As a cosmopolitan and multicultural city, Barcelona has a wide gastronomic offer of all trends, origins and prices. We can find from cheap menus to higher prices.
You can taste typical Catalan dishes or dishes from other countries, prepared by great chefs or family restaurants. Whatever you choose, I recommend you avoidfrom fast food and savor the local cuisine that this city offers you.
Discover the richness and variety of authentic local food with my suggestions.
El Nacional
In an alley of Passeig de Gracia, you will find this spectacular restaurant with different spaces where you can enjoy traditional recipes from the Peninsula.
El Nacional has in one place 4 bars specializing in beers, wines, oysters and cocktails and 4 restaurants specializing in grills, fish, tapas and appetizers.
We usually go to La Taperia and have some tapas and a beer.
This time we ordered:
- Tortilla
- Straw potatoes with egg and ham
- Russian salad
- Cobbled Chickpeas
- bread with tomato
- Beer
- Soda water
At this time of the day you can only order from the menu, but it is common for the waiters to bring out dishes and announce them to the diners and if you want one you just have to call them and they will bring it to your table, don’t hesitate because they run out quickly!
Our dinner cost us €32.75. This is a tapas restaurant, if you prefer lunch or dinner I recommend you choose any of the others.
Information:
- Address: Paseo de Gracia, 24 bis.
- Telephone: +34 935185053
En Ville
It is a modern and elegant restaurant located near the center (behind the Boqueria), in the Raval district.
During the week, at noon, we can find menus at a price of €16.90 and on weekends and at night dishes from the menu. It is a creative Catalan cuisine restaurant with fresh seasonal products.
This time we ask:
- Salad with goat cheese
- Spinach in cream with raisins and pine nuts
- Sautéed quinoa with vegetables and fresh avocado
- Baked salmon with old mustard and honey, mashed aubergines and sweet potato chips.
- For dessert: mel and killed
- Of drink: water
The meal cost €37.70 because the salmon had a supplement.
Information:
- Address: Doctor Dou, 14
- Tephone: 933028467
La Semproniana
From a family linked to restaurants (Fonda Europa in Granollers, Senyor Parellada in Barcelona and Can Ribas in Bigas), chef Ada Parellada gives cooking workshops, has published several recipe books, is the author of the novel Vanilla Salt and participates in the media spreading healthy eating.
In 1993 he opened the restaurant La Semproniana with Santi Alegre, which is located in an old publishing house in the Eixample district. It is a pleasant space that surprises us with its daring decoration full of colour, light and furniture in different styles, but with a culinary theme.
It is a restaurant with traditional Catalan and market cuisine that in some dishes reinterprets the Catalan and French classics. It offers us its menu, tasting menus at different prices and a lunch menu from Monday to Friday for €19.75 with dessert, water and a glass of wine.
This time we ordered:
- Fish soup with rice
- Tomato and burrata salad
- Fish made our way
- Mini cod brandade cannelloni
- Custard
- strudel
Information:
- Address: c/ Rosselló, 148
- Tephone: 934 53 18 20
Ca La Montse
Ca la montse means (Montse’s home), currently run by her son: Jordi Ràfols.
With marine decoration, it offers us a menu with homemade market cuisine. Specialists in rice dishes, their paellas are exquisite.
You can opt for a la carte, tasting menus at different prices or for the daily menu from Monday to Friday (from 1pm to 4pm) for €18 or €12 (half menu).
This time we ordered:
- Octopus cannulae with prawn sauce
- Snails bovers del xef Jordi Ràfols
- Paella with cuttlefish and shellfish for two
- Mel i killed
- fish cake with chocolate
- To drink we had 2 glasses of white wine
- 2 coffees (not included in the menu)
It cost us 37€ (when we went the menu cost 17€)
Information:
- Address: C/ Balboa, 14
- Tephone: 932 68 49 76
Secrets by Farga
It is located in the center of Barcelona, in a place with an extraordinary decoration that leaves no one indifferent. They offer a healthy option with unique dishes and generous portions. They also have vegan and vegetarian options.
The service was excellent and we ate:
- veggie burger
- free range chicken
- Three quinoa salad with avocado + chicken protein.
By the way! Don’t miss out on trying the pastries made in their own workshop. We chose the praline tart and a Catalan cream tart. We’ll be back for sure until we’ve tried them all!
Information:
- Address:Carrer de Pau Claris, 167
- Tephone: 607 66 49 26
Can Culleretes
Located in the Ciutat Vella, near Las Ramblas and Plaça Sant Jaume, it is considered the oldest restaurant in Catalonia (1786). It owes its name to the cry that the waiters gave when they needed clean spoons: Noies, culleretes !!!!!. (Ladies, Spoons !!!!) It is currently run by the Agut-Manubens family (since 1958).
Its cuisine is homemade and traditional Catalan. They have several menus: daily, weekend, tapas, seafood, paella, à la carte dishes and other menus with different prices. We decided on the daily menu during the week for €18.
We ordered:
First:
- Empedrat
- Salad
Seconds:
- Grilled squid
- Brandade and spinach canalones
Dessert:
- Custard
- 2 coffees
Bread, water and wine
We paid for 2 menus and two coffees: €38.20
It has several rooms with modernist decoration, large paintings and photographs dedicated by painters, artists, politicians… both international and from Barcelona life.
We recommend calling to reserve a table.
Information:
- Address: Quintana 5
- Tephone: 93 317 30 22 / 93 317 64 85
Cal Boter
Located in the Gracia neighborhood, it was first a carpentry shop that in 1986 was transformed into a family restaurant where you can taste homemade Catalan cuisine.
They are specialized in traditional breakfasts, seasonal dishes, à la carte meals, daily menus and group menus.
You may choose between:
- Daily menu with first course, second course, desserts, bread and drink included for €12.50 (Monday to Friday noon) and Saturday noon from €14.80.
- Dishes that are offered to us on the menu every day and on Sundays.
The space is decorated with traditional ceramics and wood and its walls have photographs of the Sant Andreu neighborhood (where the Boter family comes from), the restaurant and other emblematic Catalan painters of Barcelona.
Cal Boter welcomes us in a familiar way with excellent service and treatment.
We recommend you call to make a reservation before hand.
This time we ordered a Menu for Three:
- Two delicious Gazpachos and a salad.
- An aubergine stuffed with meat, a chorizo with beans and a steak with potatoes.
- Honey and mató (fresh cheese) and 2 flan.
Bread, beer, sparkling water and mineral water
Also 2 coffees, but they were not included in the menu.
Information:
- Address: Carrer de Tordera, 62
- Telephone: +34 934 58 84 62
La Llesca
Very close to the Sagrada Familia, on Avenida Gaudí, is a small restaurant serving traditional Catalan cuisine, with a terrace overlooking the basilica. The service is excellent, and we really felt it was an authentic catalan restaurant, at a very touristic oriented location.
We ate 2 people a la carte:
First:
- Fish soup
- Mixed salad
Seconds:
- Cannelloni
- Butifarra with white beans
Dessert:
- Catalan cream
- Carrot cake
The bill to pay for two people came out for €44.50
Information:
- Address: Avinguda de Gaudí, 12
- Telephone: 934 55 31 30
Bodega de la Palma
Near Plaça Sant Jaume, among the narrow streets of the Gothic Quarter, we can find the Bodega de la Palma, an emblematic place that welcomed artists of the time and that began as a grocery store in 1935, which was transformed into a winery in 1940 (known as Mrs. María) and since 2005 into a gastrocellar.
To this day, it maintains the décor of a winery: marble tables, wine barrels, and beautiful paintings create a quiet space for eating and relaxing.
It offers a daily menu on weekdays from 13 to 16, tapas and good wine. Sunday closed.
Daily menu for €13.50:
- First between 6 dishes to choose
- Second of 5 courses
- Desserts, bread and drinks
This time I ate:
- Blue cheese and apple salad
- Chicken and vegetable wok,
- Strugel and sparkling water.
Information:
- Address: La Palma de Sant Just 7, Barcelona
- Telephone: +34 933 150 656
Café Bar Caixa Forum Barcelona
Café and restaurant located inside the modernist building “Casa Ramona” from 1913 by the architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch.
It is currently the Cultural and Social Center of CaixaForum in Barcelona.
It is a perfect space to have breakfast or lunch if we have visited its exhibitions or the museums that are in Montjuic such as the MNAC, Archaeological Museum, Pueblo Español…
Turull Sørensen designed the café-restaurant with comfortable furnishings, green décor and exhibition posters, creating a calm atmosphere. The service is excellent.
Its meal schedule is from Monday to Sunday and holidays, from 13 to 16 hours. The cafeteria is open during downtown hours
It has a daily menu to choose from several dishes that include bread and drinks.
We had to eat:
- 2 orange creams and Catalan sausage
- 1 fricando with moixernons (mushrooms)
- 1 cannelloni of tuna
- 2 white chocolate cakes
- 1 sparkling water
- 1 glass of wine
Information:
- Address: av. de Francesc Ferrer i Guardia, 6-8
- Telephone: +34 93 476 86 69
Ina Espai de Café i Piadina
In the Barrio del Born we find Ina, a restaurant run by Nico and Fioretta, two Italians who have been living in our city for years.
If you go in the morning you can try their healthy or traditional breakfasts with pastries and good Italian coffee.
Ina is a space where you can taste the best traditional piadinas or try their innovations made with seasonal foods, you can also opt for vegan piadinas.
They have a great variety of high quality beers, Spanish and Italian wines and also offer some cocktails and shots.
You can’t go without trying the best tiramisu in BCN! At Ina you will always be well looked after.
On this occasion, we decided to try two piadinas that had just been created by the chef:
- With ricotta, figs, honey and walnuts (€7)
- With speck figs (serrano ham), stracchino and arugula (€7)
- A dry white wine (€3.5), Terra Alta Chardonais and Ayinger wheat beer. (€4.5).
Information:
- Address: Carrer Carders 43
- Telephone: +34 663 47 60 17
Puertecillo
Puertecillo, formerly known as La Paradeta, is a fresh seafood restaurant where you buy at market price and they cook it for you on the spot.
This is a restaurant where you can eat quality fresh seafood at a very reasonable price.
First you choose the piece of fish or shellfish you want and indicate how you want it to be cooked (grilled, steamed…), then you choose your drink, here you will pay the bill and sit while your dishes are prepared, when it is ready you will be notified by a locator and you go looking for the plate.
The service is self service.
The last time we went we ordered:
- Squids at “Andaluza” style
- Steamed mussels
- grilled sole
- grilled shrimp
- Grilled monkfish
- Salad
- And for drinks: water and beer.
We ended up quite full. The calamari and mussels are spectacular!
You will find different restaurants in: Sants, El Born, Sagrada Familia, Meridiana, Passeig de Gràcia, Gràcia and Sitges.
Mamacafé
Near Las Ramblas and MACBA is MAMACAFÉ, a restaurant created in 2005 by the Aparicio Pons brothers. Here you will find traditional dishes with an innovative touch.
The place is very well decorated, with a lot of color and paintings by artists of the moment. The food is exquisite and the treatment with the clients is perfect.
- Menu of the day (Monday to Friday at noon).
- To choose between 3 starters, 5 seconds, 4 desserts, bread and drinks for €12.90
- Take away: this menu can be ordered to take away.
- Express menu: 1-dish menu, drink and dessert.
- Weekend lunch menu €16.50.
- Evening menu for groups with reservation, all inclusive €23.
This time I chose order:
- Semi-cured cheese salad with avocado, tomato, red onion and arbequina oil (VEG)
- Starry eggs with escalivada and house fries (VEG)
- yogurt with jam
- Sparkling water and bread
Information:
- Address: Carrer del Dr. Dou, 10
- Telephone: +34 933 01 29 40
Biocenter
It is one of the oldest vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Barcelona since 1980.
It has a family style and with homemade dishes. You can choose several options depending on how hungry you are.
In my case, I chose the complete option that includes starter + dish of the day + dessert or coffee.
I had a Gazpacho (cold tomato soup with cucumber, pepper, onion, garlic, oil and vinegar), vegetable lasagna and coffee.
Everything was very good and I did not leave hungry. In addition, it is very well priced.
Apart from the menus, or the mixed dishes, you can also order tapas and hamburgers.
It is a highly recommended place for vegans and vegetarians or for those who like these restaurants.
Information:
- Address: Calle del Pintor Fortuny, 25
- Telephone: +34 933 01 45 83
