Barcelona is a magical place, full of striking architecture, celebrations of art, and glorious combos of old and new. But food and wine are truly at its heart. The offerings are enormous, from tiny tapas bars to new-age modern venues, classic Catalan to high-end Michelin-starred. Take your pick, but remember, Barcelonians enjoy a relaxed way of life – even Gaudi’s famous La Sagrada Familia is still incomplete 135 years after construction started.

Barcelona Cooking

Try a hands-on Spanish cooking class that kicks of with a tour of La Boqueria Market on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays under the tutelage of Barcelona Cooking co-owner Candido Cid or another of the school’s bilingual chefs. The fun lesson culminates in a lunch comprising the dishes prepared in class, accompanied by generous serves of rioja and Galician white wines. It’s a fantastic introduction in English to Spanish cuisine, with simple but delicious tomato bread, gazpacho (perhaps with an unusual hint of strawberry as well as tomatoes), tortilla, paella and Crema Catalana. 78€ for adults, 39€ for children.

La Rambla, 58. Ph +34 931 19 19 86, barcelonacooking.net

Bar Pinotxo

You’ll need to queue for one of the 14 stools at this most popular counter bar in La Boqueria Market. It’s been going for more than 70 years and you can rub shoulders with top local chefs, perhaps even Ferran Adrià. Charismatic owner Juanito Bayen, aka Pinotxo, runs the show in his trademark bow tie and waistcoat. Just ask “What’s good today?” or look at the display along the counter and his chef nephew will send out great examples of the region’s many famous rice dishes (not just paella) and other favourites, perhaps artichoke omelette, chorizo croquetas, or baby squid and beans. Being in the market, it’s only open during the day.

Puesta 91 (Stall number 91), La Boqueria Carrer la Rambla, 89. Ph: +34 647 869 821, pinotxobar.com

Restaurant Taller de Tapas

With its wooden floors, quirky interconnected dining rooms inside, appealing bar and shady tables outside, this doesn’t feel like the newest tapas bar in a chain of them. Sit at the bar and order from the tapas on display, or choose from the menu. It’ll all be sent out fresh from the kitchen, perhaps Galician octopus with potatoes and smoked paprika, croquetas, salt cod and parsley fritters, and fried padron peppers. Wash your picks down with the inexpensive and surprisingly good house wine.

Rambla Catalunya 49-51. Ph: +34 93 487 48 42, tallerdetapas.com

Cal Pep

This wonderful seafood restaurant is another institution that has stood the test of time, but do check the website for opening days and hours. Queue for the main event, a seat at the long counter. It won’t take too long to be seated, and the wait is always fun as you can order a drink. Not big on queuing? Book 10 days ahead for one of the few tables in the back room. There’s no printed menu (except in Catalan on the website), but recommendations are sound, and you can also see the seafood bar and what other people are eating and discussing in myriad languages. Fish is seasonal, but think razor clams and prawns cooked on salt on the grill, or clams cooked simply with olive oil, garlic and white wine. Enjoy with a well-priced glass of albarino. Baby squid with chickpeas is another popular pick, as is, surprisingly, tiramisu and anything with chocolate or gelato. Oh, and Pep is the nickname for owner/chef Josep Manubens Figueres.

Plaça de les Olles, 8. Ph +34 933 10 79 61, calpep.com

Restaurant 7 Portes

Once the haunt of locals for Sunday lunch, and still beloved by those who like the formal service and simple, classic fare, Restaurant 7 Portes has been discovered by tourists, too. Founded in 1836, its chequered marble tile floor dips from all those years of wear and tear, but it’s all well maintained. The house dish is Paella Parellada, named not for its ’40s owner, Paco Parellada, but rather an earlier customer, Juli Parellada, allegedly a “wealthy but lazy gourmet” who wanted all the meat and seafood shelled and boned for ease of eating. The food respects old recipes while occasionally adding a new twist.

Passeig d’Isabel II. Ph +34 933 19 30 33, 7portes.com

Disfrutar

Meaning ‘enjoy’, Disfrutar has been open only since late 2014 and is the very modern offering of El Bulli alumni Mateu Casañas, Oriol Castro and Eduard Xatruch. You will need to book well in advance to dine on their avant-garde tasting menus (from 120€ to 185€ plus drinks) that are, as is so often the case in Spain, deeply rooted in history and culture. It has two Michelin stars and was named “one to watch” and No.55 in The World’s Top 50 Best restaurants. The ambience is relaxed and peaceful, but the food is theatrical, such as transparent tubes of gelatin ‘macaroni’ tossed in Iberico jamon and truffled foam, or what looks like green and red peppers drizzled in olive oil, but is really chocolate covered in a coloured gel. Each of the 20-plus dishes is explained to you and the menu only supplied at the end of your meal. Allow at least 3-4 hours to enjoy an extraordinary experience.

Carrer de Villarroel, 163. Ph +34 933 48 68 96, disfrutarbarcelona.com

elBarri

A ‘barri’ is a suburb, so this refers to a group of six restaurants owned by Albert and Ferran Adrià, in the Poble-sec district. They are sometimes known as Barri Adria, and encompass Tickets, Pakta (Peruvian-Japanese), Bodega 1900, Hoja Santa (upmarket Mexican cuisine), Nino Viego (taco bar) and Enigma (cocktail bar). Tickets, the pair’s flagship tapas bar, is booked months in advance, so try Bodega 1900 for funky tapas designed to delight and surprise, like the faux ‘not olives’, house-tinned marinated sardines, and knots of thin, cured sausages, accompanied by house-made vermouth.

With Juan Carlos and Borja and Pedro Iglesias, the Adrià brothers also have an interest in El Canota and Rias de Galicia, again in Poble-sec.

elbarriadria.com

Bubo

Looking more like a jewellery store than a patisserie – and almost as avant-garde as some of Barcelona’s restaurants – Bubo is now a chain with multiple stores in Barcelona (as well as Abu Dhabi and Tokyo). Try their signature Xabina, a spiced olive oil sponge with layers of crunchy praline and cacao nibs and chocolate mousse. Or marvel at individual pastries that are miniatures of larger cakes, artisanal desserts, petit fours, macarons, bon bons… the list goes on.

bubo.es