Barcelona dining

The bar at Los Caracoles restaurant. (Photo courtesy of the restaurant)

The restaurants, tapas bars, and cuisine of Barcelona

As the capital of Catalonia, Barcelona has plenty of traditional local restaurants that make the excellent casseroles that made this region famous.

As a port city, Barcelona has incredible seafood.

Make sure you try some of the interesting surf-n-turf combinations, such as the traditional llagosta i pollastre (chicken and lobster in a tomato-hazelnut sauce).

Suquet is made of shellfish stewed with tomatoes, potatoes, saffron, and wine.

Unattractive but tasty is butifarra negra amb mongetes, a fat, black sausage (pork bellies, blood, and spices) in a plate of white beans.

Spend at least one evening doing a tapeo, or tapas bar crawl.

Other regional cuisines

Nearby Valencia contributes to Barcelona’s tables the mighty paella, saffron-tinged rice simmered with a medley of seafood, chicken, tomatoes, peppers, beans, pork, hare, and so on.

Don’t leave Spain without sampling some Basque cuisine—although Catalonians are no slouches in the kitchen, supremacy for invention and refinement goes to the Basque. (My recommendation: Splurge at Beltxenea.)

Cava

Be sure to sample cava, the Catalonian champagne, a dry sparkling white wine with fruity overtones and a crisp finish.

The two biggies are Cordorníu and Freixenet (for what it's worth, I prefer the latter), but when in Barcelona you can sample cava from smaller producers that don't export internationally.

Tips & Links

Useful Catalan dining phrases

table for two	Una taula per dos (oo-nah TOWEL-ah pair dohs)
I would like	Voldria (vohl-DREE-ya)
...some (of)	una mica (de) (OO-na MEE-ka (day))
...of this / of that	d'això (dye-SHO) / d'aquest (dah-QWEST)
and	i (ee)
...a glass of...	un vaso de (oon BAH-soh day)
...a bottle of...	una botella de (oon boh-TAY-yah day)
...fizzy water	aigua amb gas (AY-gwah ahm gahs)
...still water	aigua sense gas (AY-gwah SEN-say gahs)
...tap water	aigua de l'aixeta (AY-gwah day lie-SHET-tah)
...red wine	vi negre (bee NAY-gray)
...white wine	vi blanc (bee blahnk)
...beer	una cerveza (OO-nah sair-B'VAY-sah)
Check, please	el compte si us plau? (el KOHMP-tay see yous PLOW)
Is service included?	S'inclou el servei? (seen-CLEW el sair-BAY)
Thank you	Gràcies (GRAH-see-yuhs)
Please	Sisplau (sees-PLOW)
Yes	Sí (see)
No	No (no)
One	Un/una (oon / OO-bah)
Two	dos/dues (dohs / DOO-ways)
Do you speak English?	Parles anglès? (PAR-lus un-GLAYS)
I don't understand	No l'entenc (noh LEN-tenk)
Excuse me (get attention)	Excuseu-me (ex-COO-zoo-mee) [or] Disculpi (dee-SKOOL-pee)

 

» more

Barcelona food tours

• Tapas, wine, & chocolate
• Cooking & markets
• Dinners
• Daytrips

• Tapas Evening Walking Tour of Barcelona
• Context: Pica-Pica in Poble-Sec Tapas Walk
• Barcelona Tapas Tour “en el barrio”
• Barcelona Cycle & Tapas
• Spanish Wine Tasting in Barcelona
• Context: City of Chocolate
• Small-Group Barcelona Chocolate and Sweets Walking Tour

• Context: My Barcelona Kitchen
• Small-Group Barcelona Cooking Class
• Private Tour: Barcelona Cooking Class with Boqueria Market Walking Tour
• Context: Farm to Fork, the Boqueria and Beyond
• Barcelona Gourmet Food and La Boqueria Market Walking Tour
• Context: Modernista Menu: Avant-Garde Barcelona Cuisine

• Context: Modernista Menu: Avant-Garde Barcelona Cuisine
• Barcelona Gourmet Tapas and Private Flamenco Show in a Medieval Palace
• Barcelona Gourmet Dinner on a Deluxe Glass-Roof Bus
• Flamenco Night at Tablao Cordobes

• Small-Group Tour: Traditional Food and Wine Day Trip from Barcelona
• Small-Group Cava and Wine Day Trip from Barcelona
• Sitges and Freixenet's Cava Wine Cellars Day Trip from Barcelona
• Barcelona Super Saver: City Tour, Sitges and Freixenet Cava Day Trip
• Barcelona Super Saver: Sitges, Freixenet Cava Wine Cellars and Montserrat Tour
• Small-Group Montserrat Tour from Barcelona: Wine and Cheese Tasting with Optional Golf Round
• Catalan Culture Tour from Barcelona: Food Market, Montblanc and Human Tower Festival
• Small-Group Catalonia Tour from Barcelona: Alella Wine Tasting, Catalan Food and Human Tower Displays

 

 

Useful links & resources

SIGHTS

Barcelona tourist info: Barcelonaturisme.com (info office), Guiadelocio.com (events mag); Catalunya.com (regional info), Spain.info

Sightseeing passes: Barcelona Card (20+ sights; transport; discounts), Museum Pass (6 sights)

Tours & activities: Viator.com, ContextTravel.com, UrbanAdventures.com, City-Discovery.com, Intrepidtravel.com, Gadventures.com

LODGING

Hotels: Booking.com, Venere.com, Priceline.com, Hotels.com

B&Bs: Booking.com, Bedandbreakfast.com, Airbnb.com, Venere.com

Apartments: Rentalo.com, Vrbo.com, Booking.com, Airbnb.com, Interhomeusa.com, Homeaway.com

Hostels & campgrounds: Hostelbookers.com, Hostelworld.com, Hostelz.com, Booking.com

TRANSPORT

Airfares:

• Momondo.com
• AutoEurope.com
• Vayama.com
• CheapOair.com
• Cheapflights.com
• DoHop.com
• CheapTickets.com
• Priceline.com

Airports: Aena.es

Trains: Raileurope.com (throughout Europe), Renfe.com (within Spain), Bahn.de (throughout Europe), Seat61.com

Public transport: Barcelona Card (free transport; sightseeing); Search all public transit: mou-te.gencat.cat; Metro/Bus: Tmb.cat; Tram: Trambcn.com; Light rail: Fgc.cat; Taxi: Taxibarcelona.cat

Car rentals: Autoeurope.com, RentalCars.com, Momondo.com, Orbitz.com, Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, Kayak.com

Related Articles

• Tapas
• Quick bites in Barcelona
• Barcelona homepage
• Spain planning FAQ
• Spain homepage