Above diagonal Barcelona – All our local tips

When I started living in Barcelona I was not used to the Spanish commercial schedules at all. I still think the most of the stores here should change their opening times to the new people’s way of living. I can’t help to feel that stores don’t want to sell more than they do because they’re closed just when people are off, and are walking on the streets.

However, I know a secret that could save your life the same night you come late at home. When you open the fridge and then you realize it’s empty, don’t worry! You still have a last chance to find some bread, cheese and drinks at La Perla de Sant-Gervasi.

This place is not just another bakery. You will find there many types of canned supplies, all kind of drinks, some vegetables, snacks and confectionery or even… bread! As you see this is not just a tip but a great advice. Use it wisely.

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La Perla | Shopping
Santjoanistes 6 | Above diagonal | +34932371930
10:00 – 00:30 daily

Get ready. I’m going to give you some information that you won’t find anywhere else. I want to recommend to you a very special place. I’m talking about Bocí, one of these places where is really easy to find quality and great care about products and service.

What would you like to taste today? It doesn’t matter how complicated is your appetite or how demanding is your palate, Bocí knows perfectly how to satisfy your needs.

As frequent customer I know that Bocí offers much more than what I’m used to consume there. If I have a high regard for somebody I go to Bocí to find some box of chocolates to make a special gift or perhaps some delicious birthday’s cake. It’s also a great place to have a breakfast or ask for food to take away packaged carefully.

The staff is polite and they take good care of every single detail to present their goods. It’s one of those places where you go and think “I don’t know where to start” because you feel tempted to ask almost everything. The price reflects its quality but I know you won’t regret to pay for it.

Enjoy.

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Bocí | Coffee & tea, Shopping
Vía Augusta 112 | Above diagonal | +34932371313
07:00 – 22:00 daily

I’m going to talk about one of your favourite places in Barcelona, even though probably you don’t know it yet. If you consider yourself as a “Special-Corners Hunter” and you enjoy Thai food you really have to know El Petit Bangkok. It’s a tiny cozy restaurant that can hold up just a few persons, that’s why it’s always convenient calling to make a reservation before going there.

If you live in Barcelona you know that there are a lot of places that pretend to be much more than they can really offer. This never happens with El Petit Bangkok because it’s a place without other aspirations beyond of what it actually is: A tiny Thai corner.

If you’re looking for a special way to start a remarkable night or ending a hard day I recommend this place to you. The main secret of this place is perhaps its simplicity and quality. The price is honestly fair, considering the culinary offer in this city.

If you go once, you will go twice… at least.

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El Petit Bangkok | Restaurants (Thai) | Diner from € 10.00
Carrer de Saragossa 85 | Above diagonal | +34616185196
Tue – Sat 13:00 – 16:00 & 20:00 – 23:30

Situated uptown between the Vall d’hebron and Horta, you will find this small neighbourhood, very different from the rest of Barcelona. As a matter of fact, you don’t feel you are in a big city but more probably in a small village somewhere in the Catalan countryside.

No big buildings, not even a store, just a small bar hidden between two trees. All is about stone-houses with their gardens, orange and lemon-trees and vegetable-gardens.

You guess this part of Barcelona like many others has been absorbed by the urbanisation of the XX century. But here time seems to do not pass by. Everything is slow-paced, quiet and peaceful. You can listen to the chirping of the birds, even the smell is different.

It’s an excellent place to stroll around if you want to escape from the crowded centre or just to get the feeling to be on vacations in the countryside.

To reach it, take the subway until Vall d’Hebron (line 3).

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La Clota | Art & culture, Relaxing | Wine & tapa € 3.00
Subway Vall d’Hebron (line 3) | Above diagonal
Mon – Sat 13:00 – 15:45 & 20:00 – 23:30

Perhaps the best way to describe the Catalonian coque (English – coca. Pronounced cohcah) is this: Crusty thin and long bread as versatile and multipurpose as a pizza. It’s not a pizza at all, I know, but I need to use it as a reference because it’s much more known than coques for sure. Coques can be sweet or salted, you can eat them at any temperature. Wow! Now that I think about it, maybe astronauts should carry coques to outer space.

Indeed. Most human beings don’t know coques and pizzas represent one of the most common flavours of the Mediterranean Sea, but this fact is kept by the locals as a secret and coques mean a sort of regional proud always present in their traditions and holidays.

You should consider La Coqueria as a bank of regional secrets, a place to find a good selection of wines, cheese and sausages; a sophisticated spot to know the other side of these Mediterranean flavours you don’t know yet.

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La Coqueria | Bars, Coffee & tea, Snacks, Restaurants (Spanish) | Meal € 18.00
Saragossa 66 | Above diagonal | +34934161560
Mon – Sat 09:00 16:00 & 18:00 – 00:00

Maybe you have spent your last holiday savings on that sombrero in the tourist shop in the Barceloneta with your friends questioning your judgement and now, with your new found treasure, you find yourself a little short on cash.

Or perhaps you are just a frugal spender looking to make the most of your stay. It could be you are visiting Barcelona from abroad and sink your head when you look at the exchange rate.

This is the restaurant for you. Even those of you who have bank accounts where the money flows like water, will enjoy this genuine, friendly tapas restaurant in Horta. The price is low, the quality high.

Get there before 21:00, even on a weeknight, as the lines have been known to go to the end of the block. Plates of fuet, a staple food in Spain and outrageously delicious meat, are only 75 cents. If you want a cup of wine, they just leave a bottle on the table, take what you want throughout the meal and sum it all up later. No having to waive down your waiter for another cup ever again!

If you have yet to try a “clara”, half beer and half lemon. Is it healthy? Of course not. It has more sugar in it then a candy bar, but what the fuck?!

Whoever invented it deserves the an award. And who knows, after all these cheap eats you may just have enough money left over to get one more sombrero.

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La Esquinica | Snacks, Restaurants (Tapas) | Meal € 15.00
Passeig Fabra i Puig 286 | Above diagonal | +34933582519
20:00 – 03:00 daily

I’m a seafood monster – mussels, crab, clams, prawns, lobster, octopus, squid – I love it all. You won’t find a better place to enjoy well-prepared seafood at a reasonable price than at one of La Paradeta’s four restaurants in Barcelona.

It’s a chain – but, apart from the unifying funky crab, octopus and clam logo, you wouldn’t really know it – each of the restaurants has a different atmosphere.

The restaurant at Sants, the “original and best” (and probably the best bet for avoiding the sometimes incredibly long lines) is a fun, friendly place and very popular with families, especially Sunday lunchtimes. Don’t expect tablecloths and waiters – they’re aren’t any – just simple, basic tables and chairs.

Line up at the market-stall like counter (paradeta means market-stall) cast your eyes over the mouth-watering selection of seafood, choose what you want and tell the assistant how much you’d like. They will weigh and put all your selected food on a tray and give you a numbered ticket. Move on to the next counter and order your drinks.

Put your drinks, cutlery and napkins on a tray, find a table, and wait until you hear your number called over the tannoy. When you hear your number called (which is

sometimes difficult because of the chatter and clatter) go up to the serving-hatch and collect your food.

Simple and fun – a tasty meal for not very much more than the cost of the ingredients. ¡Bon profit!

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La Paradeta | Restaurants (Seafood) | Crab from € 9.00
C/Riego 27 | Above diagonal | +34934319059
Tue – Thu 20:00 – 23:30, Fri – Sat 20:00- 00:00, Sun 13:00 – 16:00

If you go to La Terrassa your first impression will be “this is a very common place but there’s still something about it” and I will tell you why: this place looks like the most of Spanish bars but if you pay attention you’ll understand how special it is.

I won’t lie to you: I go there every single day. I chose that place among a lot of bars in the same zone because of the kind and warm attention you will receive for sure. Its owner, affectionately called “Flores” (Flowers) by his frequent clients, is a very special person. He will address to you with respect, he’s a polite man who enjoys attending with a smile on his face.

Don’t forget to eat something too. You should try the typical “Patatas bravas”or the “Spanish tortilla”; I think these and other common “tapas” are better at La Terrassa than other bars in Barcelona.

La Terrassa is not just a bar but a special meeting point in that neighborhood. You will hear its frequent customers talking about sports, politics, jokes or chess.

The last discussion I heard there it was based on someone who said that he’s used to see that some hotels prepare fried eggs in the oven instead of frying them because it’s faster and cheap.

As you can understand nobody agreed with that weird claim so it was a great chance to make jokes about eggs. I bet they’re still talking about this while the guy who said that is trying to enjoy his beer in peace.

Important: Free WiFi service for costumers! You won’t find another place around offering this key advantage.

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La Terrassa Bar | Bars, Snacks | Tapas € 10.00
Saragossa 85 | Above diagonal
Tue – Wed 10:00 – 01:00, Thu 10:00 – 02:00, Fri – Sat 11:00 – 03:00

As coffee lovers we know perfectly that having a good cup of coffee it’s not just drinking a coffee.

This magical beverage needs some conditions to be properly enjoyed. At Liadísimo Café you will find the most of these conditions. Perhaps the first and most important it could be the kind attention you will receive for sure. Ohh! I know! A good service could be hard to find sometimes… But at Liadísimo’s this good service is guaranteed.

I know this place since it opened a couple of years ago. It’s very near to my house so you can find me there almost every afternoon around 6:00 pm. The Liadísimo Café is a sort of “Central’s Perk” for me and my friends. We’re used to meet there and share some drinks and talk about our day and plan some common projects and keep updated with our lives.

I recommend you to go and enjoy a coffee there, never mind if you’re alone or not, you can ask for the wide variety of teas and other drinks they can offer always with a big smile attached to the service. They’re also English speakers and I’m sure they would help you if you have any doubts about this city.

Once you’ve gained new energy to take another hike you can walk to see another Gaudi’s oddity: Casa Viçens, located just two blocks away at Barrio de Gracia. Feel free to explore this neighbourhood; I’m sure you will discover new places and experiences.

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Liadísimo Café | Coffee & tea | Meal € 10.00
Guillem Tell 23-25 | Above diagonal | +34933682630
Mon – Fri 07:30 – 21:00, Sat 09:00 – 21:00

After 6 years living here I have gotten to know a lot of pizzerias in Barcelona. This time I will talk about one of my very favorits. I want to recommend you the Nova Fontana Pizzeria. They offer slices of pizza so you can try many flavours.

Pizzas are crusty and delicious. Every time I go I ask for a beer and 2 pizzas, usually a “Nova Fontana” and the other a “4 cheeses” because I’m one of those cheese lovers who can’t help to enjoy the flavours and textures of melted cheese at the palate.

I know 2 other similar places at Barcelona that offer pizzas in the same way, however I think you will find the best ones at this place. It’s a great place to eat and it’s located at my neighbourhood.

What else could I say? I feel lucky and I’m happy to share this secret with you.

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Pizzeria Nova Fontana | Snacks, Restaurants (Italian) | Pizza € 11.00
Santjoanistes 8 | Above diagonal
Tue – Sat 12:30 – 16:00 & 20:00 – 00:00

The Turó del Putget Park is one of those beautiful green spaces this city offers to whom nature plays a very important role in any urban scene.

I consider it a lovely privilege to bethere for two important reasons. The first -most of the lazy people will like this- it is very easy to visit this park and enjoy a moment of peace. The second reason is the views of Barcelona you can enjoy once you’re there at the top of the hill this park is located. You can see almost 360º around, so it’s a great spot to understand how this city works from the Tibidabo’s Mountain to the beach.

I widely recommend you to start the visit from the highest side of the park. You will need to climb a long scale until reaching the top but I promise this tiny effort worth it. Feel free to take your photo camera with you and walk down until the main entry.

Shhh… Do you hear it? Hmmm… You don’t hear anything, right? That’s the idea, don’t you think? Go and enjoy.

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Turó del Putget Park | Relaxing
Manacor 9 | Above diagonal
10:00 – 18:00 daily