Abac
C/Rec 79-89 (93 319 66 00). Metro Barceloneta.
Open 8.30-10.30pm Mon; 1.30-3.30pm, 8.30-10.30pm Tue-Sat.
Closed 2wks Aug.
Blond wood, bare walls and unfussy furniture provide
the perfect backdrop to elaborate dishes and impeccable
service. The menu degustación is an absurdly
indulgent series of dishes such as tuna with broccoli
cream and caviar; langoustines on a bed of couscous
with artichoke crisps, or scallops with braised endive
and wild mushroom sauce. Puddings hit the only duff
note: a rather bland selection of milk-based desserts
not greatly suited to rounding off a heavy meal. Better
to sample some of the superb cheeses and hold out for
the fantastic petits fours.
Bar Salvador
C/Canvis Nous 8 (93 310 10 41). Metro Jaume
I or Barceloneta.
Open 9am-5pm Mon-Fri.
An old-school bodega dishing out good, cheap, uncomplicated
Catalan food to the working masses; battered calamars
to start, or raviolis al Roquefort, then perhaps knuckle
of veal, botifarra with haricot beans or cod with samfaina.
Another winner is roast pork with rosemary and onions
and fat, fluffy potato wedges. The drinking options
are a fiery house wine from the barrel or beer; here
both tend to be drunk from glass porrones held aloft
- a skill best practised at home.
Brasserie Flo
C/Jonqueres 10 (93 319 31 02). Metro Urquinaona.
Open 1.30-4pm daily; 8.30pm-12.30am Mon-Thur, Sun; 8pm-1am
Fri, Sat.
Parlour palms and ’20s posters; waiters with cloths
draped over their arms and trays wielded at shoulder
height; you get the picture. The house speciality is
a huge platter of seafood, but a Catholic range of dishes
runs from carpaccio to ostrich. Gallic treats for pudding
include iles flotantes and profiteroles. The set dinner
menu at €22.70 is good value and includes wine.
Cal Pep
Plaça de les Olles 8 (93 310 79 61).
Metro Barceloneta.
Open 8-11.45pm Mon; 1.30-4pm, 8-11.45pm Tue-Sat. Closed
Aug.
Get here early for the coveted seats at the front, where
the bar bends round; otherwise you can expect to have
waiting customers breathing down your neck, such is
the reputation of Cal Pep. The seafood raciones can
be exceptional - don’t miss the creamy, garlicky
squid or the expensive but fabulous prawns. Book well
ahead for a table in the brick-lined room at the back.
Casa Delfin
Passeig del Born 36 (93 319 50 88). Metro Barceloneta.
Open 7am-5pm Mon-Sat. Closed 3wks Aug.
While the beautiful people sun themselves at the tables
outside, inside is still a jovial workmen’s canteen,
serving simple but tasty meat and fish at lunchtimes
only. The extensive menu del dia is still good value,
with great sardines, fresh tuna and, during the season,
roast artichokes. Stews and soups are not quite as good,
however, and some of the salad options tend to be overdressed.
Comerç 24
C/Comerç 24 (93 319 21 02). Metro Arc
de Triomf.
Open 1.30-3.30pm, 8.30pm-12.30am Tue-Fri. Closed 3wks
Aug.
Chef Carles Abellan has created his own version of Ferran
Adrià’s famous tasting menu , playing with
flavours and deconstructing traditional favourites (DIY
tortilla: just dip the ingredients into a warm egg-yolk
spume). A selection of tiny dishes roams the globe:
tuna sashimi and seaweed on a wafer-thin pizza crust;
Puy lentils with bacon and foie gras; or squid stuffed
with botifarra and anise. Steel girders and jailhouse-grey
paint punctuated with bursts of yellow and red provide
some industrial chic.
Coses de Menjar
Pla de Palau 7 (93 310 60 01). Metro Jaume
I or Barceloneta.
Open 1.30-4pm, 9-11.30pm Mon-Thur, Sun; 1.30-4pm, 9pm-midnight
Fri, Sat.
As with sister restaurants Pla dels Angels and Semproniana
, the formula here is quirky, charming decor with food
coming a reasonable second. Chandeliers are made from
wine glasses, menus are glued to wine bottles and bent
forks become napkin rings. The regular menu can be a
tad overpriced, but from the reduced lunch menu starters
such as courgettes stuffed with wild mushrooms are less
than €3 and mains such as tender calves’
liver with onion and walnut are only €4.25.
El Pebre Blau
C/Banys Vells 21 (93 319 13 08). Metro Jaume
I.
Open 8.30pm-midnight daily.
Soft lighting and a cascade of colourful lightshades
work their magic against the Gothic arches of this former
stable. A French-Moroccan menu includes plenty of tajines,
curries and an emphasis on duck. Try the goat’s
cheese in a tuile basket with ginger marmalade for dessert.
Service is, seemingly without exception, young, attentive
and charming, and Edith Piaf provides the final touch.
Espai Sucre
C/Princesa 53 (93 268 16 30). Metro Jaume I.
Open 9-11.30pm Tue-Sat. Closed Aug.
Prepare the palate with a small savoury dish - couscous
with fried skate, perhaps, or a lentil broth with grilled
foie gras - in preparation for a series of light and
artfully constructed desserts, in possibly the only
pudding restaurant in the world. The sheer number of
flavours in one dish - a soup of shredded lychee holds
a lozenge of ice-cream, infused with apple, celery and
eucalyptus and sprinkled with ground cloves and more
- can sometimes be dizzying; the key is not to analyse
the parts, but enjoy the sum.
L’Econòmic
Plaça Sant Agust?ell 13 (93 319 64 94).
Metro Arc de Triomf.
Open 12.30-4.30pm Mon-Fri. Closed Aug.
As you’d expect, old favourites such as escudella
(stew), galtes de ternera (calves’ cheek) and
roast rabbit are nothing if not cheap, and there’s
an unusually good range of puddings, including a dreamy
lemon mousse. It’s a deep, narrow restaurant lined
with Andalucian tiles and the owner’s oil paintings;
always packed, but there are chairs on the pretty plaça
outside for anyone waiting for a table.
La Reina
C/Sant Antoni dels Sombrerers 3 (93 319 53
71). Metro Jaume I or Barceloneta.
Open 8.30pm-midnight Mon-Thur, Sun; 8.30pm-1am Fri,
Sat.
It would seem red-and-black is the new black. La Reina’s
peculiar Dracula-chic sweeps on to the dark, narrow
street by way of a crimson carpet and flickering candles,
spooking passers-by. Toothsome pleasures inside include
a tender duck magret with caramelised apples and a generous
tuna steak with aubergine and black olives (both served
rare, naturally). Desserts are similarly good - try
the chocolate tart topped with a sublime passion fruit
cream.
Mundial Bar
Plaça Sant Agust?ell 1 (93 319 90 56).
Metro Arc de Triomf or Jaume I.
Open 10am-11.30pm Tue-Sat; 11am-4pm Sun. Closed 2wks
Aug.
A welcome antidote to many of the fussy, touristy, seafood
restaurants hereabouts, Mundial is a no-nonsense bar-restaurant
run by three generations of an extremely welcoming family.
Be warned that some of the fare on offer does not seem
to be freshly prepared, but the parrillada (€24
for two), a towering heap of langoustines, prawns, clams,
razor clams, octopus and more, is a fantastic bargain.
Passadis del Pep
Pla del Palau 2 (93 310 10 21). Metro Barceloneta.
Open 1.30-3.30pm, 9-11.30pm Mon-Sat. Closed 3wks Aug.
Hidden down a long corridor and invisible from the street,
once inside this upmarket seafood restaurant is a blast
of colour and activity. There’s no written menu,
but charming waiters will bring a selection of excellent
seafood dishes, including some outstanding paellas or
a lobster fideuà. Wine (generally cava) is included
in the price, which hovers around €75 per head,
but is dependent on the market.
Pla de la Garsa
C/Assaonadors 13 (93 315 24 13). Metro Jaume
I.
Open 8pm-1am daily.
High-quality cheeses from around Spain, pates and cold
meats are all to be found in this elegant 16th-century
dairy, as well as local specialities such as greixera
menorquina (Menorcan leek tart). For a selection, along
with samplers of dishes based on traditional recipes,
some dating back to medieval times, there is a taster
menu at €13 per person (minimum two people). Desserts
are similarly based on local traditions and vary according
to the religious calendar.
Pucca
Passeig Picasso 32 (93 268 72 36). Metro Arc
de Triomf.
Open 1.30-4.30pm, 9pm-midnight. Tue-Sat; 1.30-4.30pm
Sun.
If it weren’t for the overwhelming percentage
of punters sporting Freitag bags and Beckham fins, you
could be forgiven for mistaking Pucca’s minimalism
for ‘sixties railway station’ (with acoustics
to match). The globe-trotting food, however, is superb,
with influences and flown-in ingredients from Thailand,
Indonesia, Mexico and elsewhere. Try the tom ka gai
chicken soup or gule kambing, an aromatic lamb stew,
and perhaps a hollowed-out baby pineapple filled with
ice-cream for dessert.
Santa Maria
C/Comerç 17 (93 315 12 27). Metro Arc
de Triomf.
Open 1.30-3.30pm, 8.30pm-midnight Tue-Sat. Closed 3wks
Aug.
At the vanguard of the new wave of designer tapas restaurants,
Santa Maria offers saucers of tuna mojama (thinly sliced
and cured), or tiny bowls of perfectly al dente fried
rice with chicken and vegetables, as well as minuscule
versions of perfectly prepared international standards
such as sushi and falafel, but the desserts are where
things get really interesting. Expect the unexpected.
Senyor Parellada
C/Argenteria 37 (93 310 50 94). Metro Jaume
I.
Open 1-3.45pm, 8.30-11.45pm Mon-Sat.
Senyor Parellada has been around forever, but after
a makeover a couple of years back it now serves smaller
dishes at lower prices, with only a slight dip in quality.
Tasty Catalan favourites include plenty of seafood,
or the ferociously good xai a les dotze cabeces d’all
(lamb with 12 heads of garlic). Paellas and fideuàs
are where the changes become more obvious, though, as
those are not dishes that benefit from mass production.
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