Eat.What.Where…BARCELONA

Heading off to a European city for your Year Abroad this summer? Have you planned (or not) an extensive interrail route? You’re going to need this guide. Each week, we’ll be publishing recommendations written by someone who’s currently living, breathing – and eating – their city.

Potentially one of the best things about calling Barcelona home is how seriously everyone seems to take eating, mealtimes and food. Just watch everyone, tourist and locals alike, sitting outside on terraces at home and at restaurants, eating and drinking and chatting for hours. Here are my favourite spots to nibble and natter and think and sip and dream away the afternoon.

SOL SOLER

This cosy little tapas bar is on my favourite square in Barcelona, Plaza del Sol, in the Gracia neighbourhood. Far away from the hustle and bustle of the centre, this sun soaked square provides the perfect spot to while away a long afternoon or evening with a few friends, and most importantly… a few tapas. Grab a table outside and people watch while you peruse the handwritten menu. Everything on the menu is delicious and so you’ll find it hard to stop ordering more and more, but the patatas bravas will steal the show time and time again thanks to their addictive sauce.

Plaça del Sol, 21
08012 Barcelona

TASQUETA DE BLAI

Pinchos may be a Basque thing, but they certainly have a big presence here in Barcelona. In fact, Carrer de Blai is filled with pinchos bars with most serving ones that cost only a euro a pop. For those of you yet to indulge in pinchos, they are basically slices of bread topped with a variety of ingredients and held together by a little wooden stick. Select from the many on the bar, with many new ones constantly being prepped and brought out, and at the end of your meal your bartender will count the number of sticks on your plate to make your bill. Among the sea of options though make sure you stop at Tasqueta de Blai for at least a couple, as these are easily some of the best. Aubergine, smoked salmon and cheese, or peppers stuffed with fish…you can’t go wrong.

Carrer de Blai, 17
08004 Barcelona

BRUNCH AND CAKE

If I could spend every Sunday morning here eating and drinking and soaking up the sun, then I would. Brunch and Cake serves a wonderful array of brunch items and delicious juices and desserts. The item you’ll see everyone ordering: eggs benedict with turkey on a waffle …the combination of sweet and savoury might sound odd, but trust me, it is incredible.

Carrer Enric Granados, 19
08007 Barcelona
http://www.cupcakesbarcelona.com/en/

CAN PAIXANO

This next find is a cava bar fit for the student budget. Packed to the rafters at weekends, this bar that appears to have no name from the outside serves delicious little sandwiches and cava by the bottle for just over 5 euros. After 5pm though you can only order glasses, so if you want the full experience head down early and hustle with the locals to get a spot at the bar. Tuck in to a roll filled with butifarra, a traditional Catalan sausage, cover it in a few of the scrummy sauces on the counter, and sip away at your glass of refreshing cava.

Carrer de la Reina Cristina, 7
08003 Barcelona

LA PEPITA

There’s definitely a very warm, happy feeling that comes with sitting inside La Pepita: crammed in at a little table with a glass of wine and tapas a plenty. The offering here is anything but standard: traditional tapas are presented in a unique way alongside international tapas with interesting combinations of ingredients. The main courses are ‘pepitas’- sandwiches that range from steak to salmon – served on delicious crusty bread.

Carrer de Còrsega, 343
08037 Barcelona
http://www.lapepitabcn.com/

Photo credits: Lara Dopson, Alice Ratcliffe and Lizzie Frainier

Lizzie Frainier