List from Vahakn
Food
🐟 Can Mano
One of our two favorites, since we’re suckers for seafood – a shaabi* place, as my parents would say. ** Shaabi means “of the people”, specifically “locally popular”*
👨🍳 Cal Pep
Probably our most favorite restaurants, which we’ve been going to since I was born. Unfortunately the chef Pep (who knew us at the only Armenians who came to his restaurant – at least at the time) recently passed away. The food and vibes are still immaculate.
🍳 La Bodegueta A little underground restaurant for classic tapas, mini sandwiches and wine. Perfect for breakfast or a snack since it’s walking distance from our place.
☕ Pastelerias Mauri I think about the croquetas from Mauri at least once a week – I could eat there every day. Great coffee too.
🏖️ El Vaso de Oro
Tapas by the beach! What else could you ask for*. *** amended later in this guide**
🥩 El National
Almost like a food court, except everything is excellent. We love the hustle-bustle here.
🐠 Estimar
Relatively new seafood restaurant by El Bulli (the legendary restaurant) alumni Rafa Zafra – a designation always worth exploring.
🧀 Quimet & Quimet
The platonic ideal of a tapas bar – tiny, 100 years old, delicious.
🥖 La Flauta
Another idyllic tapas bar. A “flauta” is a small Spanish baguette sandwich, which looks like a flute, and is one of my favorite snacks in the world.
🇪🇸 Churreria J. Argiles Mexican churros are fantastic, but they are nothing like the ones in Spain, which I believe are superior. Go try them and make your own determination!
🥘 La Barraca
One of my parent’s favorite (at least du jour) paella spots. The classic seafood paella (from Valencia) is a classic for a reason, but there’s all sorts of paella – from Arroz Negro (I love squid ink), to more brothy, or with pasta… a whole paella world to explore!
🥛 El Tio Che
The 100 year old Horchata and ice cream spot – extremely cute, and once you try the horchata (which is also different from Mexican horchata!) you’ll see that they’ve earned another 100 years.
🍩 Planelles Donat
More horchata, but here they also have horchata ice cream! Pro tip! When having orxata, you have a choice of sweet or sugarless. Always get half-and-half.
🌵Suculent
Contemporary Catalan cuisine – is it necessary? Give it a shot after you start getting tired of tapas and decide yourself.
🦐 Ca La Nuri
I amend my earlier “what more could you want than tapas on the beach” to include paella on the beach. The Arroz Negro is also excellent. And the shrimp. Go twice maybe.