20 Best Restaurants in Barcelona, Spain
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Barcelona's restaurant scene is an ongoing adventure. Between avant-garde culinary innovation and the more rustic dishes of traditional Catalan fare, there is a fleet of brilliant classical chefs producing some of Europe's finest Mediterranean cuisine.
Catalans are legendary lovers of fish, vegetables, rabbit, duck, lamb, game, and natural ingredients from the Pyrenees or the Mediterranean. The mar i muntanya (literally, "sea and mountain"—that is, surf and turf) is a standard. Combining salty and sweet tastes—a Moorish legacy—is another common theme.
The Mediterranean diet—based on olive oil, seafood, fibrous vegetables, onions, garlic, and red wine—is at home in Barcelona, embellished by Catalonia's four basic sauces: allioli (whipped garlic and olive oil), romesco (almonds, nyora peppers, hazelnuts, tomato, garlic, and olive oil), sofregit (fried onion, tomato, and garlic), and samfaina (a ratatouille-like vegetable mixture).
Typical entrées include faves a la catalana (a broad-bean stew), arròs caldós (a rice dish more typical of Catalonia than paella, often made with lobster), and espinacas a la catalana (spinach cooked with oil, garlic, pine nuts, raisins and cured ham). Toasted bread is often doused with olive oil and rubbed with squeezed tomato to make pa amb tomàquet—delicious on its own or as a side order.
Beware of the advice of hotel concierges and taxi drivers, who have been known to falsely warn that the place you are going is either closed or no good anymore, and to instead recommend places where they get kickbacks.
Aside from restaurants, Barcelona is brimming with bars and cafés, the latter of which can serve as an outdoor meeting spot or a place to socialize and enjoy a cocktail. Be advised that the sidewalk cafés along La Rambla are noisy, dusty, overpriced, and exposed to pickpockets.
Catalan wines from the nearby Penedès region, especially the local méthode champenoise (sparkling white wine, known in Catalonia as cava), pairs perfectly with regional cuisine. Meanwhile, winemakers from the Priorat, Montsant, Empordà, and Costers del Segre regions are producing some of Spain's most exciting new wines.
Cruix
With two tasting menus priced at just €39 and €56, for seven and 10 courses respectively, Cruix is the fine-dining restaurant for people who don't want to spend hundreds of euros on a meal. Everything here is laid-back and unpretentious, including the exposed-brick interior, but the quality speaks to the Chef Miquel Pardo's pedigree: he worked under Spanish superstar chefs like Albert Adrià and Jordi Cruz before opening Cruix in 2017.
Disfrutar
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.
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El Celler de Can Roca
Enoteca Paco Pérez
The sleek white-on-white dining room sets the tone for chef Pérez's contemporary take on Mediterranean cuisine. Tasting menus present around a dozen courses, most with a seasonal, seafood-centric focus, like a sea cucumber pasta with bone marrow and young artichokes. If your wallet allows, indulge in a wine pairing, which includes some wonderful surprises like a Spanish-made sake. Exemplary service and a posh location, inside the swanky Hotel Arts, make this a true two-Michelin-star experience.
Lasarte
While Martin Berasategui, one of San Sebastián's corps of master chefs, no longer runs the day-to-day operations of this Barcelona kitchen (it's in the capable hands of chef Paolo Casagrande) the restaurant continues to be a culinary triumph. Expect an eclectic selection of Basque, Mediterranean, and off-the-map creations, a hefty bill, and fierce perfectionism apparent in every dish.
Moments
Inside the ultrasleek Mandarin Oriental hotel, this restaurant, with food by Raül Balam and his mother—the legendary Carme Ruscalleda—lives up to its stellar pedigree, with original preparations that draw on deep wells of Catalan culinary traditions. Dishes on the tasting menus display a masterful lightness of touch and come to the table so exquisitely presented that putting a fork into them feels almost like wanton vandalism; the reward, however, is sublime, with treasures of taste revealed in every astonishing bite.
Slow & Low
The energetic young team behind Slow & Low is a blend of many different cultures and it shows in the 15- and 17-course tasting menus, which combine Mediterranean, Mexican, Peruvian, and even some Southeast Asian influences.
Xerta
Much of Xerta's menu is the expected swanky fine-dining fare, but stand-out options use unique produce from the deltas and rivers of the Terres de l'Ebre region, such as sweet miniature canyuts (razor clams), oysters, and fresh eel. The superb weekday four-course lunch menu is a steal at €45.
ABaC
Chef Jordi Cruz is a celebrity in Spain, and pulls out all the stops with a panoply of artfully-presented dishes that vary from season to season; no expense or effort is ever spared. ABaC is open only for dinner, and serves only a set tasting menu, which you can request with or without paired wines. There are tables only for two or four; the coveted seating looks out on a lovely garden.
Bodega Amposta
A short stroll from the Mies van der Rohe Pavilion and CaixaForum, this bustling brick-walled restaurant serves top-notch seasonal Catalan cuisine prepared on the grill. You order à la carte or go with the four-course prix-fixe menu, which is a good deal.
Direkte Boqueria
Local gourmands pilgrimage to this tiny, unassuming-looking bar on the edge of the famous Boquería market, where Catalan chef Arnau Muñío flexes his culinary chops in full view of the diners at his chef's-table-style counter. There are two tasting menus, one long, one short, both of which showcase Muñío's unique approach to Catalan-Asian fusion food. Think miso scallops with pickled mushrooms and shrimp in green tea kombucha. Capacity is extremely limited and reservations (well in advance) are essential.
Dos Palillos
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.
El Menjador de la Beckett
Part of Poblenou’s Sala Beckett cultural center, this restaurant’s vast, high-ceilinged dining room fills up with locals at lunchtime, thanks to its excellent, well-priced menu del dia of classic Catalan dishes. Reserve a table for the popular Sunday afternoon vermouth hour, featuring live jazz.
Embat
An embat is a puff of wind in Catalan, and this little bistro is a breath of fresh air in the sometimes stuffy Eixample. The highly affordable market cuisine is always impeccably fresh and freshly conceived, from the great-value three-course lunch selection to the more elaborate evening menu. Star dishes include duck cannelloni with truffle béchamel. The dining room is minimally decorated in white and pine to reflect the modern but unfussy fare.
En Ville
With pan-Mediterranean cuisine and reasonable prices, this attractive bistro 100 yards west of the Rambla is perennially popular. The inexpensive lunch menu attracts in-the-know locals, and à la carte choices like scallops with pea foam are tempting and economical. Traditional marble tabletops, graceful lighting, and one country kitchen table for six or eight diners in the dining room add to the appeal.
Hisop
The interior design of Oriol Ivern's small restaurant is minimalist, but his cooking is intricate—and wonderful. This is budget-conscious fine dining that avoids exotic ingredients but lifts local dishes to exciting new heights; the menu changes four times a year to take advantage of what's best in season. Local gastronomes come here for dishes like John Dory with truffle and salsify, and oxtail stew with burrata, delicately presented but always—and most importantly—delicious. The nine-course tasting menu is a steal at €85 (€110 with wine pairing).
La Panxa del Bisbe
Literally "The Bishop's Belly," this casual spot achieves a rare feat: putting modern international twists on Mediterranean cuisine without ruining it. La Panxa is a bit off the beaten path and thrives on a steady stream of repeat customers, who come for superb tapas and the restaurant's own craft beer on tap.
La Yaya Amelia
Just two blocks uphill from Gaudí's Sagrada Família church, this kitchen serves lovingly prepared and clued-in dishes ranging from warm goat-cheese salad to foie (duck or goose liver) to chuletón de buey a la sal (beef cooked in salt). Decidedly old-school, the interior is largely unchanged since the restaurant opened in 1976. The "Yaya" (an affectionate term for grandmother in Spanish) was apparently of Basque origin, as the cuisine here is a pleasantly schizoid medley of Basque and Catalan.
Restaurant Canet
A fixture in the neighborhood for over 30 years, Canet is a cozy (just 12 tables, seating about 40) little hideaway with a retro decor vibe, much enjoyed by the locals. The menú del dia (prix-fixe lunch) is a bit pricy, at €15.75, but the deft touch here, with variations on traditional Catalan cooking, makes it well worthwhile.