Barcelona restaurants ideas & tips

Torre de Alta Mar Restaurant

Barcelona offers a very wide choice of restaurants and many styles of cuisine. Establishments for all tastes and all budgets.
We have selected for you some standout restaurant recommendations worth considering.



Located at the top of one of the 75 meters high, cable car towers reminiscent of the Eiffel Tower.
On the beach of Barceloneta, this huge steel tower was built for the 1929 international exhibition, to install a cable car that crosses the port to the hill of Montjuich.
During the evening the spectacle of the sun disappearing behind the Tibidabo hills, the city lights up and the Balearic ferries maneuver is an impressive sight.
High level cuisine and service and a fairly high price.
It is necessary to book in advance to get a table with a good view.

-> Torre de alta mar restaurant web site


Located on the 23rd floor of a hotel, this restaurant offers a fantastic view of Barcelona and allows you to see the sun disappear behind the hills and the city changing colors.
The restaurant is part of the Nobu chain of luxury hotels and restaurants, led by Japanese chef Nobu Matsushisa and participated by Robert de Niro.
The restaurant offers a menu of Japanese and South American fusion dishes, as well as a selection of original cocktails.
It is necessary to book in advance.

-> Nobu restaurant web site


On the hill of Montjuich, on top of the MNAC, the National Art Museum of Catalonia, this restaurant offers an exceptional view of Plaza España and of the installations of 1929 Universal Exhibition. The restaurant occupies the throne room of this building built for the Universal Exhibition. From this balcony King Alfonso XIII inaugurated the exhibition. The view is very pleasant thanks to the large openings and the ceiling made of inclined mirrors which reflect and multiply the panorama. The restaurant is only open from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. and offers an affordable menu.

-> Oleum restaurant web site


Located on top of the Catalonia History Museum, in one of the old harbour warehouses, its terrace offers an open view on the old port.
It is a versatile place where you can have an aperitif, eat a quick lunch menu, have a quiet dinner in the evening or have a drink on its huge terrace with a DJ on weekends afternoon and night.
This restaurant is part of a chain of restaurants from the Basque country and offers Mediterranean cuisine, paellas and fish at fair prices.

 -> Sagardi restaurant web site


As in all Mediterranean ports, fish is in the spotlight. Regarding paella, you should know that you can find a lot of variety. For the Valencians, where the dish originated, cooking rice is an art and everyone has their own preferences. Valencians referring to rice as ("arroz") rather than paella because the range of possibilities is rich, from "L'arroz negro", the black rice, tinted with squid ink, the "arroz con bogavante", lobster with rice, "arroz del senyoret", a paella where shelled seafood, up to "arroz amb crosta", a chicken and charcuterie rice dish, covered with an egg. Without forgetting the "Fideua" a paella where the rice is replaced by small vermicelli.


Founded by Balfregó, a Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishing company, which exports its products all over the world, this restaurant is dedicated to bluefin tuna, from the modern and pleasant decoration to its menu.
Several menus allow you to taste the different pieces obtained when cutting the tuna and savor a series of Western or Asian cuisine dishes.
Offers several tasting menus.
It is best to book well in advance.

 -> Tunateca Balfregó restaurant website


Founded in 1959, this restaurant has been a temple of paella and its different variations for several generations. They offer a menu of seafood, meat, fish but their specialty are paellas prepared in Valencia fashion, such as paella with shelled seafood, "arroz a banda", the “arroz negro”, black rice, colored with squid ink, the “arroz amb crosta”, rice with crust, chicken and charcuterie paella, covered with an egg au gratin…
Reservation is recommended, especially on weekends.

-> Elche restaurant website


The port and Barceloneta district is traditionally the district where you can taste fish, seafood and a whole range of variations of paella. It is full of restaurants specializing in Paella, some very touristic.
A little further away from the main avenues and the most touristy terraces, Ca La Montse has been offering quality dishes at very reasonable prices since 1959. This is our favorite in this neighborhood.
It is better to make a reservation, especially on weekends.

-> Ca La Montse restaurant website


Many tourists believe that all over Spain spaniards eat tapas. This is quite far from reality. You will find quite sophisticated tapas in all the bars in the Basque country, and in the south of Spain each drink will be accompanied by a tapa, but this is not usual in Catalonia and tapas restaurants have started to grow in Barcelona with the expansion of tourism.

You should know that there are several styles of tapas:
The pintxos, found mainly in the Basque country, are appetizers, sometimes quite sophisticated, made on a slice of bread attached with a toothpick (that's what pintxo means: skewer or toothpick). The cold pintxos are presented on the bar and you help yourself freely, standing up, while drinking your wine. Hot pintxos come from the kitchens and are presented to customers by waiters. You must first ask for a small plate ("platillo") which is used to place your pintxos but also to keep the toothpicks that you must put back at the counter when you are finished to know how many pintxos you have eaten and how much you owe.
Tapas, "raciones", or "media-raciones" (half portion), are small dishes, which are normally shared at your table, allowing you to taste many specialties. In this case you are seated at a table, you order à la carte and this allows you to taste many dishes such as seafood: squid, octopus, herring fillets, croquettes, ham, potato salad and olives are the classic dishes but also according to the establishments quite elaborate preparations.


In the Gothic quarter, the historic center, on the cathedral square, this establishment is an institution. You can eat "pintxos" there, displayed at the bar while having a drink, or sit at a table and order a large selection of "tapas" and "raciones", small dishes to share that allow you to discover different Basque and Mediterranean specialties.
It is not necessary to reserve if you want to eat standing at the bar.

-> Bilbao Berria restaurant website


Near the Sant Antoni market, calle Parlament has been transformed into a pedestrian area: restricted traffic, plants, benches and play areas have invaded the asphalt, converting it into a pleasant space for residents. Due to its popularity many restaurants and bars have flourished with many terraces.
One of these establishments is Pepa Tomate, either inside the pleasant decorated restaurant or on the terrace, offers a selection of original small dishes to share as well as paellas at economical prices.

-> Pepa Tomate restaurant website


Still on calle Parlament, the Sucursal Aceitera offers a selection of fairly sophisticated small dishes. All fruits and vegetables are ecological and locally sourced production as the restaurant has its own garden near Barcelona. The dishes are adapted to their production and change according to the season.

-> Sucursal Aceitera restaurant website


The Taller de Tapas catering group, the tapas workshop, has several restaurants. The one on Rambla de Catalunya has a large terrace protected from the wind and the sun. They offer a selection of good quality and moderately priced classic tapas. This group has two other restaurants of the same name in the Gothic Quarter, the historic center.

-> Taller de Tapas restaurant website


Catalan cuisine is a fairly simple cuisine, we offer you some restaurants discover it.


It is one of the emblematic restaurants of Barcelona. Located near the port, it was for a long time a place of reference for the Catalan bourgeoisie.
In a building which at the time claimed to reproduce the buildings of rue de Rivoli in Paris, it was frequented by artistic elites like Picasso, Tapies or Miró who left paintings or drawings as payment of their debts, and who now form part of the restaurant's art collection.
The menu offers paellas, seafood, fish and classic Catalan specialties such as cannelloni, cod with ratatouille or Catalan cream, a custard with a crisp caramel crust.
The prices are high.

-> 7 Puertas restaurant website


Close to the ramblas, this restaurant hidden in an alley in the gothic quarter, the historic center, claims to be the oldest restaurant in the city for having opened in 1786.
The alley is not very inviting, but once you have passed the door, you are surprised by its modernist decoration and all the photos of famous people who have eaten there.
The menu offers the main dishes of Catalan cuisine, from "escudella" the typical Christmas soup, Catalan broad beans, wild boar stew.
Economic prices, offers several menus at lunchtime.

-> Can Culleretes restaurant website


In the district of Gracia, an old village attached to Barcelona which has kept its structure of alleys and square, hides, on a quiet street, one of our favorite restaurants.
On a discreet street, off the tourist routes, this restaurant, opened in 2001, welcomes a clientele of regulars, who have enjoyed meeting there for years.
Its menu is renewed every season and offers a selection of small dishes to share that could be classified as modern Catalan cuisine.
The semi-cooked caramelized foie gras is one of this restaurant's favorite dishes to discover.
The prices are very affordable for the quality offered.

-> Goliard restaurant website


A trip to Barcelona can be a good opportunity to take advantage of its large offer of exotic restaurants, especially from South America.


There are many South American restaurants in Barcelona. One of the South American countries that offers the best cuisine is, in our opinion, Peru, which benefits from the fusion of South American cuisine and Japanese cuisine due to emigration from this country in the past century.
Ceviche 103, offers you the opportunity to savor the most significant dishes of Peruvian cuisine, prepared and served with refinement.
Do not miss the different "ceviches", based on raw fish that have been "cooked" in a marinade made of lemon juice and spices, a delight.
It is mandatory to reserve.

-> Ceviche 103 restaurant website


A surprising place, the tables are surrounded by ponds, vegetation and tropical flowers.
Perhaps the most impressive and unexpected decor you can find in a restaurant in Barcelona.
Offers several menus, depending on the time of year.

-> Indochine by Ly Leap restaurant website

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