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!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Tossa | Bars, Coffee & tea, Snacks, Restaurants (Spanish/Catalan) | Croqueta € 1.10
Nàpols,291 | Eixample | +34934576510
Mon – Fri 07:00 – 23:00, Sat 07:00 – 17:00

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.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Nakashita | Restaurants (Japanese) | Lunch menu € 25
Rec Comtal 15 | El Borne | +34932955378
13:30 – 16:30 & 20:30 – 00:00 daily

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!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Gelonch | Restaurants | 9 course tasting menu € 52.50
Carrer Bailén, 56 | Eixample | +34932658298
Tue – Sat 13:30 – 15:30 & 21:00 – 23:30

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!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
TRAM-TRAM | Restaurants (Nouveau Catalan) | Three-course meal € 38
Major de Sarriá, 121 | Above diagonal | +342048518
Tue – Sat 13:30 – 15:30 & 21:00 – 23:30

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.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
7 Portes | Restaurants (Catalan-Spanish) | Dinner + house wine € 35.00
Passeig Isabel II, 14 | El Barrio Gotico | +34933193033
13:00 – 01:00 daily

You’ll come across dozens of Basque tabernas (restaurant-bars) as you stroll across the city.With over 100 tapas available, for variety, quality and overall value, Maitea is among the very best.

The cold montaditos, or pintxos (slices of bread piled with an endless combination of toppings and speared with a toothpick), are arrayed along the counter.

Cheese and quince jelly? Yep. A slice of bacon with fried quail’s egg? Check. Smoked salmon wraps stuffed with crab? Of course. Goat cheese with ham? You got it. Creamed goat cheese with walnuts? No doubt. Tuna salad with anchovies? Yes. Potato, sobrassada (pressed pork) and grilled Gruyere cheese? Why not? Red pepper stuffed with creamed minced cod? Sardines? Obviously. And these are just a few of the cold pintxos.

Grab a plate, wander along the counter, help yourself to whatever you want and put in on your plate. Every now and then the friendly, helpful staff will offer you a selection of hot pintxos: a date wrapped in bacon, choricitos (spicy mini-chorizo-like sausages), or a mini-cheeseburger.

All the pintxos are the same price – €1.55. Every item you choose will be speared with a toothpick – keep the toothpicks. At the end of your session the toothpicks will be counted.

Drinks on offer include cidra – a naturally fermented apple cider very different to fizzy English ciders – txakoli – a dry sparkling white wine – along with some very good reds from Rioja and Navarra – and Almogàver beer on draft. 

Details about this spot (Show on map)
MAiTEA | Bars, Coffee & tea, Snacks, Restaurants (Basque) | Montadito € 1.55
Casanova, 157 | Eixample | +34933219790
Mon – Sat 11:00 – 00:00

You’ll maybe see a few strolling by but you won’t see or hear many tourists in Casa Albert – they’re all too busy spending their money in the nearby overpriced trendy bars and restaurants. For about the same price of a starter (€7.50 incl.tax) at a nearby ‘name’ restaurant you can sit yourself at a table in the small square just around the corner from the grand church of Santa Maria and enjoy a three-course lunch complete with bread, water and a bottle of table wine.

This unassuming restaurant-bar serves locals good, cheap traditional wholesome food.

You’ll have a choice of five or six first courses and five or six second courses and a selection of desserts (including homemade chocolate mousse).

You won’t have to make a reservation, you won’t have to join a line, and you won’t have to pay a supplement to eat on the terrace.

Probably the best lunchtime deal you’ll find in the old part of the city (Barrio Gotico and El Born). It’s not fancy but it’s friendly, and the waiter and waitress will speak English if you need help. A good place to eat and drink while watching the world go by. ¡Buen provecho!

Please be aware Casa Albert closes at 15:30 and is not open in the evening.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Casa Albert | Bars, Snacks, Restaurants (Catalan-Spanish) | Mon – Fri lunch menu € 7.50
Plaça de les Olles 4 | El Borne | +34933191040
Mon – Fri 08:00 – 15:30

You’ll find El Vell Sarrià situated on the corner of the square in front of the Town Hall in the old part of the very pleasant district of Sarrià. 

Like Gràcia, Sarrià used to be a town in its own right – and, in many ways, it still is. It has a unique vibe and charm. It’s a district well worth exploring.

El Vell Sarrià is one of the few restaurants in the city which still prepares food on a wood-fired stove. You’ll likely scent the woodsmoke when you enter this old building, built in 1745.

It is, without doubt, one of the very best restaurants for Catalan rice dishes in Barcelona.

If your only experience of a paella in Barcelona has been one of those Godawful marmalade coloured concoctions they serve on Les Rambles then prepare to be amazed.

The star dish here is the poetically named “The rice dish which reminds me of the fountain at Can Guitard, with prawns, pork ribs, and cuttlefish.” It’s a hearty mar i muntanya – (sea and mountain) dish combining the fruits of the earth with the fruits of the sea. It’s thick and rich with the colour of very fertile soil. Don’t let this put you off. The combination of artichoke, prawns, crab and cuttlefish creates a real depth of flavour, while the ribs add unforgettable texture.

When you dig into this dish you’ll feel like you’re turning over the native soil, or tilth, and tasting Catalunya’s coastline on your tongue at the same time.

¡Bon profit!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
El Vell Sarrià | Restaurants (Catalan-Spanish) | Rice with prawns&pork ribs € 16.90
Major de Sarrià, 93 | Above diagonal | +34932045710
Tue – Sat 13:30 – 15:30 & 21:00 – 23:30, Sun 13:30 – 15:30

You could wander past Elisabets a million times and never realise it’s there.

Sort out your GPS, or properly mark your streetmaps, because if you’re looking for good quality and reasonably priced food at the heart of the city, then this is a place you really need to get to know how to get to. 

This is one of my favourite year-round spots for good bites and meeting friends after work. It’s very popular with students and some of their teachers from the nearby university. A good all-day all-rounder.

Sit yourself down – order a beer or sparkling water as you gather yourself and think a way through the menu.

Then order a liter jug of beer for € 4.35. 

Then try the patatas con bolonesa “rabiatta” – chunky fried potato wedges with bolognese meat sauce – only € 2.95, and almost a meal in its own right.

Then order a plate of pebrots – little, juicy hot peppers; a plate of morcilla, cunningly sweet black pudding (blood sausage), and/or choricitos (little spicy sausages); and pa amb tomaquet (toasted bread with tomato and oil). Perhaps try a few anchoas (anchovies) and maybe order a little salad. And then you’ll be all set to explore the city at night.

Re-assemble the next morning at the same table (in the corner behind the glass screens) for breakfast coffee and pastries as you recount your adventures of the night before, and plot your next exciting day in this ‘city of marvels’.

Hot & cold sandwiches, pizzas and a good value menú del día available.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Elisabets | Bars, Snacks, Restaurants (Tapas) | Patatas con bolonesa € 2.95
Elisabets, 2-4 | El Raval | +34933175826
Mon -Thu & Sat 08:00 – 23:00, Fri 08:00 – 02:00

Do you like rice? Enjoy a good paella? Have you tried an arròs al forn (oven-cooked rice)? Or, black rice?

There is a lot more to Mediterranean rice than paella, and Xàtiva is a good place to experiment.

Xàtiva, which has another outlet in Les Corts, offers more than 30 different rice dishes:  paellas – arrossos – risottos – biryanis – pilaffs – and gluten-free rice dishes. 

Xàtiva, which takes its name from the town in the province of Valencia, specialises in rice dishes from Valencia such as Paella de Valencia – a mix of chicken, rabbit and peppers,  and Arròs al passejat, a hearty dish with chickpeas, pigs’ ears and blood sausage (black pudding) – a ‘walked rice’ – so called because it was invented in the 15th century before homes had ovens, and the cook would walk through the streets to the town bakery.

Unlike many restaurants in Barcelona, where they’ll only serve paella for a minimum of two people – at Xàtiva you can order an individual paella or rice dish. You can also order to takeaway, or have the food delivered to wherever you want (you’ll have to pay a €12 returnable deposit for the pan). 

When the food arrives at your table you’ll be asked if you want to eat it straight from the pan with a cullera – a traditional wooden spoon. You can keep the spoon.

Xàtiva is open 365 days of the year. Yep, even lunchtime on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day – though is closed in the evening on Sundays and public holidays.

¡Bon profit!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Xàtiva | Restaurants | Seafood paella € 14
Torrent d’en Vidalet,26 | Gracia | +34670811767
Mon – Fri 13:15 -16:00 & 20:30 – 00:00, Sat – 13:15 – 16:30 & 20:30 – 00:00, Sun 13:15 – 16:30