Restaurants Barcelona: El Xampanyet

Abandon all hope of leaving sober all ye who enter here

El Xampanyet is one of our favorite places in Barcelona. It is located on C/ Montcada 22, up the street from the Picasso Museum in the center on the tourist section of Barcelona. Notwithstanding its location, El Xampanyet doesn't grovel for tourist money by making bland Disneyland Spanish food. This place is very animated with both locals and tourists overflowing onto the street. El Xampanyet is famous for its house cava which is lighter than normal cava. Poured from 1.5L bottles the cava is perfectly chilled and refreshing morning, afternoon and night (or so my parents tell me).

Worth every Euro

The only food they serve is tapas and they are simple, fresh and delicious - their anchovies are famous. The father, mother and son team behind the bar are extremely friendly.

There are few places in Barcelona where having tapas could be more enjoyable.

Restaurants Barcelona: Els 4 Gats

Els 4 Gats is lovely restaurant located at Carrer Montsió, 3. It was originally established by a Modernist painter and was where other Modernist artists would hang-out during the early 1900s (including Picasso who had one of his first one-man shows there). The 4 Gats is in a building designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch, an architect responsible for some of the most wonderful buildings in Barcelona. Inside, the restaurant walls are covered with Modernist paintings by artists such as Ramon Casas, one of the original owners. Both the interior and the exterior of this restaurant is beautiful.

2 of the 4

It is the beauty of the place that makes us excited about going to Els 4 Gats every time we are Barcelona. And it is the beauty of the place that makes us really want to like the food. But.... Unfortunately the food is not great. It's not bad but it doesn't seem that they put a lot of effort into preparing it. In a city like Barcelona where (outside of tourist areas) eating well is not difficult there is little reason for eating at Els 4 Gats. Go have a coffee or a drink, enjoy the very beautiful space but eat elsewhere.