Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Left
Coffee and croissant
Right
Terrace café, Barri Gòtic
Eating & Drinking Tips
!
Opening Hours
smeared with tomato and
drizzled with olive oil). If
innards are your thing, ask
for
call
(tripe). For dessert,
enjoy
crema catalana
, a
custard topped with
caramelized sugar.
$
Seafood & Paella
favourite are
bolets
(mush-
rooms), usually lightly
grilled and served with
a sprinkling of olive oil.
The Spanish eat much
later than much of Europe;
lunch starts around 2 or
3pm, with dinner any time
after 9pm. Restaurants are
usually open 1:30-4pm
and 8:30-midnight. Many
are closed one day of the
week and during the
month of August. Cafés
and bars are open from
around 7:30am, closing
around 2am. It is difficult
to get a drink or bite to
eat after 4am.
&
Etiquette
Some restrictions
for smoking in bars or
restaurants apply from
January 2006. Dress
codes rarely apply.
*
Tipping
For prime seafood,
head for the sea. Along
Passeig Joan de Borbó in
Barceloneta is a string of
restaurants, many spe-
cializing in seafood and
paellas. Seafood restau-
rants also abound in the
Port Olímpic, where you
can feast on fresh-off-the-
boat fish and seafood on
open-air terraces. Fresh
seafood is served year-
round, but the traditional
day for paella is Thursday.
Tipping is not
expected in most
establishments, so it's up
to your own preference
and how you rate the
service. If leaving a tip,
five per cent is usually
acceptable. In upscale
restaurants, however, a
tip of 10 per cent is the
norm. Catalans occasion-
ally tip at the bar, perhaps
leaving the small change
from their drinks bill.
(
Children
@
The Menu
Multilingual menus
are increasingly the norm.
Many restaurants offer
their best deal for lunch
from Monday to Friday,
so do as the Spaniards do
and fill up from the
menú
del dia
between 1:30 and
4pm. The fixed-price
menu of the day usually
includes three courses,
wine and water.
%
Vegetarian
Barcelona has a hand-
ful of vegetarian eateries.
Carrer Pintor Fortuny, in El
Raval, has a couple of op-
tions, including Biocenter
(at number 25), with its
all-you-can-eat salad bar.
Vegetarians can also feast
almost anywhere on an
array of tapas, including
patates braves
(spicy
potatoes) and
truita de
patates
(potato omelette).
If you eat fish, then you'll
be spoiled for choice.
^
Seasonal
The Spanish are relax-
ed about bringing chil-
dren to restaurants and
bars. Though kids' menus
are rare, restaurants are
often willing to serve half
portions on request.
£
Catalan Cuisine
Catalan cuisine is
characterized by the
meeting of
mar i mun-
tanya
(surf and turf), and
signature dishes include
llagosta i pollastre
(lob-
ster and chicken). Side
dish mainstays are
samfaina
(aubergine/
eggplant, grilled peppers,
tomatoes and onion in
olive oil and garlic) and
escalivada
(sweet pep-
pers, onion and garlic).
Other Catalan favourites
are
botifarra
amb mon-
getes
(Catalan sausage
with white beans) and
pa amb tomàquet
(bread
)
Disabled Access
All new restaurants
must be wheelchair
accessible by law, which
includes access from the
street to the dining room
and at least one acces-
sible bathroom. Contact
the Institut Municipal de
Persones amb Disminució
(see p134)
for a list of
accessible restaurants.
And always call ahead
to double check.
Specialities
From the end of the year
until mid-Spring, try the
Catalan speciality of
cal-
çots
, sweet grilled scal-
lions usually in a
romes-
co
sauce (spicy tomato
sauce). Another autumn
138
For Barcelona's best restaurants & tapas bars
See pp44-5
