Restaurants

Imagine you could visit one of the most fascinating, and most popular, buildings in the world. And then, after your visit, imagine you could take a pleasant six minute stroll, leaving the crowds behind you, and find a comfortable, relatively quiet, tree-screened, shaded restaurant terrace. Imagine sitting at a table and being served excellent, fresh little bites by a friendly and attentive waiter or waitress. Imagine the experience costing a lot less time, hassle and money than many popular, crowded, noisy city centre restaurant-bars.

Well, you don’t have to imagine – you can do it.

Tossa serves deliciously fresh tapas all day long. Their homemade croquetas (€ 1.10 each served inside and € 1.15 served on the terrace) are filled with foie gras, mushrooms, chicken, cheese or vegetables. They are possibly the best croquetas in Barcelona. They also serve a good selection of hams and cured meats (fuet, lloganiza, etc), sausages, jacket potatoes stuffed with tuna and topped with cheese, clams, baby clams, mussels, cheeses, potato salad, Russian salad, Greek salad, lovely omelettes, exquisite asparagus dishes and other delights.

Very friendly and helpful staff, and a relaxed family friendly atmosphere – good at any time of day – from breakfast to supper.

Tossa closes at 17:00 on Saturdays and is not open on Sundays.

¡Bon profit!

Small spots come out every week in Barcelona but sometimes it takes ages before you finally discover them – something like that happened in my neighborhood when Nakashita came around. It was so clearly out there, in the open, that it didn’t seem to be a special thing at all – oh, but it is!

In a city filled with restaurants for tourists and so-called Japanese restaurants actually run by Chinese tenants, there’s a big charm on a real Japanese run by a Brazilian chef. Nakashita features classic Japanese with a twist you would only expect in Sao Paulo – like fresh oysters with maracujá sauce. It’s not the cheap option for Japanese – you don’t want it after you’ve tasted the extra fresh fish and the superb combinations they offer for lunch or dinner.

With the place so small and cozy a recommendation from the chef will always do – he definitely knows what is doing. Services is quite good, but it can be that sometimes you’ll get too much of an explanation. If you’re on your own or with a small group and there are not too many patrons, a good choice is to sit in the bar and ask, ask, ask. You’ll get more for your meal.

Nakashita offers a set menu on week-days: not cheap, but definitely a good choice for real Japanese food lovers. Also, they have a discount if you order to-go… Good local wines and extra cold Japanese round up a good choice for oriental cravings.

This is something special. Not your ordinary. Not your regular, but somewhere to visit maybe three or four times a year. Exquisite food prepared by Robert Gelonch, one of the most inventive chefs currently trading in the city, coupled with a strong wine-list.

Though the entrance colourways and typography suggest a kind of 70s retro vibe (and hints of Clockwork Orange) the very contemporary tastes you’ll encounter when dining here will disabuse you of the notion Gelonch is some kind of throwback.

You have a choice – a lunchtime menú del día for just 19 euros, or an evening special 9 course tasting menú for 52,50 euros . You will not be disappointed. How could you be disappointed with such dishes as frozen apple coconut foam, iced mint, lemon confit, caramelized cream and black olives? Yep, that’s right – black olives in a dessert.

There are so many intriguing combinations in each dish – artichoke stuffed with mushrooms, pig’s trotters (pigs’ feet) with prawns – cookie-sized pizzas – that every bite is a pleasant surprise.

Some claim the food here is the culinary equivalent of a pointillist painting. It’s a good analogy. Each component has individual flavour – but it’s the inventive combinations which delight the palate.

It may seem expensive – but, honestly, when compared with other establishments in the city, (where often the food is mediocre) it’s surprisingly good value for a memorable experience.

Gelonch will soon, I’m convinced, have an international reputation — so, get here ahead of the herd.

¡Bon profit!

You’ll find TRAM-TRAM in Sarrià, an interesting, well-heeled barrio above Diagonal.

This family owned, family run restaurant is a good spot for small get-togethers or, perhaps, a romantic rendezvous, and a good introduction to contemporary Catalan cuisine. And, unlike many restaurants in the city centre, you will not have to raise your voice, you can actually hear yourself, and your companions, speak while you chat.

Isidre Soler, the chef, (who spent time training with Ferran Adrià at El Bulli) takes evident, painstaking pride in the preparation and presentation of his exquisite dishes.

The 38 euro fixed price evening menu offers a starter, a first course, a second course, served with bread, and a dessert or cheese plate. Wine is extra.

The menú del día is just 22 euros, or you could try the executive menú at only 19 euros.

It’s a small, perfectly formed and tastefully decorated restaurant, with private dining-rooms and a pleasant terrace.

The food – original variations on classic dishes such as seafood paella and cochinillo (suckling pig) – is flavoursome without being rich, and is very, very good.

The wine list offers a selection of 150 excellent unpretentious wines, and 16 euros will buy you a very tasty bottle.

Service is very good, if, perhaps a bit formal. Having said that the very knowledgeable maitre’d will help you navigate the menu, and off-menu specials. (An English version of the menu is available).

All in all, excellent value and highly recommended.

Why TRAM-TRAM? Well, the Number 12 tram used to stop outside. Check out the website.

¡Bon profit!

7 Portes (7 Doors) has been in business, first as a café, and since 1929 as a restaurant, for 175 years. In 2011 the restaurant celebrated this achievement by commissioning Milton Glaser, the well-known graphic designer who devised the I Love NY logo, and who is a frequent customer, to re-design the labels of its house wines and cava.

In addition Vinçon (See the article), the design-lifestyle store, staged an exhibition of the designs and preparatory drawings and sketches.

What do Woody Allen, Lou Reed, Che Guevara, the King of Spain, John Wayne, Ava Gardner, Catherine Deneuve, Pelé, Miró, Antonio Banderas, Harrison Ford, Mikhail Gorbachev, Martin & Donna Towell, Bo Derek and myself all have in common? We’ve all dined here, and we all enjoyed the experience.

So, what makes this spot so special? The food – rich and incredibly tasty paellas and arrossos (rice dishes), fantastic seafood and traditional meat dishes. The art – paintings, lithographs, photographs, drawings and sculpture by some of the 20th century’s best-known artists. The ambiance – the classically tiled, wood panelled and mirrored rooms hum with the sounds of happy eating merged with the tuneful tinkling of a live pianist (after 10pm) as the experienced staff seemingly glide between tables.

It’s not cheap – but compared with restaurants of a similar reputation – it’s not expensive.

If you enjoy paella try their legendary Paella Parellada, with skinless, boneless chicken, pork, fish, prawns, mussels and clams and other seafood.

You’ll need a reservation, otherwise expect at least a half-hour wait.