Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
STARTING THE DAY
Unless you're staying somewhere with a decent buffet spread, you may as well pass up the
overpriced coffee-and-croissant option in your hotel and join the locals for
breakfast
in
one of the city's bars, cafés or patisseries. A few euros will get you a hot drink and a bri-
oche, croissant or sandwich just about anywhere -
ensaimadas
(pastry spirals) are a popu-
lar choice, while
xocolataambxurros
(
chocolateconchurros
- long, fried tubular dough-
nuts with thick drinking chocolate) is a good cold-weather starter. The traditional country
breakfast is
pa amb tomàquet
(
pan con tomate
) - bread rubbed with tomato, olive oil and
garlic, perhaps topped with some cured ham or sliced cheese. Otherwise, breakfast sand-
wichesarewhatevercanbestuffedinsidea
flauta
(thinbaguette),fromcuredhamtoaslice
of
tortilla
.
ESSENTIALS
COSTS AND RESERVATIONS
Prices
Overall, eating out in Barcelona is still pretty good value, and you'll be able to dine
in a huge variety of restaurants for around €25-30 a head, and around the same if you jump
from tapas bar to tapas bar. In fancier, fashionable places you can double this, while “tasting
menus” at the current dining hot-spots run from €70-120 a head, excluding drinks (still a lot
cheaper than equivalents in, say, New York or London).
Getting a good deal
Nearly all restaurants offer a weekday (ie Mon-Fri) three-course
menú
del dia
(menu of the day) at lunchtime, with the cheapest starting at about €9, rising to
€18-20 in fancier places. In many restaurants the price also includes a drink, so this can be
a real bargain (at night, you might pay three or four times as much to eat dinner in the same
restaurant).
Reservationsandpayment
If there's somewhere you'd particularly like to eat - certainly at
themorefashionable endofthemarket-youshouldreserveatable.Someplaces arebooked
solid for days, or weeks, in advance. Credit and debit cards are widely accepted in restaur-
ants, though not necessarily in cheaper places, traditional tapas bars and the like. Finally, all
restaurant menus should make it clear whether the eight-percent IVA tax is included in the
prices or not (it usually is).
OPENING HOURS AND CLOSING DAYS
Openinghours
Mostcafésareopenfrom7or8amuntilmidnight,ormuchlater-sowhether
it's coffee first thing or a late-night nibble, you'll find somewhere to cater for you. Restaur-
ants are generally open 1 to 4pm and 8.30 to 11pm, though most locals don't eat lunch until
atleast2pmanddinnerafter9oreven10pm.However,intouristzonesliketheRamblas and
Port Olímpic, restaurants tend to stay open all day and serve on request, while many tapas
bars are also open all day from morning until night.
