The Top 10 Spots To Try Authentic Catalan Cuisine

There are places for tapas, and then there’s Bar del Pla, which offers up some of the most classic Catalan dishes in true form. The space, full of tourists and locals, is cozy and the waitstaff reliably no-nonsense. They don’t expect their customers to dilly-dally, and you shouldn’t. Order anything on the menu because it’s all equally delicious. From the thinly sliced crispy eggplant, to the coca bread with sardines, to the monkfish with a creamy garlic allioli, there’s a lot to delight in. The mother of all Catalan dishes, pa amb tomàquet – that crisp bread with fresh tomato and flaky sea salt – is also some of the best in town here.

A small but elegant gastro-bar on the border between Eixample and Gracia, Bar Mut is a simple and unpretentious place to enjoy small plates and excellent wine. The cozy space calls to mind an old zinc bar. Its interior is all dark wood and marble and brass, a familiar old neighborhood friend. The name plays on the word vermut – the ubiquitous aperitivo here in Spain – a specialty of the house. But its incorporation of the word mut, Catalan for mute, is a brilliant little move. It calls to mind that wordless moment when you bite into something stunning. Bar Mut is like this, full of moments where something as simple as a perfectly cooked scallop on the half shell, renders you silent. The daily menu leans heavily toward seafood, and the dishes change by the moment, depending on what’s fresh. The website sports only an art house film, but it doesn’t matter because there’s something to be said for leaving an experience open to pleasant surprise.

Lolita Tapería

When Inopia disappeared, the locals openly grieved. When Lolita took its place, a collective sigh of relief was heard through the barri, and the place has been packed ever since. This longstanding outpost of Albert Adrià’s team is a reliable favorite for local dishes. This includes many crowd favorites from Inopia and a few others from friends in the neighborhood, like the smoked salmon and truffled honey tapa from the famous Quimet and Quimet. A frenetic experience of light and noise, this is a place where eating is the main agenda, which is good because there’s a lot of that to be done. The beer on tap may be German – every chef has his quirks – but the spirit is wholly Catalan. They offer all the classic appetizers found on a vermut menu, and a host of heartier tapas. The tapas include tomato and tuna belly salad, roasted rabbit ribs with garlic mayonnaise, ham croquettes, and all manner of fried fish.

Lolita Tapería, Carrer Tamarit, 104, local2-4, Barcelona, Spain, +34 934 24 52 31