Image by AC Uribe

This is not the typical tapas joint for tourists – it is so not it, they don’t open on Sundays! They cater mostly to people that work around and look for a nice combination on good price and excellent food. From breakfast to late dinner.

Their name (Flauta – Flute) comes from the small sandwiches they make with very fresh bread, not to big, which allows you to taste more than one. But they also have all kinds of salads and a great variety of fresh tapas, always according to what is available in the market.

La Flauta can take groups with lovely rooms upstairs, but it should be booked in advance: everything, from working lunches to birthdays, happens here everyday. Many people also just stay in the bar for a quick bite and a fresh glass of beer – or caña. It’s also a classic for people working around, since the midday menu on weekdays is reasonable in price (around €12) and really worth the trip.

Another good thing is that their tapas kitchen is open all day long, so you can have early dinner or late lunch. However, if you get in around 21:00 at night be prepare to wait along the bar – but the wait is worth it.

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La Flauta | Snacks, Restaurants (Tapas) | Lunch menu € 11
Aribau 23 | Eixample | +34933237038
Mon – Sat 08:00 – 01:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Barcelona

Image by Bill Sinclair

In 1969 the U.S.A. supposedly first landed men on the Moon. They stopped going there in 1972. They’d visited the place just six times. Why did they stop going there? There was no atmosphere they said.

Well, there’s lots of atmosphere at this little moon – morning, day and night.

Tucked inside a cozy basement on the busy corner of Provença and Balmes, Moon is one of a few places I know of which, regardless of the time of day between 8.30 and 01:30, you can rely on getting a bite, a drink and atmosphere.

There are loads of spots which are good for an early morning coffee and a pastry, and a fair few places which are good for an esmorzar later in the morning. There are innumerable places for a good menú del día; and a good many spots good for an afternoon beer, coffee or tea – or berenar/merienda. There are a host of good places for an early evening vermut, or tapas; dozens of places for dinner, and loads of places for an after-dinner drink or cocktail. At Moon you can get it all – from breakfast coffee to after-midnight snacks and cocktails, complete with books, magazines and music.

The hamburgers and vegetarian burgers here are really very good, as are the salads. And their menú del día is very good value.

Try it, and, unlike the U.S.A., you’ll find you’ll want to go back time and again.

You can rely on Moon – it’s a very good, conveniently located, all-rounder.

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MOON Café-bar | Bars, Coffee & tea, Snacks, Restaurants | Menú del día € 9.95
Provença, 213 | Eixample | +34934881721
Mon – Fri 07:00 – 02:00, Sat 09:00 – 03:00, Sun 17:00 – 03:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Barcelona

Image by Haarland Sinclair

This is a really good year-round spot to chill out.

Given its location at the junction of Passeig de Gracìa and Diagonal it’s surprisingly quiet and peaceful. 

In the cooler months it’s a good place to check out an exhibition.

Right now there’s an EXCELLENT exhibition about the world famous restaurant, El Bulli and its celebrated chef, Ferran Adrià. You must NOT miss this.

During the summer the garden is a great place to cool off, maybe have a packed lunch, pretend to read a book, or just hang for a while. In the evening the garden and pavilion may come alive with music, discussion and debate.

The exhibitions here, about aspects of life as is lived, or was lived, in Catalunya, are always interesting, and have included: the aborted People’s Olympics in 1936 (set up to counter the official Nazi Olympics); and a series of beautiful aerial photographs showing the rich diversity of the regional landscape. The most recent photo exhibition in the garden celebrated the castellers (human castle builders) of Catalunya.

The Information Centre here is very good with very knowledgeable and helpful staff who manage a comprehensive range of materials in all the main European languages. If you’re planning a trip out of the city, go along and get advice and information on walking routes, themed trails, museums, hostels and refugios, and local food and drink. A visit here will save you time lining up at the main, and very busy, tourist information centre in Plaza Catalunya.

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Palau Robert | Art & culture, Relaxing | Free
Passeig de Gràcia, 107 | Eixample | +34932388091
Mon – Sat 10:00 – 19:00, Sun 10:00 – 14:30

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Barcelona

Image by Bill Sinclair

An exhibition space I visit regularly – sometimes re-visiting the same exhibition three or four times – is situated in La Pedrera – the famous apartment building designed by Gaudí.

They have an excellent exhibition programme with related talks, debates and activities.

Well worth a visit.

Though a tour of the building, and spectacular rooftop, will cost you 11 euros entrance to the exhibition space is FREE.

The exhibition programme promotes a good balance of solo retrospectives and shows about movements or moments in art history. The shows, always accompanied with well-written notes, help you re-appraise or re-contextualize work by artists often overlooked because they didn’t quite fit with the prevailing mood or movement of the time. I’ve learned a lot about art from attending exhibitions here.

The staff here are friendly and helpful, and will look after your bags and coats at no charge. And, just so you know, the exhibition space has a public toilet, handy if you’re on the Paseo de Gràcia, as most of the cafés now only allow customers to use their facilities.

If you can understand Spanish it’s worth doing one of the free guided tours of the current exhibition on Fridays at 18:00.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
La Pedrera | Art & culture
Passeig de Gràcia 92 | Eixample | +34902400973
10:00 – 20:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Barcelona

Image by Bill Sinclair

This welcoming bar-restaurant, one of three of a small chain, with its bohemian vibe and quirky art and decor, has become one of my favorite places for meeting up with a friend for a drink, a bite and a good old chinwag. There’s no TV blaring away in the corner, no slot machines and no crap music. But there is good, reasonably priced food and drink and friendly service.

The owner is an artist-photographer and the collection of artwork is worth a closer look. The rooms at the back are cosy and intimate, ideal for project meetings or just gossip.

Try one of their sartens (small frying-pans) of provolone cheese, served with breadsticks, or chorizo or morcilla (black pudding) with scrambled egg or ciervo (venison)- delicious. The menu is refreshingly different – and the wines are very good value too.

And, as a bonus, they serve probably the best gin and tonics in the city. Honest. Even if you don’t try one – just watching the bar staff prepare them is fun.

And, if you’re interested in architecture then another bonus is that Salvador Valeri i Pupurell’s magnificent Casa Comalat is just a hundred meters away, on the opposite side of the street.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Úbeda | Art & culture, Bars, Snacks, Restaurants (Spanish) | Sarten € 5.00
Còrsega 339 | Eixample | +34934152537
Mon – Thu 07:30 – 00:30, Fri – Sat 09:30 – 13:00 & 20:00 – 02:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Barcelona

Image by Bill Sinclair

It’s a weekday, you’ve agreed to meet a friend for lunch, you’ve got €10 in your pocket, you’re hungry, but you feel like something different. Well, you could do a lot worse than try Wok Yutaka – an all-you-can-eat Japanese buffet. And, there’s a good sample of Argentinian and Spanish food on offer too.

There’s been quite a few all-you-can-eat buffets open up over the past couple of years but, so far, Wok Yutaka is the best I’ve found in terms of variety, quality and value. The range and quality of food on offer is staggering – noodles, rice, salads, seaweeds, as well as clams, frogs’ legs, mussels, octopus, prawns, tuna, salmon and, of course, sushis, makis, tempuras and terriyakis.

They also have two barbecue grills – one for meat, the other for fish, seafood and veggies. Put what you want cooked – tuna steak maybe, or a seafood brochetta, or ribs and a spicy sausage (criollo) on a plate and pass it over and they’ll cook it there and then.

Excellent value. It is a very popular lunchtime spot, so be prepared to wait for maybe 10 minutes or more for a table.

Because of their undeniable success there is now a Wok Yutaka II (check the Wok Yutaka II article). You’ll find Wok Yutaka II on the same street, a few blocks over, at C/Rossello 373 , on the corner with C/Napols.

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Wok Yutaka | Restaurants (Japanese) | Lunch € 9.50
Carrer del Rosselló, 307 | Eixample | +34934580494
13:30 -16:30 & 20:00 – 00:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Barcelona

Image by Rafa Dujarric

Before 1985 there were the ugly railways, as if the city was stabbed to death and was losing its bowels, but then an enlightened and visionary soul started turning it into a relaxing space.

This piece of Gaudian art was finished in 1991 by Beverly Pepper, who achieved the harmonic coexistence of nature and manly intervention to create a magic atmosphere that exerts a strange influence over people that go there for a picnic.

Be aware that there is something in the air in this park and sometimes picnics might turn into a roll in the hay.

It is also said though, that there is a dark mob that operates in this park stealing dogs in order to sell them to some labs that need living victims for their sinister tests and evil experiments with chemical products. At least they tried to steal the front tire of my bicycle almost in front of my nose :-/

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Parc de l’Estació del Nord | Relaxing | Free
Napols 42 | Eixample
07:00 – 23:00 daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Barcelona

Image by Bill Sinclair

This is the real deal – a contemporary Japanese restaurant owned and managed by a Japanese chef. Chef Kenji is very highly regarded within the Japanese community. When the Japanese Consul hosts a reception for esteemed guests he calls Chef Kenji. I’ve never eaten here when there has not been at least one Japanese customer.

Can Kenji is also really very popular with locals – and for very good reason – the food is fantastic, the prices very keen and the service is friendly. The cheapest dish is about €3.50 and the most expensive about €12. And there are a range of lunchtime meal deals available.

The restaurant is designed like a izakaya (a Japanese pub) and serves what has become called mediterrasian food – an inventive balance of Japanese style with Spanish and Catalan ingredients – sort of Japanese tapas. The food is always very fresh and always very tasty.

Not long after it opened I visited  the place four times in the space of ten days – each time with different companions – by way of testing my original perceptions of the quality of the food. We all agreed – it was the real deal. The last few times we’ve visited I’ve not been able to get a table in the evening.

The restaurant frontage is fairly nondescript – and the only way you’ll know it is a restaurant is from the noren – the banner over the entrance, which is only displayed when the restaurant is open.

Highly recommended. ¡Bon profit!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Can Kenji | Snacks, Restaurants (Mediterrasian) | 3 course lunch € 10.80
C/Roselló, 325 | Eixample | +34934761823
Mon – Thu 12:00 – 16:00 & 20:00 – 01:00, Fri – Sat 12:00 – 16:00 & 20:00 – 02:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Barcelona

Image by Anna Boluda

Every time I enter Colmado Quilez I feel that time doesn’t go by in this place. Shop assistants wear grey overalls and they have to give you the ticket that you take somewhere else to pay before getting your things… Weird now that we are used to the cask desks in supermarkets… and very interesting if you want to feel how our grandmothers used to shop, I guess. Actually, this grocery store opened in 1908 and is still in the same place. 

The reason for such a long success? The quality! They have the best brands -which does not mean the most expensive ones necessarily- of cheese, typical cold meats, canned veggies, foie, tuna, vinegars, olive oils or wines. Just to give you an idea of how this place is: they handle over 30 brands of bottled water from all over the world! 

I must admit that I rarely buy a lot here, at least not my regular shopping list, as I live far from the area. But when I’m looking for some special treat for myself, this is the place. I specially like the olive oils, the modena vinegar section, and they own brand of potato chips!

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Colmado Quilez | Shopping | Bag of potato chips € 1
Rambla de Catalunya 63 | Eixample
Mon – Fri 09:00 – 14:00 & 16:30 – 20:30, Sat 09:00 – 14:00

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Barcelona

Image by AC Uribe

I wouldn’t dare say that I’m one of those girls that know how to use a map or a compass. I mostly trust in some kind of “dove-like” instinct that gets me to where I want to go. However, when I arrived in Barcelona, I learned a beautiful way that the locals have of stating EXACTLY where you are, so any one can find you, on the basis of the four natural limits to the city.

It will work in any place of the city, but honestly is better if you go to the Eixample – Gran Vía de las Cortes Catalanes and up. The first two limits are the mountains (Tibidabo, for example) and the sea (Barceloneta and such). There is a slight slope in the city that is easy to sense when you look at the people riding bikes. The end of the slope is the sea. The other part of the city, the upper part, is the mountain.

The second two limits are the river Llobregat (near El Prat airport) and the river Besòs (close to the Forum). If you stand looking towards the sea, the Llobregat will be at your right and the Besòs to your left. Knowing this, you can explain anyone where exactly are you. For example, Casa Milá (Gaudí’s Pedrera) is located in the crossing of Passeig de Gracia and Provença, in the corner Mountain-Besòs.

It might seem like a piece of funny information, but quite important when you’re trying to meet someone or finding something!

Details about this spot (Show on map)
Find yourself in Barcelona | Art & culture
Passeig de Gracia 92 | Eixample
24 hours daily

Copyrights Spotted by Locals Barcelona