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

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!

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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

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 at their outlets in El Born and Sagrada Familia)) 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!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
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

One of the first things to do when visiting Barcelona is buy a T-10 transport ticket. This magic card will give you access to all the city’s busses, metro trains, local trains, trams, night busses and funiculars (but not the cable-cars and privately run funicular to Tibidabo).

It’s a multi-person ticket which means up to 10 people can share the same ticket.

A single journey on the bus or metro is € 2.00 – a T-10 is € 9.25 – bargain.

Great, inexpensive tool for getting around. Use the bus – you’ll see more.

Also, importantly, you can use the ticket as many times as you need within a one and a quarter hour period and it counts as a single journey. Though be aware that once you leave the metro when you re-enter it will count as a new journey.

In practice what this means is you can catch a barrio bus (small, very local bus) to connect with a regular bus, travel across the city, jump on a tram, or train to a metro station and take a metro train to your final destination, and it all counts as a single journey.

Check out the transport authority’s app at the App Store. Or the very useful website (in English) with all the bus routes.

Bus routes worth getting to know include:

45 – will take you to and from the beaches.

24 – will take you from Passeig de Gràcia to Parc Güell and back again.

55 – a simple way of getting to and from Montjuich.

¡Bon viatge!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Go by bus | Relaxing | T-10 ticket € 9.25
Citywide | Above diagonal
05:30 – 23:00 daily (NitBus 23:00 – 05:30 daily)

The Collserola Natural Park is a green paradise at just a stone’s throw away from the urban Barcelona.

Guided by two Belgians, you can enjoy walking tours there that guarantee you fantastic panoramas of the city and modernist and medieval architecture in the green surroundings of the Tibidabo mountain.

It is ideal to get acquainted with Barcelona or an original ending to your visit from a bird’s perspective.

Woody Allen found this part of Barcelona so inspiring that he recorded a large part of his film “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” there.

Reserve your walking tour in advance!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Walk About Barcelona | Relaxing | Tour € 25
Las Ramblas | Above diagonal | +34620700323
Fri – Sun 10:30

If you visit 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 everyday. 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 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 used to see that some hotels prepare fried eggs in the oven instead of frying them because it’s faster and cheap. Obviously, 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.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
La Terrassa Bar | Bars, Snacks | Tapas € 11.00
Saragossa 85 | Above diagonal
Tue – Wed 10:00 – 01:00, Thu 10:00 – 02:00, Fri – Sat 11:00 – 03:00

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 just a few people, 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.

Update: They just moved to a new address about one block away. (Check it out!) It’s one bigger yet cosy place. Enjoy!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
El Petit Bangkok | Restaurants (Thai) | Dinner from € 15.00
Carrer de Saragossa 85 | Above diagonal | +34616185196
Tue – Sat 13:00 – 16:00 & 20:00 – 23:30

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’ve known 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 18:00. 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 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.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
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

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 flavors 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.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
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

What is delicious and what is not? Sometimes is very hard for me to give a correct answer. Since I remember, enjoying natural fruity juices is extremely easy for me. It’s not the same with beers or wine, for example; I confess I learned to enjoy these flavors and I had to “practice” a lot to find the main secrets of these beverages. But, come on! Orange juice is delicious and almost any blend of fruits can awake the feeling of “inner peace” in me. I don’t know! It’s strange but it’s also true that I can feel the balance of the universe every single time I drink some fruity blend.

The Zuum is a sort of battle-fruit star ship, the right way to reconnect ourselves with our most basic composition. Drink life, refresh your cells, quench your thirst healthily and follow this advice. It’s about your body and mind. It’s about your nature. Wanna join the adventure of the nature’s trip? Try the Zuum. O RELAX or choose your favourite blend if you prefer.

Sorry for my good mood… I just got back from there.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Zuum | Coffee & tea, Snacks | Smoothies € 7.00
Plaza Molina, 6 | Above diagonal | +34934146180
Mon – Fri 08:00 – 20:00