Bar Mandri

With more than 50 years in the same spot, working at the same business, Bar Mandri reigns in its uptown Barcelona district with an invariable formula that still brings them in today. A formula that combines traditional home-made tapas, very-well-poured beers on tap, and an attentive, polite and respectful wait staff. It may sound a bit old-fashioned, and it is. And it works very well for them.

The Pujado Massana family opened this bar in 1966, with credentials that still attract their loyal customers, such as old-school 'patatas bravas' that plenty of gourmets will defend to the end as being better than those at Bar Tomás, and a singular recipe for fried chicken.

The battered and fried artichokes are also a star dish on the menu, but the 'bravas' get the standing ovation. Oily, chunky, well-cooked and topped with a majestic 'alioli' (garlic mayonnaise), these bravas are made exclusively in the Mandri, and now I know why so many people make the pilgrimage just to gobble them up.