Barcelona is the only city outside France to have been awarded the prestigious Gourmande accolade. This city of three million has some 10,000 restaurants and nine Michelin stars; in March it launched a year-long gastronomy celebration offering tastings, new gourmet tours and special menus for visitors to get more seriously involved in the locality's eating and drinking traditions.
But it's always best to go with local recommendations, so we asked the pioneer of El Nuevo Cocinar Ferran Adrià - of world-famous restaurant El Bulli (the Bulldog) in the pretty cove of Cala Montjoi 50 miles up the coast from Barcelona - to point us in the right direction.
"What you should be on the look out for in areas like Catalonia and Galicia is the seafood," he says. "Because of this, don't expect to pay less than €20 a head. In fact, you just can't make real food for less than €20 a head, full stop.
"There are a great deal of mediocre restaurants selling exceptionally mediocre food especially in the tourist belt around the Ramblas. Avoid it. But elsewhere in Barcelona is good because there are new places opening up all the time and there's loads of enthusiasm there. Lots of fun, fusion joints for a start. Contemporary new-wave cooking just got started here."
Adria's all-time Barcelona favourites contain a selection of the very hip (Santa Maria), oriental oddities (the Japanese Shunka) and traditional (Cal'Isidre and Roig Rubí). For aperitivos - that very Catalan insistence on delicate snacks with an after-work drink - he recommends the Quimet Quimet, a tiny stand-up bar in Poble Sec. "It's a great place to go to whet the appetite, unique in all of Barcelona. It's a family-run business, and it shows. A must-see."
El Born's Comerç 24, run by one of Adrià's alumni, should please even the most jaded tapas aficionado. Delve into artily sculptured dishes such as bull's tail with parmentier, where the tail meat has been removed from the bone, slathered in a buttery sauce, then topped with potato foam.
"Excellent tapas is what you'll find there in a trendy setting where tradition and creativity meld in the kitchen," he says. Of the "contemporary cooking" startups, he recommends Saüc, Abac, Alkimia, Drolma and Moo. This is where Barcelona's new culinary stars knock out flavour and daring in equal measure: dishes like Saüc's sautéed duck's liver with a dark beer soup and date-studded gingerbread. But Moo's impeccable connections with the superb Can Roca in nearby Girona nudge it a sliver above the rest.
As for the local seafood of which Ferran is so fond, he suggests you follow the happy faces into Rías de Galicia near Placa d'Espanya. "This is excellent seafood in a city already known for the quality of its selection. This is not a kitchen ruled by a chef, but by the best products available." You could start with the almejas a la marinera, clams sauted in olive oil, garlic and parsley and deglazed with Jerez's finest, then move on to a serious selection of Galicia's finest fish and crustaceans.
Finally, he touches on the old favourites: Cal Pep, a bar-and-stool affair presided over by the very affable Pep himself ("the delicious menu is created to reflect only the freshest, most in-season items from all regions of Spain"); and Bar Pinotxo, an equally personality-driven venue in Europe's finest foodmarket, La Boqueria. "The owner, Juanito, tends to every detail with affection. No trip to Barcelona is complete without a visit here."
Way to go
Getting there
British Airways (0870 8509850, ba.com) flies to Barcelona from Birmingham (from £88.90 rtn inc tax, £15 more if booked by telephone), Gatwick (£68.10) and Heathrow (£94.60).
Where to stay
One of the hippest hotels in town is the surprisingly affordable Omm (hotelomm.es, from €175). It oozes style with corridors lined in black rubber and a rooftop terrace with lap pool and views of Gaudí's La Pedrera. Or try Casa Camper (designhotels.com, doubles from €190). A cheaper option is the new Hotel Diagonal (hoteldiagonalbarcelona.com, from €130) which also has a rooftop pool, surrounded by glossy wooden decking.
Further information Spanish Tourist Office:020-7486 8077.
Country code: 00 34.
Flight time London-Barcelona: 2hrs 5mins.
£1 = 1.44 euros.
