Barcelona is an amazing city, full of life, art, culture and pleasures of life. You can’t miss a tapas tour! You are spoiled for choice, I’ll give you some tips so you don’t miss the best typical places to enjoy a glass and a bite. Vamos!
Vaso de Oro
It is a brewery (“cerveseria”) in the Barceloneta district brewing their own beers. The choice is between pilsner, red, dark and IPA. I tried the last one, I enjoyed it.
Tapas are displayed in the window display at the bar in large trays, but judging by the number of customers they don’t struggle to finish them. I tried the atún picante, tuna with spicy sauce, sliced tomato and boiled egg, accompanied by triangles of fried bread. I liked it.
Carrer de Balboa, 6
Drink: Draft beer small € 3,90
Tapa: atún picante € 5,40
The Cova Fumada
A few minutes’ walk away you find this lively historic place, always with the queue out, famous for having invented the “bomba”, a croquette with a secret filling.
Obviously, I had to try it. It’s fileld with a creamy mushed potatoes with I think gravy and garlic and parsley flavored olive oil. Very good, shame about the sauce – mayonnaise and a little bit of hot sauce – which was not so good.
They use the same flavored oil to season fish. My grilled squid was unbelievable. All accompanied by house white wine, tapped from the barrels on top of the bar. Fried artichokes were popular on that day.
Carrer del Baluard, 56
Drink: glass of wine € 2
Tapas: bomba € 2 – squid € 6,50
Can Vilaró
Very traditional bar opposite the San Martin market. They speak mostly Catalan here and I must say that I found the staff quite rude. The menu offers there are also old time dishes.
I inspired by tripa and capipota. It looks like a stew with beef tripe and muscle, with red and green bell peppers and large chickpeas. I liked it a lot, but if that’s not your thing there are various meat and fish dishes.
Carrer del Comte Borrell, 61
Drink: glass of wine € 2,50
Tapa: tripa e capipota € 7,50
La Plata
A very small place in the gothic quarter, with a narrow counter and 4 small tables, but very authentic.
The three barrels from which they draw the wine (red, rosé, white) and the wall covered with bottles with the name of the house stand out.
There are only have six tapas, but of high quality. The pescadito is not to be missed: very fresh and tasty fried fish.
Pincho de anchoas – anchovy on a slice of bread and tomato, also is very good. Rosé and white wine go down well. Definetely my favorite tapas bar.
Carrer de la Mercè, 28
Drink: glass of wine € 2
Tapas: pescadito € 3 – anchovy € 2,50
Senyor Vermut
Outside they still keep a sign for a hairdresser for women, but inside the decor is quite modern.
The food list is very rich. I tried the patatas bravas and I must say they were truly excellent. It is not easy to stand out with the “basic” tapa of any Spanish bar, in which the salsa brava usually comes out of a jar. The potatoes were baked, but it was the sauce that made the difference: the mayonnaise was mixed with a very spicy sauce and as a topping chopped jalapeños.
I tried their bomba, but I didn’t like it, because it was very dry inside and not very tasty, only the great sauce revived it. The vermouth was very nice, in Spain it is always light, almost reminds me a chinotto. Funny thing, they served it to me with two olives inside.
Calle de Provença, 85
Drink: vermoute € 3
Tapas: patatas bravas € 2,95 – bomba € 4,20
BONUS: Croq & Roll
This one is not traditional, but it is absolutely worth a stop, especially if you are planning to visit the Grüell park.
A decent choice of beers – I took a Catalan – and an impressive variety of croquettes. There are about twenty of them, divided between fish, meat and vegetarians. I loved the shrimp one and the porcini one, but it’s hard to choose, so try as many of them as you can!
Travessera de Gràcia, 233
Drink: craft beer € 3,50
Tapas: croquettes € 1,30-1,60 each