Good Restaurants in L'Eixample (Barcelona)

Mandalay Café

This is a mixture of Cuban-Asian cuisine, with African and European touches. Salads, Chicken with Onions and Caramel and other exotic dishes make an amazing menu. Algerian raï music creates atmosphere, and performances by a contortionist from Thursday to Saturday nights are not to be missed. Try the delightful home-made desserts.

Dry Martini

You have to enter into the spirit of an exciting and elaborate game to eat at Dry Martini. First, you go to the bar and get the password from the barman, then head for the back door of the restaurant and come in through the kitchen. Once inside, you share a communal table with everyone else, so it's like having dinner with a group of friends. As soon as you arrive, you're served a Dry Martini and then the chef appears to announce the dishes of the day out loud. It's all reminiscent of the gangster period in Chicago during Prohibition. The food is varied and interesting, including specialties like octopus kebabs and shellfish stew. There's a good selection of Spanish wines, fresh fruit cocktails and martinis to choose from.

Taktika Berri

This place is always packed, so it is best to book a table well in advance. It started off as an ordinary bar and has become one of the main players in the city's culinary scene. There's no menu as such, just a fabulous array of house specialties to choose from, like the assorted tapas selection, called Pintxos (Basque tapas) and Montaditos (like canapés). Other freshly made and highly recommended dishes include: Rioja-Style Potatoes, homemade omelettes, Berza Con Morcilla de Ormaiz (cabbage and black pudding), Marmitako (tuna stew), Pochas (pinto beans) and Cantabrian tuna salad. There are good wines from Rioja and Txakoli (Basque white wine) as well.

Cervecería José Luis

José Luis's first beer hall is located in swanky Calle Serrano in Madrid. Due to its success in the capital, he decided in 1991, to open a new bar exactly like the one in Madrid. Luckily, the quality and good service have gone unchanged. You can order tapas, Pinchos (like kebabs), canapés, omelettes, all sorts of cheeses, and croquettes (a local favorite). The pork loin canapés are exceptional. Drinks are varied and of top-quality.

Ba-Ba-Ree-Ba

Although this bar also has a restaurant where you can enjoy a traditional meal, they serve a great variety of tapas, fresh-made with high-quality ingredients. The clientele are mostly tourists from around the world, and the decor is modern and spacious. The atmosphere is calm and peaceful, and the most demanding palates will be able to find an assorted selection of beers, wines, and cavas (Spanish champagne), ideal to accompany your meal. All you have to do is find a free table on either of the two floors, the terrace on Passeig de Gràcia, or a spot at the comfy bar.

Cervecería Catalana

This comfortable beer hall, close to La Rambla de Catalunya and decorated in dark shades and varnished wood, is noteworthy for its Montaditos (small pieces of bread with tapas on top), and their Ensaladilla (like potato salad but better), which decorate the bar behind the glass. Their assorted menu of beers - domestic and imported - is also worth a mention. The service is excellent, and the staff, cordial and efficient. They also have a terrace you can enjoy all year round.

QuQu (Quasi Queviures)

QuQu is the abbreviation of the Catalan quasi queviures, which means 'almost provisions'. It is a clever mixture of a tapas bar and deli; you access the bar through the shop. The shop is specialized in cheeses, cooked pork and sausages and other delightful products, which give you a good clue of what you are to expect at the bar. At the bar you can have omelettes, toast, Russian salad and freshly made dishes. Their patatas bravas and Iberian sausages are superb.

La Brioche

The owner of this establishment, which is close to Diagonal Avenue, is of French origin - a fact clearly evident by her elaborate home-made baked products using plenty of butter. La Brioche is a mixture of pastry-shop and bar. A good part of Barcelona comes here when they fancy eating puff-pastry. The Milhojas (mille-feuilles or puff-pastry filled with merengue), croissants filled with marzipan, stuffed brioches, and the Quiche Lorraine are worth a try.

El Seitó

Located on a small corner, this tapas bar has a terrace next to the metro exit. Their yellow and blue poster is reminiscent of colourful food tins. There are no tables but the bar is fantastic to eat tapas, montaditos, toast and have a coffee. As the name of the bar indicates, their speciality is the seitó (anchovy), mainly pickled. The assortment is completed by Cantabrian anchovies, tuna, sardines and cockles.

Madrid-Barcelona

This restaurant has been open since the 1920s, when the train to Madrid passed through Carrer Aragó, hence the name. The decor, chairs, and attic, as well as an organ, which is a surprising thing to find in the middle of the restaurant, also date from those bygone days. The house specialty is fish, the cuisine is seasonal and very fresh and they have a daily stew on offer. These are simple, high-quality dishes. As having to wait for a table is standard, there are curious cardboard chairs available to make your wait more comfortable.

Cervecería d'Or

This recently-renovated beer hall is mainly frequented by workers from nearby offices. They have two separate places, one at the corner, where they serve hot dogs and burgers, and the other one, which is decorated with light wood, good lighting, a few tables, and a bar. Both the sections, however, share the big terrace. They always have a sandwich, dish and beer of the day, all listed on the boards out on the sidewalk. The staff is courteous and efficient.

Bistrot 106

This restaurant is reminiscent of typical riverside bistrots in Paris. The service is fast and attentive, and the ambience is intimate with soft lighting and marble tables, which give the place an elegant touch. French stews, soups (try the Onion Soup au Gratin), foie gras, oysters, salads, risotto with parmesan, and other fantastic dishes are all on a menu full of original surprises, such as crepe suzette. The wine selection is mostly top-quality French vintage and is reasonably priced.