The Born & Sant Pere

El Kiosko

• Price band: 1/4
• Critics choice

Brad Ainsworth, the chef who brought the gourmet burger to Barcelona with his tiny Bacoa, also opened El Kiosko, which is along the same lines but more spacious and comfortable and open onto the street. Try any of the delicious recipes with special

Mosquito

• Critics choice

The Mosquito is the epitome of exoticism. They make excellent Cantonese cuisine, particularly the famous dim sum rolls. Giles, the restaurant owner, is an Englishman who, after travelling round Asia for years, decided to open a Chinese restaurant in

Casa Delfín

• Price band: 2/4
• Critics choice

Casa Delfín was given a general facelift recently, when it changed owners. But some types of plastic surgery enhance the features and yet it’s hardly noticeable. This has become a place which, while it still has the appearance of an eatery, is more

7 Portes

• Price band: 3/4
• Critics choice

The eponymous seven doors open on to as many dining salons, all kitted out in elegant 19th-century decor. Long-aproned waiters bring regional dishes, served in vast portions, including a stewy fish zarzuela with half a lobster, a different paella

Gravin

• Rated as: 4/5
• Price band: 2/4
• Critics choice

All the staff at this restaurant are from Puglia, but the place has a number of features that don’t derive from that region. These include many dishes, but let's start with their typical orecchiette, which they make with clams, arugula and tomato.

Coppelia

• Rated as: 5/5
• Critics choice

At the bar counter you'll find classic cocktails as well as a wide range of Gin and Tonics, however, you must take a look to the bars menu. A luxury.

Bar Mercaders

• Rated as: 4/5
• Critics choice

This bar is a classic born of love and rock 'n' roll. It draws all types of rock fans: those who look like they were around when Pat Boone was de-sexing rock for the middle-class whites of the States,  rockers, hooligan lawyers, heavy metal fans and

Disset 17 Graus

A rustic, elegant wine bar with a wine list of more than 60 bottles from around the world. Good selection of small dishes to go with the wines.

Collage

• Rated as: 5/5
• Critics choice

For those of us who yearn for days gone by, the best we can come up with is to reclaim old bars before they're taken over by more modern spaces. However, sometimes we stubborn grumps find ourselves in places like Collage, little treasures that force

Bar del Pla

• Price band: 2/4

Positioned somewhere between a French bistro and a tapas bar, the Bar del Pla serves tapas or raciones (divine pig's trotters with foie, outstanding pa amb tomàquet). Drinks include Mahou on tap (a fine beer, often ignored here because it's from

Palau de la Música Catalana

Commissioned by the nationalistic Orfeó Català choral society, this jawdropping concert hall was intended as a paean to the Catalan renaixença and a showcase for the most outstanding Modernista workmanship available. Domènech i Montaner's façade is

Santa Maria del Mar

One of the most perfect surviving examples of the Catalan Gothic style, this graceful basilica stands out for its characteristic horizontal lines, plain surfaces, square buttresses and flat-topped octagonal towers. Its superb unity of style is down

Museu Picasso

When it opened in 1963, the museum dedicated to Barcelona's favourite adopted son was housed in the Palau Aguilar. Nearly five decades later, the permanent collection of some 3,800 pieces has now been spread across five adjoining palaces, two of

Mercat de Santa Caterina

Built in 1846, the Mercat de Santa Caterina is the second oldest market in the city. The renovation project was the work of Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue’s team of architects. Its most characteristic element is its gorgeous mosaic roof,

MEAM: Museu Europeu d'Art Modern

The European Museum of Modern Art, located inside the Palau Gomis, makes figurative art of the 20th and 21st centuries its main priority, something that doesn't usually get a lot of museum space. The Museum's Foundation organises a yearly prize for

Ena Macana

Necklaces, bracelets and rings with a story to tell, hand-made from all kinds of old, broken and outdated items are what you can expect to find in the shop and workshop of Ena Macana, a multi-disciplinary artist who makes thought-provoking fashion

El Calaix

Knitted amigurumi dolls (here re-christened as Cookonoflis and Titoluigi) take pride of place in El Calaix, the boutique of Patricia Vigussà. They stock a collection by Pepa Loves and accessories by La Mouchette, and have all you need for crochet.

My Beautiful Parking

The owners of My Beautiful Parking fell in love with fixed-gear bicycles and decided to change the direction of the business. But what makes them stand out from the rest is that, instead of working with factory-built bikes, they offer tailor-made

Station Barcelona

The cafeteria at the Estació de França is popular both with early-risers and all-night revellers. The décor resembles a kind of jazz club, with its four-metre-high plants rising to the ceiling, and little tables with iron legs. During the day, it

Magic Club

Looking for a rock club in Barcelona? Two words: Magic Club. It’s the spot that rock freaks flock to en masse when they realise that they’ve fallen for the traps and lies of the modern world, or just when they feel like getting drunk and dancing to

Diobar

Probably the last thing you'd expect to find in the basement of a Greek restaurant is a party. But the Dionisos restaurant in the Born opposite the Parc Ciutadella puts on free parties every weekend. Downstairs is converted into a nightclub with

The Glass Bar

• Rated as: 3/5

The American owner of The Glass Bar set out to bring a bit of the Manhattan-style cocktail bar to the Born in Barcelona. And that's just what he's done with this space where black and fuchsia live happily alongside forged metal furniture. If you're

Club Mix

This sprawling space on C/Comerç has an air of exclusivity about it, but you can still get tapas in the form of finger food to start off your night. There's a decent selection of DJ-spun house music, wall to wall beautiful people and laser lighting