Biblioteca
C/Junta de Comerç 28 (93 412 62 21).
Metro Liceu.
Open 1-4pm, 9pm-midnight Tue-Sat.
Brought into being by a Spanish-Irish couple frustated
by the difficulty of finding decent cookery books. The
gang’s all here from Escoffier to Oliver, and
the menu isn’t a bad read either, combining Irish
and British heavyweights - roast beef and Yorkshire
pudding, oysters with Guinness, lamb with colcannon,
venison pie - with light Mediterranean fish dishes.
The set lunch offers more basic fare of pasta dishes
and creative salads, but is good for €9.
Ca l’Estevet
C/Valldonzella 46 (93 302 41 86). Metro Universitat.
Open 1.30-4pm, 8.30-11pm Mon-Sat. Closed 2wks Aug.
The signed photos and artistic doodlings around the
walls are vestiges of a time when Estevet was the place
for writers, artists and politicians to meet; and it
seems that little has changed since. The menu features
the same filet de Café Paris (served in a buttery,
herby sauce with wild mushrooms) and succulent kid that
it always did. The food at times is secondary to the
atmosphere; starters can be spartan and desserts tend
towards the pre-packaged, but it’s an unbeatable
place to hang out with friends.
Ca l’Isidre
C/Flors 12 (93 441 11 39 / 93 442 57 20). Metro
Paral.lel.
Open 1.30-4pm, 8.30-11pm Mon-Sat. Closed 2wks Aug.
A top-flight, family-run restaurant, whose secret has
been to draw the maximum potential out of high-quality
market-bought ingredients, served in disarmingly straightforward
dishes. Catalan, Spanish and European classics, featuring
magnificent local lamb, or fine foie gras and masterfully
prepared seafood from Atlantic angulas (eels) to a tuna
fillet. Only puddings break with the tendency towards
understatement, with daughter and master pastry chef
elaborating some of the most deliciously creative desserts
imaginable.
Casa Leopoldo
C/Sant Rafael 24 (93 441 69 42). Metro Liceu
or Paral.lel.
Open 1.30-4pm, 9-11pm Tue-Sat; 1.30-4pm Sun. Closed
Aug.
Bullfighting paraphernalia, wooden fittings, tiles and
red gingham give this Barcelona classic plenty of old-style
charm, and traditional food is still the order of the
day with generous and excellent fish, shellfish, steaks
and homey stews. For some of the seafood, and particularly
the fish of the day, you might want to put your bank
manager on speed dial, however; the shabbiness of the
surrounding area does little to affect the prices.
El Cafetí
C/Hospital 99 (end of passage) (93 329 24 19
/ www.elcafeti.com). Metro Liceu.
Open 1.30-3.30pm, 9-11.30pm Tue-Sat; 1.30-3.30pm Sun.
Closed 2wks Aug.
Entering this romantic hideaway at the end of the Passatge
Bernadi Martorell feels, in the nicest possible way,
like straying into someone’s sitting room. An
extensive menu changes with the seasons, but might include
duck with wild mushrooms, rabbit with mustard sauce,
various paellas and myriad other seafood dishes. A framed
article by Ken Livingstone describes it as a mayoral
favourite.
Elisabets
C/Elisabets 2-4 (93 317 58 26). Metro Catalunya.
Open 7.30am-10pm Mon-Thur, Sat; 7.30am-2am Fri. Closed
3wks Aug.
Traditional and supercheap Catalan dishes are the order
of the day; as well as a long list of generous bocadillos,
there are rabbit stews, chicken cooked in beer, botifarra
sausage with eye-watering all i oli, and so on. An unpretentious
but friendly place to have lunch among the denizens
of the Raval and those on their way back from the MACBA.
Hotel Espana
C/Sant Pau 9 (93 318 17 58). Metro Liceu.
Open 1-4pm, 8.30pm-midnight daily.
A magnificent Modernista interior with floral tiled
mosaics, original lamps and an impressive ceiling, conceived
by architect Domech i Montaner in 1902, and Ramon Casas
underwater murals in the back dining room, are all let
down by the mediocre food. However, there is an €8
menu, which is a low-risk way to bask in the splendid
decor.
La Casa de la Rioja
C/Peu de la Creu 8-10 (93 443 33 63). Metro
Catalunya.
Open 1-4pm, 9-11pm Mon-Sat.
Showcasing the cuisine of the La Rioja region, this
colourful, sharp-edged restaurant is not quite the jaw-dropping
bargain it was when it opened a couple of years ago,
but still provides some of the best-value food around,
particularly in its €8.15 lunch men?. There are
great salads (try crab and salmon), cazuelitos (little
terracotta dishes of stews) and other hearty fare, all
eclipsed by ambrosial desserts such as home-made chocolate
and pistachio ice-cream, or an inspired Roquefort cheesecake.
La Fragua
Rambla del Raval 15 (93 442 80 97). Metro Liceu
or Sant Antoni.
Open Mar-Oct 1-4pm, 8pm-1am Tue-Sun. Nov-Feb 8pm-1am
Tue-Sun.
Rural simplicity incarnate, serving food to match. Salads,
stews, steaks and sausages, with a brief vegetarian
section consisting of various omelettes and delicious
spinach rolls with pinenuts and raisins. It’s
cheap and basic, making it a good budget option, especially
in summer, when there are tables out on the lively Rambla
del Raval. The set menu is normally worth a try at €8.50
(without wine), and it’s available in the evenings.
La Gardunya
C/Jerusalem 18 (93 302 43 23). Metro Liceu.
Open 1-4pm, 8pm-1am Mon-Sat.
A tall, thin, glass and steel building, funkily decorated,
with a mosaic of stone and sand set into the floor and
a colourful spiral staircase leading up to a mezzanine.
Grab a table up there to get a view into La Boqueria
market, and watch your sardinas or manitas de cabrito
(kid’s trotters) being haggled over. Livelier
at lunchtime (with both market workers and customers)
than at night, despite the pull of a good €11.50
set dinner.
Lupino
C/Carme 33 (93 412 36 97). Metro Liceu.
Open 1-4pm, 9pm-midnight Mon-Thur, Sun; 1-4pm, 9pm-1am
Fri-Sat.
Sky-high production values meant that this restaurant-cocktail
bar was all the rage when it opened back in 2002, although
its retro-futuristic airport lounge look with waiters
dressed like mortuary attendants had already fallen
out of favour a year later, such are the vagaries of
fashion. The food is still good, however: lamb with
couscous or chicken with ginger and sesame, with the
odd nod to trad Spanish - stir-fried vegetables with
strips of membrillo (quince jelly) - are surprisingly
cheap, and surprisingly tasty.
Mama Café
C/Doctor Dou 10 (93 301 29 40). Metro Catalunya
or Liceu.
Open 1pm-1am Mon-Sat.
Very much of its barri, with Rajasthani wallhangings,
slide projections and trip hop, the Mama Café
provides healthy, Mediterranean dishes to a wildly diverse
crowd. Dreadlocks settle in next to blue rinses to chow
down on succulent chicken and wild mushroom brochettes,
salmon cooked in zingy lemon rosemary oil or maybe a
warm goat’s cheese salad with pear and orange
vinaigrette. The staff are charming and the seats comfy,
but the semi-transparent walls of the lavatory demand
a certain amount of courage.
Mesón David
C/Carretas 63 (93 441 59 34). Metro Paral.lel.
Open 1-4pm, 8pm-midnight Mon, Tue, Thur- Sun. Closed
Aug.
Ordering here can be a bit of a lottery, but favourites
such as pulpo gallego (octopus Galician-style), trucha
navarra (a whole trout stuffed with jamón serrano
and cheese, lightly breaded and fried) or lechazo (a
sticky, tender-roasted pork knuckle) are safe bets,
as are lamb dishes - and at these absurdly low prices,
you can’t go too far wrong. Tips are tossed into
a large metal pot behind the counter and a bell is rung,
at which point everyone in the restaurant stops eating
and cheers.
Pla dels Angels
C/Ferlandina 23 (93 329 40 47). Metro Universitat.
Open 1.30-4pm, 9-11pm Mon-Thur, Sun; 1.30-4pm, 9pm-midnight
Fri, Sat.
In keeping with its position smack in front of the MACBA,
Pla dels Angels is artistically and colourfully decorated,
and buzzes with animated conversation. A short menu
comprises imaginative salads, great spaghetti and gnocchi
dishes, carpaccios of duck, salmon or octopus and a
few meat dishes - chicken with tiger nut sauce, or stout
little hamburgers. Prices are admirably reasonable for
what is often excellent cooking.
Sagarra
C/Xuclà 9 (93 301 06 04). Metro Liceu.
Open 1-4pm Mon; 1-4pm, 8-11pm Tue-Sat.
An excellent-value lunch men gets you Greek salad to
start or maybe asparagus with romesco sauce, followed
by chicken parcels or pork with sobrassada (spicy Mallorcan
sausage) and a pudding, all for €7.75. A la carte
options include eminently reasonable a la brasa rabbit,
quail and kid, or duck served with a bittersweet tomato
confit. The main dining room is large and airy with
windows overlooking C/Pintor Fortuny, while a smaller
bar area looks over C/Xuclà and is a sunny spot
for tapas or breakfast.
Silenus
C/Àngels 8 (93 302 26 80). Metro Liceu.
Open 1.30-4pm, 8.30-11.45pm Mon-Sat.
The ghost of a clock is projected on a far wall; the
faded leaves of a book float up high; the ceiling twinkles
with little lights, and wisps of wild flowers sit in
glass jars. Not the lair of the Faerie Queen, but a
thoroughly modern restaurant, where the aesthetic reigns
supreme. A lunchtime degustación (€14.80)
affords tiny portions of every delight on the menu;
expect doll’s house paella, tuna with couscous
and pink peppercorns and paper-thin slices of pork cheeks
with apple and a chocolatey port gravy.
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