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Once again, Barcelona becomes the world capital of mobile technology with a new edition of the Mobile Word Congress. From February 26 to 29, one of the most important technology fairs on the planet will be held in Barcelona. This year it is estimated that more than 95,000 people will visit the Fira de Gran Via to learn about all the latest developments in the mobile industry in the more than 2,400 exhibitors and 1,100 speakers that MWC has.
The organization of the fair has enabled different points of restoration within the enclosure. But if you want to go a step further and discover the gastronomic hotspots of Barcelona that you can not miss this year, here is a selection of the best restaurants in Barcelona, included in the Guide to eat and drink Spain 2023/24 of Tapas Magazine.
Compartir Barcelona
The obligatory stop is, of course, the brand new Golden T of Tapas Magazine in Catalonia. More than 25 years of friendship and several ongoing businesses endorse the trajectory of Oriol Castro, Mateu Casañas and Eduard Xatruch. Three chefs whose work can only be understood as a team, responsible in large part for keeping the legacy of elBulli alive. After Compartir (Cadaqués) and Disfrutar (Barcelona), the chefs have transferred the essence of Compartir to Barcelona, this time with the incorporation of Nil Dulcet as partner and director. Here they work with the best raw material, mostly from the sea, which takes the form of delicate dishes to share, some of them iconic of the headquarters in Cadaqués, such as the sea ox with avocado and river trout roe.
Barcelona. València, 225
936 24 78 86 • compartirbarcelona.com
Carta: 80 € • Mediterránea/Creativa
Propietarios: Oriol Castro, Mateu Casañas, Eduard Xatruc y Nil Dulcet • Sumiller: Jaqueline Santos
ABaC
Jordi Cruz’s restaurant, located in the boutique hotel of the same name, bears the stamp of a chef who, in addition to technique and intelligence, also has tons of talent. Cruz’s innate wisdom is manifested in his ability to select ingredients and combine them, devise recipes and manage the emotions of a diner who, at ABaC, travels from Catalonia to Asia, passing through the Basque Country and France. Concentrated onion water, smoked chicken egg, satay and onion puff pastry, truffled brie or roasted and cryofiltered piña colada as ramen.
Barcelona. Av. Tibidabo, 1
933 19 66 00 • abacrestaurant.com
Menú degustación: 295 € • Creativa
Propietario: Josep Maria González Sumiller: Stephanie Kippes
AMAR
Rafa Zafra (Estimar) is in charge of giving life to the brand new restaurant at the Palace Hotel, a project as ambitious as it is emotional. At Amar Barcelona, the Sevillian chef once again expresses his love for the sea in the form of dishes that are simple in appearance, but thought out and executed to the millimeter. From his oysters and caviar section to more casual snacking proposals (mussels in sherry pickle salpicon, for example), always prepared with noble products and a great mastery of technique.
Barcelona. Gran Vía de les Corts Catalanes, 668
935 10 11 30 • hotelpalacebarcelona.com
Carta: 120-140 € • Marinera/Actual
Propietarios: Rafa Zafra y El Palace Barcelona • Sumiller: Laura Domènech
Besta
It was the Golden T of 2022 in Catalonia, so it could not be missing in this list of recommendations. Surprising and unclassifiable, Besta is that place where rarely fails even the smallest detail of its brief menu, based on the Galician cuisine of chef Manu Núñez and the Catalan cuisine of his partner, Carles Ramon. Halfway between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, the restaurant offers a proposal mainly based on fish, always cooked with delicacy and with some surprising garnish. Thus, we can find a permit accompanied by sea urchin on a toast of corn or a scallop with Iberian juice.
Barcelona. Aribau, 106
930 19 82 94 • bestabarcelona.com
Carta: 40-50 € • Gallega/Creativa
Enigma
More than 35 years of experience and a long list of successes endorse the career of Albert Adrià. A chef whose life changed after the pandemic, when he decided to disassociate himself from the restaurants he captained and remain at the helm of Enigma. As is always the case with the cuisine of this restless and talented chef, his dishes are a perfect combination of the noblest product on the market, precise technique and that twist that makes the difference. The result is a varied menu with about 25 dishes.
Barcelona. Sepúlveda, 38-40
616 69 63 22 • enigmaconcept.es
Menú degustación: 220 €
Propietario: Albert Adrià • Sumiller: Cristina Losada
La Gormanda
This restaurant in the Eixample manages to swing between a gastronomic restaurant and an old eating house where pots and pans go on sucking and sucking for hours under the watchful eye of a kitchen team that combines technique and intuition like few others. Chef Carlota Claver has made the staff fall in love with such exciting dishes as her cod rice with razor clams and tupinambo or an eggplant confit with jowl and smoked eel. Here the cuisine of always is prepared with the techniques of today.
Barcelona. Aribau, 160
931 27 60 49 • lagormanda.com
Menú degustación: 75 €. Carta: 60 €
Tradicional
Propietarios: Ignasi Céspedes y Carlota Claver • Sumiller: Ignasi Céspedes
Can Punyetes
Top quality products, with a basic element, which would give the dishes of Can Punyetes a distinctive touch: the ember. Experimenting in situ the art of this type of cooking. Maintaining the essence of the first tavern, the group has wanted to incorporate this concept to the different establishments that have been opened subsequently, always with a good product and better service, in a commitment to tradition and honesty with the product offered to the customer, we invite you to enjoy the good traditional grill in a cozy atmosphere and with the flavors of always.
Barcelona. Francisco Giner, 8-10
932 17 79 46 • canpunyetes.com
Carta: 20-30 € • Asador
Suculent
Suculent is the restaurant you always come back to, the one you recommend to friends who ask you for a reliable, tasty feast without surprises, knowing that it will never fail. Located in the heart of the Rambla del Raval, Suculent boasts an informal aesthetic and a more typical ravalera tavern fuss than an upscale restaurant. It is precisely in this dichotomy where lies the charm of a place where chef Tonet Romero takes care of the sauces and cooking, reinterprets without fanfare some popular recipe and makes sure that we end up dipping bread.
Barcelona. Rambla del Raval, 45
934 43 65 79 • suculent.com
Menús degustación: 55 y 75 € Carta: 45-55 € • Tradicional/Actual
Propietario: Tonet Romero • Sumiller: Pedro Garrido Benzecry
Disfrutar
Nor can you miss the brand new three-star restaurant in Barcelona. If anything remains of elBulli in Barcelona, if anything remains of that disruptive and unruly spirit that characterized Ferran Adrià and his team, it can be found in Disfrutar. Mateu Casañas, Oriol Castro and Eduard Xatruch, who were Adrià’s first swords, landed in Barcelona with Disfrutar after having created Compartir, in Cadaqués. Here we find an avant-garde, playful, emotional cuisine, a flow of already mythical dishes that, together, work with mathematical precision. They propose a seasonal menu with new dishes and another one that goes through the classics, such as their mythical Chinese bread stuffed with caviar.
Barcelona. Villarroel, 163
933 48 68 96 • disfrutarbarcelona.com
Menú degustación: 255 € • Creativa/Actual
Propietarios: Mateu Casañas, Oriol Castro y Eduard Xatruch • Sumiller: Rodrigo Briseño
Lasarte
Martín Berasategui’s three Michelin stars at his restaurant at the Monument Hotel are the result of a methodical and intelligent career, and of the chef’s good eye when it comes to surrounding himself with the best executive chefs. In this case, Paolo Casagrande is in charge of transferring to the heart of Passeig de Gràcia the imaginary of the chef from San Sebastian: a seasonal product-based cuisine, rooted in the territory, which elevates any piece to the Olympus of haute cuisine thanks to the exact treatment and the use of the least invasive techniques.
Barcelona. Mallorca, 259
934 45 32 42 • restaurantlasarte.com
Menús degustación: 205 y 305 € Carta: 190-210 € • Tradicional/Creativa
Propietario: Hotel Monument Barcelona 2015 • Sumiller: Joan Carlos Ibáñez
Restaurant information written by Laura Conde and included in Tapas Magazine’s Guía para comerse y beberse España 2023/24.