La Ribera - Discover Barcelona: Experience the Best of Barcelona - page 248

Eating

If you'd mentioned El Born (El Borne in Spanish) in the early 1990s, you wouldn't have
raised much interest. Now the area is peppered with bars, dance dives, groovy designer
stores and restaurants. El Born is where Barcelona is truly cooking - avant-garde chefs and
fusion masters have zeroed in on this southern corner of La Ribera to conduct their culinary
experiments. If you don't want to play such wild games, there's plenty of the traditional
stuff to choose from, too.

CASA DELFÍN €
Offline map Google map

Spanish

(Passeig del Born 36; mains €4-12; noon-1am; Barceloneta) One of Barcelona's culinary de-
lights, Casa Delfin is everything you dream of when you think of Catalan (and Mediter-
ranean) cooking. Start with the tangy and sweet calçots (a cross between a leek and an
onion; January to March only) or salt-strewn padron peppers, and go on to grilled sardines
specked with parsley, then tackle the meaty monkfish roasted in white wine and garlic.

LE CUCINE MANDAROSSO €
Offline map Google map

Italian

( 932 69 07 80; www.lecucinemandarosso.com ; Carrer Verdaguer i Callis 4; mains €8, lunch menu €10;
lunch & dinner; Urquinaona) What a treat it is to discover the world of Mandarosso. This
is comfort food done to perfection - the menu changes daily, with only six mains to choose
from, five of which are pasta, and one vegetable, fish or meat. The antipasti can be veget-
ables, or fresh cheese, such as the wonderfully creamy burrata (fresh cheese made from
mozzarella and cream), buffalo-milk mozzarella, or smoked scamorza and provola cheese.