3]
Nearly 180 years old and still going strong. Sympathetically restored, this good-looking classic restaurant remains popular, especially for family Sunday lunches. It specialises in rice dishes, one for each day of the week. Also has the advantage of remaining open through the afternoon and evening until 1am.
International
Le Cucine Mandarosso
Verdaguer i Callis, 4
Tel: 93-269 0780
Open: Tue–Sat L & D. € [e [map], B1]
Hidden in a narrow alleyway just opposite the Palau de la Música, this Italian restaurant is a real charm worth hunting down. Specialists in freshly made pasta like Mamma makes, served with unusual sauces and desserts to die for.
Cuines Santa Caterina
Mercat Santa Caterina,
Avinguda Francesc Cambó
Tel: 93-268 9918
Open: Daily L & D. €–€€ [r [map], B2]
The first market bar for beautiful people in a bustling designer space. Rub shoulders with them at long communal tables as the very visible kitchen whips up deliciously fresh Mediterranean, Asian and vegetarian dishes with a contemporary twist. All day tapas bar in the same space.
Mosquito’s oriental take on tapas.
Greg Gladman/Apa Publications
Mosquito
Carders 46, Baixos 2a
Tel: 93-268 7569
Open: Tue–Sun L & D. Mon D. € [t [map], C2]
The delightful English owners of Mosquito define their food as ‘exotic tapas’, which is a modest assessment of the delicious, original Asian dishes they create. What’s more, it’s open from 7pm, which is handy if you are travelling with children and want an early dinner. It’s a good idea to eat early as it gets cramped and noisy as the evening goes on. They specialise in Catalan and imported beers.
Spanish
La Candela
Plaça de Sant Pere, 12
Tel: 93-310 6242
Open: Daily L & D. € [y [map], C1]
Delicious Mediterranean food with an exotic edge and good, plentiful salads in this minute restaurant, which spills out into the surprisingly quiet square. A very attractive place to eat on summer evenings, but get there early for an outdoor table.
Euskal Etxea
Placeta Montcada, 1–3
Tel: 93-310 2185
Open: Daily L, D & tapas. €€€ (tapas €) [u [map], C2]
This is a stronghold of Basque cuisine just two minutes from the Picasso Museum, where you can be sure of a good meal. If you prefer tapas, it is advisable to get there early to catch the fresh pintxos at the bar.
Plaça Sant Agustí Vell, 1
Tel: 93-319 9056
Open: Daily for tapas.€ [i [map], C2]
May the Mundial never change. A stalwart of traditional Spanish bars, which are fast fading in this up-and-coming district, its solid marble bar is piled with fresh, simple and tasty seafood tapas.
Vegetarian
Bascula
Flassaders, 30 bis
Tel: 93-319 9866
Open: Wed–Sun L & D. € [o [map], C2]
A new kind of restaurant, run as a co-operative by people from many different countries, in a former chocolate factory in the labyrinth of streets behind the Picasso Museum. Delicious snacks and wholesome meals using organic produce, mostly vegetarian.
Bars and Cafés
Al Sur Café
Sant Pere Més Alt, 4
Tel: 93-310 1286
[* [map], B1]
A laid-back café opposite the Palau de la Música, where you can snack on home-made pastries and Argentinian empanadas (delicious savoury pasties), while listening to good music and enjoying the free Wi-fi. Converts into a lounge bar in the evening.
Born CC
Plaça Comercial
[( [map], C2]
Barcelona beer brand Moritz is due to open a gourmet bar in this brand new cultural centre in autumn 2013, which judging by the trendy stamp they’ve left on other bars in the city will be stylish and serve good tapas.
La Ciutadella
Passeig Pujades, 5
[, [map], C2]
A typical Spanish cafetería with a sunny terrace, ideal for refreshments or a snack after a long walk in the Ciutadella park.
La Vinya del Señor
Plaça Santa Maria, 5
Tel: 93-310 3379
[⁄ [map], B2]
A tiny, designer wine bar with an extensive choice of interesting wines from Spain and other countries, which you can taste by the glass accompanied by a snack. Sit on the terrace to admire the majestic Gothic facade of Santa Maria del Mar.
Xampanyet
Montcada, 22
Tel: 93-319 7003
[¤ [map], C2]
Amid the explosion of new, fashionable bars in this area it is a relief to see this old favourite still going strong, serving its intoxicating fizzy white wine and house anchovies in pretty, ceramic-tiled surroundings. Not to be missed.