Agut
C/Gignàs 16 (93 315 17 09). Metro Jaume
I.
Open 1.30-4pm, 9pm-midnight Tue-Sat; 1.30-4pm Sun. Closed
Aug.
Agut has the air of a restaurant that’s seen it
all, and the combination of its location on a slightly
insalubrious street and its well-heeled clientele means
that it probably has. Fresh pasta, meat and fish dishes
are consistently excellent, and puddings are light and
creative. The many oil paintings hung around the walls
serve as reminders of Agut’s time as a meeting
place for artists and writers.
Ample 24
C/Ample 24 (93 319 19 27). Metro Barceloneta
or Drassanes.
Open 1-4.30pm, 7pm-midnight Mon-Fri; 7pm-midnight Sat,
Sun.
Starters include a Spanish take on scrambled egg on
toast; bursting with chunks of botifarra, asparagus,
shrimps and garlic. Mains are simpler, including grilled
salmon marinated in orange, honey and soy sauce or a
rich rabbit stew. Desserts are not quite as creative,
nor are they really needed after such huge portions.
This is an elegant little spot for a quiet lunch; note
that there is no à la carte during the day, just
a set menu for €9.
Ateneu Gastronomic
Plaça de Sant Miquel 2 bis (93 302 11
98). Metro Liceu or Jaume I.
Open 1-4pm, 8.30-11.30pm Mon-Fri; 8pm-midnight Sat.
Closed 3wks Aug.
A ‘gastronomic club’, with a colonial look
- lots of columns, palms and wicker lampshades - where
old standards are given funky twists; steamed asparagus
is served with a bittersweet passion fruit reduction
and a sorbet is infused with a cigar for those who can’t
wait. The wine list is staggeringly long and there is
a superb value lunch men for €7.80 on weekdays
you can tuck into French onion soup, roast beef and
fig ice-cream.
Café de l’Acadia
C/Lledó 1 (93 319 82 53 / 93 315 00
26). Metro Jaume I.
Open 9am-noon, 1.30-4pm, 8.45-11.30pm Mon-Fri. Closed
2wks Aug.
One of the most reliable restaurants in the city, with
a menu that reads like a primer of modern Catalan food;
lassanya freda is layers of escalivada with marinated
anchovies, or there is risotto with foie gras, roast
guinea fowl, tender pink duck breast and more, all at
eminently reasonable prices. Candlelit tables on one
of the prettiest squares of the Old City are worth booking
ahead for.
Can Culleretes
C/Quintana 5 (93 317 30 22). Metro Liceu.
Open 1.30-4pm, 9-11pm Tue-Sat; 1.30-4pm Sun; closed
Mon. Closed 3wks July.
The second oldest restaurant in Spain has been going
since 1786 and still sees few unfilled tables in its
rambling series of dining rooms (six at last count).
Traditional dishes like roast lechón (suckling
pig), cuixa d’oca amb pomes (goose leg with apples)
and a three-course menu of daisy-fresh seafood are served
up with friendly efficiency. Prices are unbeatable,
particularly for wine; unfortunately all Barcelona is
aware of this, so it pays to reserve.
El Gran Café
C/Avinyó 9 (93 318 79 86). Metro Liceu.
Open 1-4pm, 8pm-midnight Mon-Sat.
Old-fashioned service and a menu that won’t frighten
the horses conspire to make this comfortable brasserie
the sort of place your mother would love. Unusually
for these parts, butter comes with bread and vegetables
come with everything (even, endearingly, salad). Reliably
competent standards include steak tartare, roast beef,
duck magret and osso buco.
El Salón
C/Hostal d’en Sol 6-8 (93 315 21 59).
Metro Jaume I.
Open 2-4pm, 9pm-midnight Mon-Sat. Closed 2wks Aug.
A quirky, baroque dining room with a bar at one end
and a bohemian feel, although the acoustics can be a
bit trying at busy times. The menu defies all attempts
at labelling, but look forward to venison with parsnips
and redcurrant sauce; a goulash made with clams, or
satay lamb and chicken with coconut rice. Blackcurrant
and almond crumble with cream provides a final flourish.
Les Quinze Nits
Plaça Reial 6 (93 317 30 75). Metro Liceu.
Open 1-3.45pm, 8.30-11.30pm daily.
A ferociously popular chain of restaurants, whose bargain
basement prices are utterly incongruous in such sleek
settings. Starters are a sophisticated lot including
superb salads, but things tend to slide from there -
meat and fish mains can be overcooked and dishes such
as paella taste as if they were produced in large quantities.
The lengthy queues to get in, however, are testimony
to the fact that sometimes you do get more than you
pay for.
Mastroqué
C/Codols 29 (93 301 79 42). Metro Drassanes or Jaume
I.
Open 1.30-3.30pm, 9-11.30pm Mon-Fri; 9-11.30pm Sat.
Closed 3wks Aug.
Tucked away down a dark, narrow street and through a
small entrance lies this deceptively spacious restaurant,
with ochre walls, wooden beams and a quietly cool crowd
of regulars. A small but interesting selection of Provençal
and Catalan platillos includes trinxat , black pudding
with onion marmalade and duck in more guises than you
might consider feasible.
Pla
C/Bellafila 5 (93 412 65 52). Metro Jaume I.
Open 9pm-midnight Mon-Thur, Sun; 9pm-1am Fri, Sat.
Pla fills a baffling vacuum in the city’s dining
scene, in that it manages to strike a perfect balance
between a consummately cool ambience and excellent food.
The menu is a modish mix of Mediterranean and oriental
dishes; curries, sushi and crepes all figure, accompanied
by fabulous salads and rich, creative sauces. Not a
place for stuffy diners; music is at a level which very
nearly inhibits conversation and waiters are of the
school which pulls up a chair.
Pou Dols
C/Baixada de Sant Miquel 6 (93 412 05 79).
Metro Liceu or Jaume I.
Open 1-4pm, 9-11.30pm Tue-Sat. Closed 3wks Aug.
A smart, brilliant-white interior and cuisine so nouvelle
it’s passé don’t usually add up to
good value, but Pou Dols’ set lunch, at €9.90,
has to be one of the best deals around. Going à
la carte, crab and asparagus cannelloni drizzled with
mango sauce are delicate parcels of delight, or try
the seared sea bream with tiny squid and baby broad
beans. Desserts are sublime: light fruit soups and peppery
aubergine purée served with lime sorbet are as
delicious as they are unusual.
Taxidermista
Plaça Reial 8 (93 412 45 36). Metro
Liceu.
Open noon-2am Tue-Sun. Meals served 1.30-4pm, 8.30-12.30pm.
Closed 2wks Jan.
Taxidermista’s immense popularity with tourists
doesn’t do it any favours, which is a pity, for
it has good food and an interesting history. It was
once a taxidermist’s, counting Dali among its
regular customers, and before that a natural history
museum. The Franco-Catalan menu does not change often
and generally features remol (turbot) with cider sauce
and apple purée, or poularde stuffed with espinacas
a la catalana and served with leek crisps.
|
