BARCELONA 6 nights (??)

Regional Dining Discussions Italy, Spain, Portugal
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My trip is months away and I’m already overwhelmed by the restaurant choices.
All I need right now is to know if there are any restaurants I need to book more than a month or two short of my arrival in the city, which will be in early March. I’m not looking for any 2- or 3-star Michelins. Prefer a la carte to tasting menus.

I have not been to the city since about 2015. Back then, I really liked CAL PEP and PA COMER ALGO, as well as QUIM. I’ll be single so bar seating is great. I know it’s early, but good to hear your favorites, and any comments about new places, too.

Is BOQUERIA too much of a scene to even attempt to get a seat at QUIM?

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We loved El Xampanyet so much we went back the following night. They make their own cava. Great atmosphere, too. Lots of locals.

Quimet y Quimet was also not bad, but we liked the other one better.

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Thanks for the rec of El Xampanyet. The problem with that restaurant, and also with CIUTAT COMTAL and the very famous CERVECERIA CATALANA (both the latter members of the same group, along with LA FLAUTA and a few others) is that they don’t take reservations.

Are any of these worth standing on line for a half hour?
On Saturday night I have an opera at the Palau at 6:30, and the La Flauta group places are open non-stop (El XAMPANET opens at 7pm) so maybe I could go to one of those around 4pm or so, and then walk to the venue. When a restaurant lists its hours as non-stop, does that mean that the kitchen is open all day long?

I should add here that after my stay in Barcelona, I will have three weeks in Cadiz province (not the city of Cadiz). While there, most of my meals will be fish and shellfish, so while I love those, I don’t have to seek out any seafood places while in Barcelona. I won’t avoid those, but keep in mind that I’ll have lots of seafood later on. But any particular to Catalunya would be great. I am determined, for example, to finally try espardenyes:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/espardenyes-sea-cucumbers-catalonia

I want to have a calcotada lunch, although I’ll probably be viewed with pity, sitting alone in a sea of tables filled with boisterous groups of friends.

I took at look at the Devour Tours site, recommended by Maribel and had a good back and forth with them. Their calcotada tours are way pricey for a single, running to around 800 euro for lunch and a drive around Montserrat, but they recommend a few places in the city that I could go to alone; L’ANTIC FORN looks good–anyone here know that rustic restaurant?

Many restaurants have their books open now for March.
I’ve already booked MONT BAR and SUCULENT.

Two more on my “possible” list right now are:

PUR
AL KOSTAT

I’d love to read comments about these, and about any others I’ve mentioned in this thread…or any others that you all recommend. I’ve read the Barcelona threads here and they were very, very helpful, so thank to all who contributed.

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I wish I could answer that! We were only in town for 3-4 days or so, and only made it to El Xampanyet on our penultimate night, loving it so much we went back on our final night.

This was late June / early July, but I can’t remember what time of day we went. It was lively for sure: first night standing at the counter only — which we didn’t mind at all, cuz it had us close to the Cava source :wink:

Second night we got a 2-top in the back.

I bet if you went that early in the day, i.e. 4pm you should have no issues. Hope you get in and love it as much as we did :crossed_fingers:

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Thanks for that info!

Another one I have on my (long) list that I forgot to mention, above, is:

BAR CANETE. This is near Las Ramblas; it is totally touristy?

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Las Ramblas is very touristy, yes, but we stayed just off of that area in a university guest house, and there were plenty of little alleys with bars & cafes were locals were hanging out.

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Just a correction…I recommended that you contact Forever Barcelona and my friend, Marta, the owner (not Devour).
BTW, Mont Bar was just awarded its 2nd star at the awards ceremony in Málaga this past Tuesday .

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Maribel, that’s who I contacted: Marta! Not Devour. But I did get a list of places for calcotada from both websites. Marta was lovely; it’s just too pricey to do the tour for one person.(see quote, below)

I asked her to let me know if anyone else was interested during my dates.

Do you have any thought on BAR CANETE, PUR, OR EL KOSTAT?

I’m completely overwhelmed by the options in Barcelona but wherever I go I’m almost certain I’ll be happy. And I have 7 nights, not 6 as I initially wrote.

<<<OPTION 1 - Calçotada and scenic drive around Montserrat

You should have about 1 hour to driver around the mountain and enjoy the views, but probably not enough time to get to the actual Monastery. The ride will be after the meal, and its lenght will completely depend on the pace of the meal - as it’s hard to preview how long it’ll take on a busy weekend day during calçotada season.

5 hour day trip: €1115

*No admissions included

*Calçotada menus not included>>>>

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If you get there early enough, like soon after opening, you should be able to snag a seat pretty easily. I guess it also depends on what time of year you’re going as well.

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Thanks, Peter. First week in March.

Does anyone know how late I can get to Quim and still be served? Online it says he stays open until 4pm so I imagine they would serve me if I get there at 3 or 3:30 (???). Could be good for me before the night at the opera, a Saturday at the Palau de Musica.

From 2011, my last time in the city; I think we were the only diners around 9:30am!

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The price for a private tour unfortunately is the same as the price for a group of 25. We were a group of 25, the HILR contingent, when we traveled to Tarragona for our calçot feast with Marta.

These are Marta’s recommendations from her blog:

I noticed that Enric on the other board gave you some recommendations and here, again, are the others that I emailed you. One of these may be within easy reach via public transportation, but these calçotadas in the countryside are very much group events–you go with your cuadrilla/pandilla, or group of friends for a festive “barbeque” in the country. Very few solo participants, just like at the Basque cider houses.

Can Travi Nou in Barcelona
L’Antic Forn in Barcelona

Yes, I’ve been to Al Kostat and it’s recommendable. Bar Cañete will be tourist filled but still quite good. And it’s not on the “bad” section of the tourist packed Ramblas but yet on a well traveled side street, Carrer de la Unió, not far from the Gran Teatre del Liceu. Absolutely must reserve, but again it´s featured in most travel articles and guides, so yes, you´ll be dining with plenty of visitors, but it’s still fun to sit at the counter.

Direkte has moved, no longer outside of the Boquería but instead in the Eixample, on Carrer París.

For anyone following along, the city of Valls celebrates its Calçotada festival (Gran Fiesta de la Calçotada) on the last Sunday of January.

Rather than endure the incredible tourist crowds now that keep locals far away from the Boquería, why not venture to the renovated Mercat de Sant Antoni to its Pinotxo, moved there from the Boquería after Juanito Bayan’s death and the controversy with his nephews.

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I loved Pinoxto bar when I was there years ago, so much so that I went twice in 10 days :sweat_smile:

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Yes, me too, but when Juanito Bayén died at age 88, there was quite a controversy and the end result was the nephews moving to the renovated Mercat de Sant Antoni. We bought his cookbook.

A tribute to Juanito from José Andrés

And another from El Nacional

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Thanks, Maribel. I will certainly go to Mercat Sant Antoni; Ii think the closest market to my hotel (Majestic) is the Mercat de Ninot, which has two restaurants I’ve read about: MEDUSA 73 and TIERRA, with the latter being part of the Esencia chain. Do you have any idea of the latest serving times of most of the market restaurants? Since I expect a great breakfast at the hotel, I’d prefer going for a late lunch…

Carta for TIERRA in the Mercat de Ninot:

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The Majestic is our favorite Eixample hotel. Absolutely perfect location in my book.

For Pinotxo in the Mercat Sant Antoni, Tuesday-Saturday from 8 am until 4:30 pm. Juanito’s nephew, Jordi Asín is the chef. It moved in October of 2023.

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Dug up a frevold photos of Pinotxo bar when I was there in 2014. Terrible photos but delicious food.

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Squid and beans and cerveza for breakfast.

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Bad photo of the delicious xuixo
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Grilled prawns at Pinotxo.

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3 reviews of the “new” Pinotxo, under the nephew’s helm

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Looks like a good transition from the over crowded Boqueria market to the new location. Hopefully the food and vibe is just as good.

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[quote=“Maribel, post:16, topic:45736”]
The Majestic is our favorite Eixample hotel
I stayed at the Violeta Boutique hotel, very good location.