Category: Barcelona Restaurant Reviews

High-concept cooking in the Hotel SOFIA Barcelona that’s designed to be sniffed at. Review: SOFIA Be So restaurant | Hotel SOFIA Barcelona The erstwhile Hotel Princesa Sofía, like its real-life namesake, has seen its circumstances change over the decades. Once an InterContinental Princesa, then merely a Gran Princesa, it has recently dropped its accent and…

Smartly dressed and eager to please, the new Mr Porter restaurant carries its own bags into the Sir Victor Hotel, Barcelona. Review: Mr Porter restaurant, Sir Victor Hotel, Eixample, Barcelona Mr Porter has big boots to fill. The ground-floor dining room here was until recently home to Roca Moo, the excellent Barcelona satellite of the…

Cinc Sentits, one of Barcelona’s best fine-dining restaurants, relocates and reaches new heights. Review: Cinc Sentits restaurant, Eixample, Barcelona This isn’t a restaurant review. Not really. If you want to read me waxing lyrical in long-form detail about how and why I love Cinc Sentits, you should click here. This is just a reminder. I won’t…

Fismuler Barcelona in the Hotel Rec is deservedly one of city’s hottest new restaurants. Review: Fismuler Barcelona | Hotel Rec | Sant Pere – El Born Fismuler’s Madrid mothership has held a steady orbit in the rarified air of high praise since launching in 2016, transporting diners in the Spanish capital to happiness with fresh,…

The new Can Pizza Sagrada Familia adds a quality dining option to one of Barcelona’s most-visited areas.  Can Pizza Sagrada Familia, Barcelona When I moved to Barcelona over 20 years ago, my first apartment looked out onto the blessed construction site of la Sagrada Família. My shoebox-sized attic had no elevator, no heating, a thin…

Looking for a Barcelona rooftop restaurant with unbeatable views? Blue Spot Barcelona could be what you need. Blue Spot Barcelona | Restaurant and Cocktail Bar | Barceloneta | Barcelona “Where can we eat in Barcelona that has great views?”  If I had a euro for every time I’m asked this question I’d have, well, some euros.…

Rice dishes and smart interior design combine at Maná 75º restaurant near the W Barcelona hotel in Barceloneta. Review: Maná 75º restaurant, Barceloneta, Barcelona Manà 75º isn’t somewhere you’re likely to find by chance. Here at the far end of Passeig de Joan de Borbó, away from the beach, there are usually few pedestrians. The…

Chef Carme Ruscalleda takes charge of the informal Blanc restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental Barcelona hotel with fabulous, unfussy dishes.  Review: Blanc, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Eixample, Barcelona Blanc restaurant is like an unlucky-in-love Hollywood star: glamorous and beautiful but seemingly unable to settle down with the right partner. The story of its dalliances with chefs even…

Scruffy but scrumptious: Il Birrino restaurant in Barcelona serves craft beer plus great value Italian comfort food that’s cooked with care. Review: Il Birrino restaurant and craft beer bar, Eixample, Barcelona Appearances can be deceptive. At first glance, Il Birrino hasn’t got much going for it. It’s well off the beaten track and in the…

The stylish La Barra de Carles Abellan in Barceloneta offers seafood-based dishes of impeccable quality – but at a price.  Review: La Barra de Carles Abellan It seems like I rant about bar seating in restaurants every other week on this blog. If you’re new, I’ll summarise: I don’t like sitting at a bar when I…

David Garcia, winner of Spain’s Top Chef 2 TV show, relaunches Restaurant Tomás, his family’s restaurant located one hour from Barcelona. Review: Restaurant Tomás, Palà de Toroella, Barcelona I’d never heard of David Garcia. When I told friends that I was going to his restaurant they got very excited but his name meant nothing to…

Manairó restaurant’s relentless creativity continues to turn out high-octane dishes that delight Review: Manairó restaurant, Eixample, Barcelona If you’re experiencing deja vu, it’s because I’ve reviewed Manairó restaurant twice previously on this blog (my first visit and again in 2015). Better get used to it, because I’ll probably review it again. Why? Because there’s something about…

Via Veneto restaurant in Barcelona presents a ‘greatest hits’ menu and wine pairing to mark its 50th anniversary. Review: Via Veneto restaurant, Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, Barcelona –  50th Anniversary Menu Via Veneto is my most successful restaurant recommendation in terms of receiving positive feedback. People who go there on my advice tend to send glowing praise…

Tunateca Balfegó in Barcelona’s upper Example is a ‘gastronomic space’ created to showcase the Balfegó group’s excellent bluefin tuna. Review: Tunateca Balfegó Espai Gastronòmic, l’esquerra de l’Eixample, Barcelona If there were an ‘indistinct muttering’ font on this blog I’d deploy it here to mumble the truth: I don’t love tuna. Oh, I like it well…

Gresca Bar in Barcelona’s Eixample district is a new wine-and-food annex of one of the city’s best restaurants – and a total delight. Review: Gresca Bar, l’Esquerra de l’Eixample, Barcelona I really like Gresca restaurant. I always have. You can read my reviews of it here and here, but if you’re in a hurry, here’s…

Fonda España offers some of Barcelona’s most beautiful dining rooms and food directed by star chef Martín Berasategui. Review: Fonda España restaurant, Hotel España, El Raval, Barcelona Let’s get something clear from the start: I really like Fonda España. I wholeheartedly recommend that you go and eat there. That said, this isn’t going to be an uncritical…

Caelis restaurant’s relocation to the Hotel Ohla Barcelona sees chef Romain Forell stretching his creative wings to fill the new space. Review: Caelis restaurant, Hotel Ohla Barcelona, Gothic Quarter, Barcelona Caelis restaurant has held a Michelin star since 2005. For most of that time, French chef Romain Forell tempered his contemporary instincts to match Caelis’s sumptuous…

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…