4 days Barcelona restaurants itinerary

[ty22]

hello all,

First thanks for those that help us on apartment location in Barcelona. Now that I narrow down my restaurant list, I need your expertise on the restaurant that we are considering.

We have 4 full days in Barcelona (Sat-Tue) and would like to base our tourist site visit along with restaurant itinerary. We have a group of 6 adults, I'm not sure if this will be a problem with hitting all these restaurants? Do we need to make lunch/ dinner reservation? I know that for fine dining, we will do that for sure but what about casual restaurants, tapa bar?

1 expensive dinner and other more moderate/inexpensive local cuisine..if you have menu suggestions please feel free to share/ suggests..

Breakfast at Boqueria
Bar Pinotxo or Kiosko Universal
- dishes suggestions?

Lunch at Sant Joan
- what do order? We don't speak or know much Spanish

Lunch at Casa Delfin
- what do order? reservation? What time do the open for lunch?

Lunch at Kaiku in Barcelonetta

1 day of pixtos bar crawl in El Born for Dinner
Sagardi
Euskal Etxea
La Vinya del Senyor
El Xampanent,
- which is a must go? what's their must try dishes? What time is best to start since we have a big group?

1 day of tapa crawl in Eixample for Dinner
Tapac24
Cerveseria Catalana
La Bodegueta
Taktika Berri
- Is this possible to go to 3-4 places in 1 night? Which do you recommend more than the others? Any dishes suggestions? What time is best to start since we have a big group? I know if we go to more than 2 places, we will have to end up waiting for a table at a later time anyways, but at least if we know which of these should be our first stop would be great. We don't mind walking if it's further away. Would any of these restaurants be better for lunch? Just in case we are in the area for lunch, we can cross it out during dinner time.

Dinner at Cinc Sentits
- How far in advance do we need to make reservation? We're going to be there the beginning of May.

Other restaurants that we're looking into visiting are:
quimet y quimet
L'Academia
Paco Meralgo
- which of these do you think would be best if we would to go to the restaurants above? Do you recommend going to Lunch or Dinner? Dishes suggestions?

If I miss anything, please let me know..any sort of suggestions would be awesome! Of course I haven't decide on which place to go which day yet but at least if I know which restaurants are good food lunch vs. dinner, I will probably plan our itinerary based on the restaurant suggestions. =)

Thanks in advance!!

[PBSF]

Except for Sant Joan, all your places are in the tapas/pintxos category. One has to get into the spirit of informal eating in Barcelona and not over plan for these places. Don't worry about what to order; instead look at what is good on the counters in pintxos places and also what other people are eating. These type of food is not expensive and either bit size or small portion, therefore, just go for it. Keep in mind of places such as Euskal Etxea, La Bodegueta, Takika Berri, Sagardi are counter and mostly stand up. There might be small bar tables and stools here and there but never count on them. In the case of Quimet y Quimet, it is a bit out of the way in Poblet Sec; it is small and always packed out; standup and no seating; old world atmosphere, good wines by the glass but no hot food or any time of cooking; it serves some of the best preserved seafood, cheeses and pork product available.
Hit 3 or 4 tapas/pintxos places? YES, If the place is is not to your liking: too crowded, wrong ambience or indifferent food, don't like the staff, move on. Places are clustered together in El Born/Ribera, part of the Gotic, the area around Pg de Gracia and Rambla de Catalunya in the Eixample makes for easy walking. It depends on how much stamina one has. The Eixample can seem vast' Taktika Berri is terrific but it is a few LONG blocks from Pg de Gracia.
Reservations and what to order:
Bar Pinotxos/Kiosko Universal or any other places inside the Boqueria: if you are a party of 6, get there at 10am when they are preparing to open, otherwise, getting seating for 6 is slim to nil. Of course one can always eat standing up. These are simple counter places with about a dozen seats. For breakfast, coffee of course, anything with eggs or tortilla, pa amb tomaquet; ask what looks good as they are cooking the food in front of you.
Sant Joan: get there around 12:30 and you will get a table; the small menu is always changing; depends on what you like: lamb cutlets; bacala, sardines, sausage with white beans. This is simple everyday food, nothing fancy, depends on what the cook want to serve.
Casa Delfin: haven't been there in years; can't remember
For Cinc Sentits, I would try to reserve about 4 to 6 weeks in advance. Reservation policy changes and they might tell you that you are too early.
Not speaking Spanish or Catalan is not a problem in Barcelona but be somewhat familiar with some of the basic food terms such as pork, beef, fish, squid, will be helpful. Any simple food guide will do.
Below is an earlier link that might be helpful.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/7100...

[Parigi]

PBSF's reply can't be more comprehensive.
I have two minor points to add:

1. Those counter-restaurants that you cite, including those in the Boqueria and also the Cerveceria Catalana, are not suitable for a party of 6 persons. You can imagine yourselves at any city in the world, 6 persons trying to go to a popular counter-eatery. Not going to work. Or you would be condemend to go at extremely odd hours in order to hope for sitting together. A party of 6 will require organizing wherever you go. If sitting together is a must, then the best is to reserve ahead of time in non-counter type eateries.

2. "Is this possible to go to 3-4 places in 1 night? Which do you recommend more than the others? Any dishes suggestions? What time is best to start since we have a big group?"

3, possibly. 4 may be out of control geography-wise and food-wise. But for example, you can start at Bar celta (7pm; no one eats before 7), have some greasy but fun food, then slowly go crescendo. Second stop could be El Vaso de Oro (7:30pm, any later will be a mad house. 7:30 is quite mad already). 3rd and last stop Euskal Etxea (8:15 or 8:30, still early enough to avoid the main crowd). Not only does the walk make logistic sense, you are also eating better and better tapas according to this itinerary.
Dish suggestions? Look around, see what looks good to you and what is most popular with others. Have your own experience! That's the best part re travelling.

[erica]

Cinq Sentits takes reservations two weeks in advance and not before. This was the info given to the person who placed the call for me this morning.

[lsernoff]

Here are some further thoughts from a four-day visitor to Barcelona last year.

I had Sant Joan and a number of similar modestly-priced, traditional Catalan restaurants on our list for our main meal lunches. Never went to one. It finally dawned on me that the "better" traditional establishments need not cost a fortune if you are not trying one of everything. Thus, for example, we ate at Fonda Gaig, had two appetizers, two mains (including the signature canelones), split a desert, had a bottle of wine, and 2 coffees. Total bill: E83. More than Sant Joan, no doubt, but not a wallet breaker. Assess your party's dining habits and consider going a peg upscale. Also, consider whether more modest establishments can comfortably accommodate a party of six.

As for tapas "crawls" you may find it easier to do in Born than in Eixample, particularly in a group of six. If in Born, I highly recommend Euskal Etxea. Lovely spot, lovely pintxos. We never got to Quimet y Quimet partly because it was a destination of its own.

We planned a lunch at Kaiku, but thought better of it after we took a look at the hike from the Barcelonetta metro to the end of the area. But, our two adults may be a lot older than your six.

As for the mandatory breakfast at the Boqueria, avoid Pinotxo. The owner is entertaining to watch but the egg dishes were barely edible, and not cheap. Plus getting six seated could take a while. Shame on us for going there after eying more appetizing fare being consumed at Kiosco Universal.

Let me put a plug in for a comfortable, traditional Galician restaurant in the Born area, called Restauraunte Carballeira. We split a large lovely salad, had two mains (including their signature polpo gallego), a bottle of wine and 2 coffees. Total cost: E65.

Enjoy your trip!