3 Best Restaurants in Barcelona, Spain

Three former head chefs from the now-closed "World's Best Restaurant" El Bulli combined their considerable talents to create this roller-coaster ride of culinary fun (the word "disfrutar" is Spanish for "to enjoy") spotlighting tasting menus of dazzling inventiveness and good taste. Bowls are swirled to reveal beetroot meringues emerging from sesame-seed "earth" (the seeds are made to look like soil), and jellied truffle-and-egg tempura hit the bull's-eye of pure pleasure; desserts are otherworldly.

After 10 years as the chief cook and favored disciple of pioneering chef Ferran Adrià, Albert Raurich opened this outstanding Asian-fusion restaurant that focuses on an eclectic assortment of tastes and textures. There are several tasting menus to choose from; an à la carte menu is available at the bar. 

Just off Plaça de Catalunya, this combination eco-market and restaurant serves organic ingredients prepared via healthy techniques and traditions. The beef is ecologically produced, the pastas are all made with ecologically pure flours, while the wines and vegetables are locally grown and carefully identified. There is also, unlike most Barcelona restaurants, a decent selection of delicious vegan and vegetarian options. The sustainability theme continues with the furniture and materials, all made of recycled items, adding to the lively, informal ambience redolent of London's indoor markets.