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A landmark in Basque cuisine in the Born neighbourhood. Every day exceptional aged beef txuletones come off its grill –with the aged cuts displayed in the window– along with fresh fish which comes straight from Basque ports, without middlemen, and from the neighbouring fish market in Barceloneta. They also work with seasonal products like Tolosa beans, and with haricot beans, artichokes and organic vegetables from their own garden, which they present just right, stripped of sophisticated touches. Their bar featuring pintxos from San Sebastián is one of the liveliest in the city. It belongs to the group by the same name, founded in 1996, which seeks to go back to the culinary roots and offer food that is high quality, solid and authentic. It's a project that over time, without forgetting this philosophy, has also embraced other culinary cultures, such as Mexican and Japanese.

Norai is the Catalan term for the piece of metal located on the quay to tie up boats. It is also the name of the restaurant-café in Barcelona's Maritime Museum. Given its goal of spreading  the food culture of the sea, you can savour fish in an interesting, privileged setting: the Royal Shipyards. Plus, you will be contributing to a social and training project which allows people in situations of vulnerability in the Raval neighbourhood to access the job market. It has a lunchtime menu seven days a week that includes a first and second course and dessert, with three options of each to choose from. The second courses always include two dishes with local fish (hake, mackerel, sardines, anchovies, gilt-head bream, sea bass, etc.) and one meat dish. At night, dinners can be held for groups of at least 30 people with a set menu.

This is a Basque restaurant, run since 2010 by the third generation of the family that founded it. With roots in the Gothic Quarter since 1954, it is a  restaurant with arches, wooden beams and lamps made of demijohns and baskets. It has an informal feel, and its décor includes references to Basque pelota and rural props like farm implements. The menu blends traditional tapas and dishes without flourishes, made on the spot at economical prices. Patatas bravas, escargot, tripe, meatballs with tomato, scrambled eggs with mush-rooms, tender garlic and peppers, fried eggs with txistorra sausage, frittatas, cocido stew, caramelised pork ribs, butifarra sausage with wild mushrooms in wine sauce to sop up with bread, steak, cachopo, codfish cooked different ways and more. For dessert, goxua. Home-made patxaran. Affordable set menu at lunch in the area.

This gourmet tavern in Barceloneta –a neighbourhood that is also popularly known as ‘L’Òstia’– belongs to the third generation of a family who opened La Bombeta in the same area back in the 1920s. They tempt diners with traditional tapas and dishes that allow them to savour the Mediterranean in good company: that's their ‘tapasophy’. Crafted with fresh, local products, like vegetables, herbs and fruit from their own garden and orchard, their classics include Pepa's bomba, la rusa de la Barceloneta, breaded and fried calamari, parmentier with foie gras, egg yolk and truffle and slow-cooked pork ribs. And to enjoy yourself even more, they offer a selection of 100 wines, each chosen with care, some by the sommelier Agustí Peris. Decorated by Estrella Salietti, it has three private dining rooms, a bar and a terrace.

In the Raval neighbourhood since 1890 as Antiga Fonda Navarro and since 1940 as Ca l’Estevet, this restaurant is also known as ‘La Mariona’ in reference to the daughter of the then-owner (it changed hands in 2010) who served diners with wit and panache. It is a touchstone of quality and Catalan cuisine which foregrounds tradition and good products while bringing together neighbourhood folks and celebrities. And the semiprivate table in the back is still there, which, they say, prominent figures during the era of the GaucheDivine’ would ‘wrest or commandeer’. Its star dishes include escudella soup; the very popular escargot with salt, pepper and thyme; traditional cannelloni; pasta au gratin; crispy-fried brains; Lluçanès duck in orange sauce; meatballs with cuttlefish and prawns; and fricandeau, all of which have earned it a loyal following. 

This is an innovative concept of a ‘fast-fine’ restaurant which is reviving the tradition of the spit and sparkling wine started in 1962 by Joan Casas, the owner's grandfather, at Barcelona's Kikiriki rotisserie. Accompanied by sparkling wine in a Pompadour glass, the chicken and other local meat (pork and lamb), roasted as you watch, are served on the dish but also in sandwiches or salads –those repertoires also include smoked salmon and roasted pumpkin–. On the other hand, the bubbly –cava, Corpinnat and champagne– has been chosen by sommeliers to pair perfectly with the meat, and a few can even be ordered by the glass. They offer a variety of shareable tapas and small plates, such as croquettes and chicken cannelloni, along with deserts like spit-roasted pineapple with burnt Catalan crème brûlée and lime zest, all in a contemporary setting in the Born neighbourhood.

This is a century-old restaurant which opened to ‘feed and restore’ its customers, now with the fifth generation at the helm and the same goal as always: for people to leave satisfied with plans to come back. They achieve this with their love and enthusiasm, and by working with local products from small producers. Fish fresh off the boat, seasonal garden vegetables, artisan beer, ancestral wine, home-made vermouth. Their star dishes: the ones featuring codfish, which they offer in three versions. The restaurant’s history dates back to 1920, one year after the great-grandfather died, when his widow, who had eight children to feed at a time when women were not yet emancipated, poured in everything she had and transferred the family home-dairy she owned to sign five-year IOU's to found La Posada de La Estrella in 1924. 

They’ve celebrated ten years in the neighbourhood with their ‘mamma-style’ Italian cooking and by organising social cohesion activities and becoming the meeting point of the people who live and work there. For good reason, they believe that the bars at bars have the power to attract stories and restless souls. In their case, it may have something to do with the appetisers they serve –Spritz is the most popular drink but the menu also includes other options like Negroni and Carpano vermouth–. Food-wise, they offer the Turbo sausage and cheese board, pannini –such as the Carrera with porchetta, scamorza affumicata and mayonnaise, and the Alfa Spider with aubergine, burrata and home-made pesto– along with traditional lasagne, meatballs in tomato sauce and tiramisù. And don’t forget the terrace, where you can have a snack or savour Italian beer, wine and coffee while listening to live music and enjoying friendly service. 

This restaurant is the progeny of the La Ancha Family, a dynasty with restaurants in Madrid and Barcelona. Fismuler, which was founded in the Spanish capital and later housed in the REC Hotel in Barcelona, is a modern eatery. It offers food that is hard to classify but grounded in tradition, camouflaged between a fun time, aesthetics and friendliness. The menu is made up of recognisable dishes with plenty of technique and reflection behind them. It has permanent and seasonal dishes, shareables and memorable flavours based on natural, locally sourced products. You have to try the original hake frittata a la koskera; semicured gilt-head bream with almonds and grapes; beef cutlet with egg and truffle; pré salé lamb with hummus, yoghurt and beet; and cheesecake. As for drinks, you can order wine by the glass, mugs of home-made rebujito and lemonade, infused coffee and following the philosophy of ‘anise+sloe=patxaran’, spirits in which they steep seasonal ingredients. It features a cosmopolitan atmosphere, a mix of locals and outsiders who know that the food there is fantastic. Live music every evening. Fismuler means ‘fish mill’ in German, although the name was inspired by a Viennese restaurant that specialised in schnitzel.

This restaurant is located in a historical building in the Raval district that was constructed in 1877 by the celebrated Valencian architect Rafael Guastavino and known as Casa de Vecinos Ramón Mumbrú. In the summer, the façade opens onto the street, creating two pleasant semi-enclosed terraces. It offers tapas, small plates and Mediterranean market and Catalan dishes with international touches, 100% gluten-free, which meets expectations whether or not you have celiac disease, all crafted with fresh, seasonal products. It has a different lunchtime menu all week long and a menu at night, with items like croquettes; codfish fritters with honey and lime emulsion; patatas panaderas with melted Appenzeller cheese; crispy chicken fingers with mango chutney; curried chickpeas with baby vegetables and coconut milk; smoked salmon timbale with dill oil and fresh avocado; courgette carpaccio with fresh cheese, honey and toasted almonds; wild mushroom and parmesan risotto; lamb medallions with demi-glacé; a burger with everything and more. The staff receive constant training on intolerance, and they work in collaboration with the Celiac Association of Catalonia. In 2014, the new owner of En Ville, the father of a son with celiac disease, shifted gears with the goal of everyone being able to tuck in to a great meal.