Dining and Drinking

Barcelona's many restaurants and bars offer the best of Catalonia's diverse cuisine. Other Mediterranean countries, like France and Italy, have heavily influenced Catalan cooking, which features lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, seafood, pork and veal.

Catalans love cold meats or (embutidos) of all sorts, especially pork sausage (butifarra). The staple dish is butifarra amb mongetes, a stew of pork sausage and white beans. Escudella is a traditional stew made with sausage, chickpeas, pasta and a giant pork meatball. It's generally eaten at Christmas time and followed by crema catalana, a sweet egg custard topped with caramelized sugar that has become a popular dessert throughout Spain. Fish is also a major part of the Catalan diet. Zarzuela is a tasty seafood casserole that originated in Barcelona and spread to other parts of the country. Bacallà a la llauna is cod cooked in a tin dish. In summer, you can enjoy lighter dishes like escalibada (red peppers mixed with eggplant and onions) and esqueixada (red peppers with cod and onions). Or head for one of the many farmhouse (masía) restaurants on the outskirts of the city and try some traditional dishes. If you're lucky, the restaurant will serve calçotada, a sauce (calçots) made from tender spring onions served on an oven-fired tile, followed by grilled meat. Catalan dishes are usually accompanied by pan con tomate, country-style bread smeared liberally with ripe tomato, olive oil and salt.

There are eight different areas in Catalonia that produce good quality wines. The region is famous for its white wines from the Penedés area and cava, sparkling white wines. There are also quality red wines, particularly from the Priorato area.

Gothic Quarter, Raval & La Ribera

Basque cuisine is served in Irati and Zure Etxea. You'll find three famous traditional Catalan restaurants worth visiting in the area around Monumento a Colón (Columbus Monument): Ca l'Isidre, Botafumeiro and Casa Leopoldo. For bullfighting memorabilia and tapas, try Los Toreros on Calle Xuclà, close to Las Ramblas. There are also some seafood restaurants with great views in the Maremàgnum, an ultra-modern shopping center by the harbor, close to Las Ramblas.

This part of town is also great for drinks - you'll find traditional, old-fashioned bars and cafés as well as trendy, modern places with stylish interior decor, like Glaciar at the Plaça Reial. Nearby, check out Sidecar. There's a good selection of pubs on Calle Escudellers on your way into the well-known Plaça George Orwell. For pure modernist style inside and out, try El Ascensor. If you want to sit outside and enjoy an impressive view with your drinks, try the square that looks on to Santa María del Mar, Plaça del Pi or Sant Felip Neri.

L'Eixample

This part of town has quite a few Galician restaurants like the famous Beltxenea, which offers a variety of traditional dishes. Don't miss the finger foods at Tapa Tapa.

Barceloneta & The Born

There are plenty of reasonably-priced seafood restaurants down by the harbor that specialize in paella and the Catalan equivalent, fideuà, which is noodle-based rather than rice-based. Arròs negre is a kind of paella cooked in a stock of squid's ink. Can Ramonet and Set Portes are two of the best places for rice dishes in this district. Munch on great tapas at Moncho's.

If it's drinks you seek, Passeig del Born is lined with trendy bars and the adjacent streets are full of well-preserved medieval houses and mansions. This area attracts couples and groups in their 30s and 40s looking for sophisticated, relaxing and intimate bars like the Miramelindo, Salero and Gimlet.

Port Olímpic

The seafood restaurants at Port Olímpic display their fresh fish in cases by the door and many offer sea views.

Horta, Guinardó & Alfons X

Lots of informal tapas restaurants are located along Passeig de Gràcia and Rambla Catalunya. Traditional tapas are small portions of things like pescaíto frito (mixture of deep-fried Mediterranean fish), patatas bravas (chunks of potato, deep-fried and served with spicy garlic sauce), calamares a la romana (squid rings fried in batter) and boquerones en vinagre (marinated anchovies). For the best tapas in the whole city, try La Esquinica. However, make sure you come early because there is a line every night.

Plaça Catalunya

It's tapas central at Ciudad Condal, but this bustling square knows no bounds in terms of culinary diversity.

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