Barcelona is famous for its tapas. There are various tapas bars and restaurants. You have to find the right ones though.
Las Ramblas
On Las Ramblas we went into a tapas bar which looked nice from the outside. As I mentioned earlier, this is not the place to go. I do not recall the name of this bar but it is not worth mentioning.
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| Jamon |
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| Inside of a Tapas bar on Las Ramblas |
When you get into the bar you get the typical impression you would expect when going into a tapas bar in Barcelona. They offered us some wine which we actually wanted by the glass and also mentioned that but brought a whole bottle.
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| Garlic and tomato bread |
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| Jamon |
We asked them for starters recommendations. We ordered bread and Jamon.
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| Mixed Tapas |
They then told us that they could make a small mixed tapas plate. I still ordered a coffee at the end. They brought the bill and it was about 100 Euros, which is ridiculous for what we had as you can see on the pictures. The wine was a low end Rioja which you can buy in supermarkets. We were clearly ripped off. After reading this I'm sure that you will avoid this area. Apart from the food being overprice and nothing special, there was also something wrong with it which we would feel later unfortunately. So please don't go anywhere to Las Ramblas. The place was on the left side, looked nice with the wood decors but was a terrible mistake.
7 Portes
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| Restaurant entrance 7 Portes |
This restaurant was recommended to me by frequent Barcelona traveller (who had not been in this restaurant for a while). It is a cliché place. They have a violin player playing different songs. It is definitely touristy located near the harbour area.
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| Fisch dish with beans |
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| Lamb |
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| Fried potatoes |
We had a fish dish with beans and lamb with fried potatoes accompanied by a Rioja they recommended. The meat was ok but nothing special as well as the fish.
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| Crema Catalana |
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| Cake |
For desert we had the compulsory crema catalana which is a crème brulée and another cake which I do not recall right now. It was ok. I still had a spanish brandy as a digestif which is worth a try if you take the best one. When sitting outside you can also smoke and listen to the violin players which was nice. 7 Portes is worth a visit if you want a tourist experience but definitely no culinary highlight.
Barcelona Marina
At the Barcelona Marina there is a restaurant right across the marina with a view of ships and the street merchants layoung out carpets full of sunglasses ready to pack them up immediately as soon as the police comes by.
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| Paella |
We had a Paella and a burger accompanied by some sangria as it was quite hot that day.
The paella was a quite generous portion. This was a paella for one. Usually you order them for at least 2 people. The burger was nothing great as you can see on the picture. This was just something in between as stop between visiting all tourist attractions during the day.
Mirablau Bar Tibidabo
As I have already mentioned we went to the Mirablau Bar on the top of Tibidabo.
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| Spicy Spanish Salami |
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| Patatas Bravas |
We had some small tapas, Spanish Salami, Patatas Bravas and chicken sticks.
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| Chicken sticks with barbecue sauce |
The tapas were ok and the Mojito we drank was also not bad. The location is great with a great view from the mountain excellent for picture taking.
Cachitos Tapas Restaurant
Cachitos is located on the Rambla de Catalunya, not to be confused with the terrible Las Ramblas. This street is parallel to the Passeig de Gracia.
The best tapas bars on Rambla de Catalunya, which is definitely the street with the best tapas bars, can be recognised by the large queues outside. If you go before 9 p.m. it is more likely that you get a table or wait less. At Cachitos we had to wait for a while but enjoyed a nice Cava Cocktail.
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| Cava cocktail |
After waiting for about 20 mins to half an hour we were shown to a table at the back of the restaurant. The interior is very nice and you are seated in comfortable chairs. We asked for a wine recommendation.
The wine was strong Spanish wine just as I had been waiting for.
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| Steak |
What came afterwards was mouth watering. I ordered steak tapa which was perfectly cooked.
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| Bread with yoghurt cream and bread with foie gras |
We also had bread with foie gras. The portions were very generous.
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| Spanish beans |
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| Meat balls |
We also decided to try the spanish beans and meat balls with there unique taste.
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| Cannelloni filled with foie gras |
Another highlight were the tender a very well presented cannelloni with a foie gras filling. I had never had this combination before. The prices were very moderate for what we received. The tapas in this restaurant were all more like separate dishes rather than small tapas. Cachitos is a stylish place with interesting variations of tapas interpreted in their own way thereby combining international tastes with their Spanish or Catalan tradition. Overall, this was a very nice experience.
Obama Bar
This bar is located on the via de les corts catalanes not far from the Placa de Catalunya. We actually just walked by this bar and thought of going in later in the evening.
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| Wooden Obama |
After eating at Cachitos we asked the waiters if they could recommend a bar with live music close by and they recommended the Obama Bar. This seems to be a former African style bar which was probably renamed after Obama became president.
Inside the bar there are all sorts African images, elephants, masks, statues, etc.
The staff of the bar is very friendly. The bar is mainly international. They play English music and animate the crowd later on. The waiters also came along with some free shots a couple of times during the evening.
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| Musicians |
People in the bar were all joyful, singing and dancing. This is definitely a good tip if you are looking for a simple international bar with live music.
