Barcelona Travel Guide
Eating Barcelona
How to eat like a local — the dishes to order, the rhythms of the day, vermouth hour, market counter bars, seafood rice in Barceloneta, pintxos in Poble Sec, and how to dodge the tourist traps.
Barcelona is one of the great food cities of Europe, but it is also full of places serving frozen paella and sangria to people who do not know better. The difference between a good and a bad meal here is mostly about knowing what to order, when to eat and where to look. This is the guide.
Understand the rhythm. Catalans eat late and in stages. A light breakfast of coffee and a pastry is followed, for many, by a mid-morning snack. Lunch is the main meal, typically between 1.30 and 4pm, and on weekdays many restaurants serve a menú del dia — a set lunch of starter, main, dessert or coffee, bread and a drink — which is the best-value way to eat well. Late morning at weekends and early evening are vermouth hour, the "hora del vermut," when locals gather for a glass of sweet red vermouth on ice with an olive and a slice of orange, plus a few snacks. Dinner begins around 9pm. Restaurants that are full at 7pm are usually catering to visitors, and that is your first clue.
Catalan classics to order. Pa amb tomàquet — bread rubbed with ripe tomato, olive oil and salt — accompanies almost everything. Escalivada is smoky roasted peppers, aubergine and onion. Esqueixada is a refreshing salad of shredded salt cod. Botifarra is the Catalan pork sausage, often served with white beans. Fideuà is like paella but made with short noodles instead of rice, usually with seafood and served with allioli. Arròs negre is rice cooked black with squid ink. Suquet is a fisherman's stew. In late winter and spring, calçots — long, sweet spring onions — are charred over flames and dipped in romesco sauce at festive gatherings called calçotades. For dessert, crema catalana, a custard with a burnt sugar crust, is the classic. And Catalan sparkling wine, cava, is the default celebration drink.
Tapas, the Barcelona way. Tapas culture in Barcelona is a little different from southern Spain; tapas are usually ordered and paid for rather than given free with a drink. Classics include patatas bravas (fried potatoes with spicy sauce and allioli), croquetes, pebrots de Padró (small green peppers, some hot), grilled squid, anchovies, and jamón ibérico. The bomba, a fried ball of mashed potato and meat with spicy sauce, is said to have been invented in Barceloneta. Pintxos, from the Basque Country, are small bites on bread held together with a toothpick, and Carrer de Blai in Poble Sec is lined with pintxos bars where you help yourself and pay by the toothpick.
Paella and rice dishes. Paella is originally from Valencia, not Catalonia, but rice dishes are a serious business on the Catalan coast. The rules: eat rice at lunchtime, not dinner; avoid places with paella photographs on the menu outside or touts on the street; expect to wait twenty minutes or more, because good rice is cooked to order; and order for at least two people. Barceloneta, the old fishermen's quarter by the beach, is the classic place for seafood paella, black rice and fideuà, but walk a block or two back from the promenade to find the better restaurants.
Markets and counter bars. The Boqueria on La Rambla is the most famous market, and while the entrance stalls are geared to tourists, the counter bars deeper inside cook superb seafood, eggs and seasonal dishes to order — arrive mid-morning for a second breakfast, or before 1pm for lunch. The Santa Caterina market in El Born, with its colourful wave roof, and the restored Sant Antoni market are more local alternatives. Buy jamón, cheese, olives and fruit for a picnic in the Ciutadella park or on the beach. Markets are closed on Sundays.
Neighbourhoods to eat in. El Born is the best all-round area for tapas, vermouth and cocktails in the old town. Sant Antoni, around its market, is one of the city's most fashionable food districts. Poble Sec offers pintxos and lively bars at the foot of Montjuïc. Gràcia has neighbourhood restaurants and squares full of locals at outdoor tables. The Eixample hides many of the city's best restaurants, from classic Catalan to creative tasting menus, on its side streets. Barcelona also has a remarkable fine-dining scene, with a string of Michelin-starred kitchens; book well ahead.
Sweet things and coffee. Granja cafés in the old city serve thick hot chocolate with churros or melindros (sponge fingers) — a perfect winter afternoon treat. Pastry shops sell ensaïmadas, coca and seasonal specialities; at Easter, elaborate chocolate sculptures called mones fill the windows, and in autumn, during the Castanyada around All Saints' Day, panellets — small marzipan sweets rolled in pine nuts — appear alongside roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes from street stalls.
Drinks. Beyond vermouth and cava, Catalonia produces excellent wines from regions like Priorat and Penedès, and many bars serve local craft beer. Sangria is mostly a tourist drink; locals are more likely to order tinto de verano (red wine with lemon soda) in summer. Tap water is safe to drink, though many people prefer bottled for taste.
Avoiding the traps. Be wary of restaurants with photo menus, touts, multilingual menus in several flags, and "paella and sangria" deals on La Rambla and the main squares. Walk a few streets away from the big sights before choosing. Check the menú del dia boards for weekday lunches. And look for places full of locals at local hours — late. Follow these simple rules, and Barcelona will feed you magnificently.