Xerta Restaurant brings the seafood and wetland treasures of the Terres de l’Ebre territory to Barcelona’s fine-dining scene. Review: Xerta Restaurant, OhLa Eixample Hotel, Eixample, Barcelona Xerta had a big impact in Barcelona when it opened in the new OhLa Eixample 5-star hotel, winning a Michelin star in its first year. That created some controversy but…

Lasarte – Barcelona’s only three-Michelin-star restaurant – offers distinctive, sure-footed cooking of the very highest standard. Review: Lasarte Restaurant, Monument Hotel, Eixample, Barcelona Barcelona’s reputation as a destination city for fine dining has mushroomed. But until recently, it did not have a restaurant with three Michelin stars. This irked local food journalists no end. They griped…

Els Pescadors restaurant, on a pretty and un-city-like square in Poblenou, serves some of the best rice and fish dishes in Barcelona. Review: Els Pescadors restaurant, Poblenou, Barcelona The centre of the Barcelona neighbourhood of Poblenou never fails to charm. It still feels like a place where people live, not just visit. Stroll up from the sea along its main…

Now in its third year and with a Michelin star, Disfrutar is still the most exciting restaurant in Barcelona. Review: Disfrutar restaurant, Eixample, Barcelona When I visited Disfrutar in 2015, I was blown away. I raved about it in my review here. I’ve since sent dozens of people there and heard only good reports in…

Fishhh! restaurant in Barcelona’s L’Illa Diagonal shopping mall serves a first-rate seafood feast that belies its unoceanic location. Review: Fishhh! seafood restaurant and oyster bar, L’Illa Diagonal shopping centre, Les Corts, Barcelona A city shopping centre probably isn’t the first place you think of when you’re in the mood for seafood. Especially in Spain, where…

Roig Robí has earned its status as a classic Barcelona restaurant. After 35 years, it still offers deeply satisfying traditional Catalan dishes and exemplary service. Review: Roig Robí restaurant, Gracia, Barcelona It’s not easy, running a traditional restaurant in Barcelona. Yes, there’s a deep well of culinary culture to draw from and a shared appreciation for…

Mont Bar bistro in Barcelona’s Eixample successfully combines superb,  star-quality cooking with an informal, everyday atmosphere. Restaurant review: Mont Bar, Eixample, Barcelona Informal fine dining is hard to do well. Without the traffic signals of traditional formal service to guide them, restaurateurs often take a wrong turn. Diners are driven into a nightmarish no-man’s-land where…

Gouthier, in the uptown district of Sarrià, is Barcelona’s go-to bar for top-quality oysters. Review: Gouthier bar-restaurant, Sarrià, Barcelona Gouthier oyster bar is in Sarrià, an uptown Barcelona district that still feels like the separate village it once was. Its terrace spills out onto a pretty square far beyond the roaming range of most tourists. No…

UPDATE: Opera Samfaina is now permanently CLOSED.  Review: Opera Samfaina bar/restaurant/food experience, Grand Teatre del Liceu, Les Rambles, Barcelona I was convinced I was going to hate Opera Samfaina. Its website is full of phrases like “gastronomic fantasyland” and ” multisensory trip”. It made me shudder. When I was invited to go and review it, I…

Green Spot is a vegetarian restaurant in Barcelona that everyone can enjoy, with gorgeous interior design and fun dishes. Review: Green Spot vegetarian restaurant, Barceloneta, Barcelona Barcelona isn’t the best city for vegetarians. This is a city built by, and for, meat eaters. There are vegetarian restaurants of a tolerable standard but nothing that really makes…

Barcelona’s 5-star Mercer hotel changes its restaurant chef yet again. Harry Wieding goes back to basics with a very good menu of produce-led Catalan cuisine. Review – Mercer Restaurant, Hotel Mercer, Gothic Quarter, Barcelona The Mercer’s kitchen seems to have been fitted with a well-oiled revolving door. The late, great Jean-Luc Figueras was the first…

Dos Pebrots – the new restaurant in Barcelona’s Raval by former El Bulli head chef Albert Raurich – is a masterclass – and  history class – in Mediterranean cooking. Review: Dos Pebrots restaurant, El Raval, Barcelona A confession: I didn’t walk into Dos Pebrots with an open mind. Every since I heard about chef Albert Raurich’s plans for…

4amb5 Mujades, a promising new restaurant in Barcelona’s Raval, makes local vegetables the focus of its refined and refreshing non-vegetarian dishes. Review: 4amb5 Mujades restaurant, Raval, Barcelona “WTF is ‘4 amb 5 mujades‘ supposed to mean?” was my first question. I felt embarrassed about my poor Catalan vocabulary until I realised that my Catalan wife didn’t know…

Family-friendly tapas restaurant Bobo Pulpín, near the cathedral in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter, puts octopus in prime position but offers something for everyone.   Review: Bobo Pulpín tapas bar and restaurant, Barri Gòtic,  Barcelona With apologies to Dickens, this is a tale of two densities. Traditional Spanish tapas dishes are typically heavy. There’s a lot of deep frying…

La Castanya in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter serves smart, creative tapas giving local ingredients an Italian twist. Review: La Castanya creative tapas bar and restaurant, Barri Gòtic, Barcelona I knew for sure that La Castanya would be good as soon as I saw the chef arrive. But I was already pretty confident by then. Why? Well, the…

Le Cucine Mandarosso is an authentic southern Italian restaurant in Barcelona serving big flavours at bargain prices. Review: Le Cucine Mandarosso southern Italian restaurant, Sant Pere, Ciutat Vella, Barcelona Le Cucine Mandarosso – just off Via Laietana, a few metres from the Palau de la Música Catalana – has been open since 2008 and on…

This new supperclub/pop-up restaurant in Barcelona by Scottish cook and food writer Philip Dundas skilfully combines Caledonia with Catalonia to produce robust, hearty flavours. Review: Radish Barcelona pop-up supperclub Barcelona, like many cities, is in the grip of a supperclub boom. Platforms like EatWith are connecting record numbers of tourists (and, I suppose, some locals)…

Bardeni ‘meat bar’ near la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is a carnivore’s dream: top-quality tapas in informal surroundings. Review: Bardeni ‘El Meatbar’, Eixample, Barcelona Bardeni ‘el meatbar’ impressed me when I visited in 2014 (see here). I’m also a fan of its sister restaurant Caldeni, located next door. Knowing that Bardeni had been fully renovated, and keen…

UPDATE: CLOSED An ambitious new Michelin-star contender opens in the Mercer Barcelona hotel: Kresios Barcelona adds a welcome Italian element to the city’s fine-dining mix. Update: Kresios didn’t last long. The restaurant is again called the Mercer and has a new chef: Click here for my review of the latest iteration of Mercer restaurant.   Review:…

2017 edit: chef Emanuele has now left Mikkeller and started his own Italian restaurant, Il Birrino. Mikkeller Bar Barcelona puts quality Catalan-Italian food on tap alongside excellent but expensive Danish craft beer. Review: Mikkeller Bar, Eixample, Barcelona Danish brewer Mikkeller is to European craft beers what Apple once was to tech: a brand that’s kept its…

Catalan chef Sergi de Meià takes all-local, almost-all-organic ingredients and creates contemporary but rustically redolent dishes that evoke a strong sense of place. Review: Sergi de Meià restaurant, Eixample, Barcelona When I read about Sergí de Meià restaurant last year, it went straight onto my ‘must-try’ list. Run by a young chef from Espluges via the small…