Where are the best places to find traditional Catalan food in Barcelona? My itinerary is sorted, i'm now just looking for the best food possible, whether that be restaurants, markets or cafés. Any suggestions?
Thanks.
>>926214
In any bar or restaurant (non-immigrant). I'm not a Catalan, I live in Asturias, but have traveled a lot to Catalonia, I recommend you eat breakfast "Catalanas" (traditional food there), are pieces of bread cut in half, with tomato, ham (if possible Iberian, the better) and olive oil (very healthy). I in my house I usually eat breakfast every day.
>>926226
This is helpful, thank you. That dish sounds nice! So are you saying that ALL Catalan restaurants will be good? Do you have any particular recommendations for certain eateries or areas?
>>926251
I'll make a map and tell you places to visit (to eat) and which not (dangerous, poor zones)
>>926254
http://www.timeout.com/barcelona/search?language=en_GB&keyword=critic%27s+choice&order=relevance&page=1&page_size=25§ion=restaurants&nodes%5B0%5D=&nodes%5B1%5D=488&nodes%5B2%5D=783&nodes%5B3%5D=63&nodes%5B4%5D=78&facet_click=1
>>926214
Mussol does quite a good job with traditional catalan food. It's a tad expensive but the quality is worth it IMO and it's the closest you'll get to "proper" catalan food.
La Lluna also does traditional spanish and catalan food (among others) with a creative spin. Very cheap, very good food, and a beautiful hidden place literally 2 minutes away from plaça Catalunya. One of my favourite restaurants in Barcelona, be sure to check it out.
Also I sure hope you are spending some time in La Boqueria, which is probably the best market in Europe. If you get past the first stops selling overpriced ham and juices to tourists, you will find about anything you can imagine goodwise. Nice place to buy some spanish embutidos and ham, but be sure not to be ripped off. I usually buy in Aroma Ibéric, but there's plenty around. So take your time and look around, you can eat there too. Bar Pinotxo and El Quim cook market food daily at sound prices but of course a lot of stalls have a wide variety of ready to eat products: from oysters to greek sweets and everything inbetween
All in all, there's good eating all around Barcelona, you just have to know where to look for it. Avoid at all costs any place obviously marketed to tourists or selling paella or tapas (hint: try pintxos instead), they are just not typical here and you will be served shit food at ridiculous prices. Gracia and el Born are the best neighbourhoods when it comes to eating, but you can check out eltenedor(dot)es for juicy discounts and opinions on restaurants all around Barcelona
>>926266
>tfw I live in the middle of the "DRUGS" zone
>tfw it's true
>>926214
I haven't been there myself but a colleague of mine told me that he goes pretty often and it's not as expensive as it should be. Apparently, quality is pretty damn good.
http://www.culleretes.com/en/home
>>926302
>>926267
>>926266
This is all very helpful - thanks a lot!!
I'm really looking forward to visiting some of these places, so thank you all. La Boqueria in particular looks absolutely fantastic.
Are there any particular dishes which I should be on the lookout for? Apart from pintxos (which looks delicious!)?
>>926381
Just be aware that the Boqueria is a tourist trap. Prices are overwhelmingly high. Also, pintxos are not essentially Catalan, they come from the Basque cuisine. I would say, try a Calçotada if you have the oportunity. Problem is that normally these are privately held events but I guess you can find a restaurant selling Calçots as well...
Catalan cuisine is actually very diverse so google a little bit and find what you might like, then there should be places in BCN where you could find the stuff
>>926670
So is there a cheap alternative to Boqueria? Or if not, are some of the stalls in there cheaper than the pricey ones?
As for what I'll like, I genuinely like all food. I'm just interested in trying the most traditional and/or interesting local dishes. Any more particular suggestions?
