Restaurants
The best places to eat and drink in Barcelona, reviewed anonymously
Recommended restaurants and cafés
Xerta
Barcelona haute cuisine that uses raw materials and recipes from the Delta d'Ebre
Fine dining
Cinc Sentits
A lovely space with an imaginative cuisine that stimulates all five senses (hence the name). You’ll be blown away by their range of superb, original...
Most popular online restaurant bookings
Cinc Sentits
A lovely space with an imaginative cuisine that stimulates all five senses (hence the name). You’ll be blown away by their range of superb, original...
Il Birrino
You're greeted by a blackboard with six craft beers, five of them Catalan. Beer is the official poison at Il Birrino, a small space that might puzzle...
L'Hortet
A Barcelona classic that opened over 20 years ago and is a haven of peace and quiet. This neighbourhood brings in a variety of customers: CCCB employees,...
Can Boneta
Here's yet another traditional Catalan restaurant that really should be protected under by UNESCO as a local heritage site. Every once in a while a crafty...
Xerta
In Xerta, the restaurant in the Ohla hotel, you'll find the champion of Barcelona haute cuisine for delving into the great unknown of Catalan gastronomy by...
Lluritu 2
Gracia's self-proclaimed casual seafood restaurant at Torrent de les Flors, 71, has a sibling living very nearby. And Lluritu 2 has a capacity for 100...
5 romantic restaurants
Winter Garden
The Winter Garden restaurant at the El Palace hotel lives up to any expectations you might have when you enter one of the great hotels in Barcelona. The exclusivity is in the views as well as in the kitchen. The restaurant boasts spectacular 360-degree views of Barcelona, and you get to choose between two tasting menus (November to April) with an air of French haute cuisine that are perfect for trying a bit of everything along with wine pairings. In the warmer months (April to October), the Jardín Diana garden is transformed into an urban oasis. The hotel's top floor offers signature tapas and Mediterranean cuisine, a selection of cocktails and good music with DJ sessions. Year round, this is an idyllic space away from the noise of the city streets, with one of the best panoramic views in town.
Casa Xica
There's a saying in Spanish that translates roughly to 'Small house, big heart', and the owners of Casa Xica (which means Small House in Catalan), Marc and Raquel must have very big hearts indeed. The easiest way to describe what they do is to call it fusion cooking. But that term has become so overused, and in their case it's more of a compilation of tastes they've learned in faraway lands with their own touch added to tempt even the fussiest of diners. Take, for example, the tabbouleh: it's delicious, healthy, made from local ingredients and enhanced with fish practically taken right from the sea. Casa Xica provides that little push you might need on your date to make the all-important first move.
a restaurant
Catalan chef Alain Guiard, with French roots and education, calls his restaurant 'playful, straightforward and affordable dining option in a five-star Relais Chateaux hotel'. The restaurant, which overlooks one of Barcelona's loveliest squares, is pure magic. The brilliance of the dishes allows for them to be mixed and matched with anarchy. The medium-sized portions are made for sharing, though you might not want to: the egg with parmentier, smoked eel, carbonara foam and tobiko is something you'll want all for yourself. Guiard shows off his strengths with a series of seafood and shellfish dishes, such as a sea bass ragout, cockles and mussels with orange and coconut, which is both a classic dish and at the same time a type of hot ceviche. The crunchy potato tacos with crab, sour cream and caviar are unforgettable.
Casa Àngela
Most of us think about eating by the sea to get a really authentic paella in Barcelona. So it might surprise you to know that when you're talking about Casa Àngela, you can get the real thing in the vicinity of the Sagrada Família. Here rice dishes reign: they've got eight on the menu and all are powerful and tasty. Also in their repertoire is a selection of classic tapas that will satisfy tourists looking for something near Gaudí's cathedral as well as locals looking for quality: garlic prawns, 'patatas bravas', croquettes and cod fritters. The owners say they want to be in there among the top rice dishes and tapas to try in Barcelona, adding that they cook everything from scratch with quality products, and they don't overcharge customers. And a tapas bar and rice speciality restaurant in the Sagrada Família neighbourhood can also be a great place for a date: you'll find phenomenal views of the Sagrada Família itself in intimate and cosy surrounds.
Wagokoro
Kenia Nakamura and Anna Peray go hand in hand in this welcoming space where 'kaiseki' rules. This Japanese cooking concept varies throughout the year depending on the season and you’ll find the essence of the product on every plate. The pair have developed a harmonious menu, one that is thoughtful, aesthetic, ceremonial, and stripped of any pretentions. It’s not only a gastronomic project but a life project.
