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Especially if Barcelona is your first time in Spain, you will definitely want to enjoy a good plate of paella, the Spanish dish par excellence. Purists know very well that it belongs to Valencia ‘s culinary tradition and that Barcelona’s will never be as perfect as its hometown, but then again, foreign tourists visiting Rome or Venice also want to eat pizza and tiramisu and then drink a glass of limoncello, right?
On the other hand, Barcelona is very big and its restaurants are many. Therefore, if you too are looking for the best paella in Barcelona, follow this guide that will take you to five typical restaurants that will surely satisfy your senses. The ingredients vary from area to area, and in Barcelona it is not uncommon to find both the original version with chicken and rabbit and the new version with seafood (paella de marisco).
Here is a list, without any claim to completeness, of 5 of the best paella restaurants in Barcelona. Choose your favourite and let us know how it went!
Colom is located in the heart of the Barrio Gotico, just north of the Cathedral, and is therefore a perfect destination to enjoy a great paella because it is within walking distance of the centre. The small but cosy restaurant is characterised by its quick and friendly service. You can enjoy paella de marisco with plenty of seafood, the traditional paella or the mixed meat-fish version, at an excellent value for money. Reservations are recommended, to avoid the long queues that inevitably form, especially at weekends.
In the south ofEixample, a short distance from the Universitat metro stop, is Micu Maku, a typical Spanish restaurant specialising in paella. While waiting for your paella, you can enjoy a good sangria and small appetisers; you can choose from the classic version or one with arroz negro, or squid ink rice. If you still have room after the paella, enjoy an excellent crema catalana for dessert, one of the house specialities.
Not far fromAvinguda Diagonal, north of Placa Catalunya, you will find Casa Amàlia, one of the most typical and famous Spanish restaurants in Barcelona. Excellently reviewed, it features a professional staff and a chef attentive to the choice of ingredients, which you can accompany with a choice of drinks from an excellent wine list. The house speciality is paella Catavents, made with red prawns and Pals rice, a traditional rice from the Costa Brava.
One choice if you find yourself along Las Ramblas and have a craving for paella is to head for the Boqueria market, where the Paella Bar Boqueria is located on either side of the arcades that surround it. It may not be the best paella in the city, but it is certainly one of the best in and around Las Ramblas. You can enjoy paella in its various guises, including vegetarian and the fideuà version, made using noodles instead of rice.
In the list of the best paella restaurants in Barcelona, we couldn’t leave out Xiringuito Escribà, one of the most famous restaurants specialising in this dish. It is located on the beach in the Poblenou area and is open all year round for lunch and dinner. You will have the opportunity to admire the cooks cooking your dish thanks to the open kitchen, and while waiting you can relax without fear of being judged, as the ambience is very informal. Given the restaurant’s reputation, reservations are practically compulsory.
In the following map you can see the location of the main places of interest mentioned in this article.
The original paella recipe is the one called paella valenciana, made with bomba rice (a short-grain Spanish variety, also known as Valencia rice) to which are added rabbit, chicken, sometimes duck, jackdaws and a variety of local beans; everything is then cooked in olive oil and chicken broth, with saffron added to give flavour and the typical yellow colour. Sometimes saffron is replaced by turmeric.
Alongside the Valencian paella there is paella de marisco, i.e. paella with seafood, which replaces the meat; in this version there are no beans and green beans. Finally, paella mixta (mixed) is a third variety, in which both meat and fish are added.
The first piece of advice we give you is to avoid like the plague the places with outdoor tables along the Ramblas that offer the paella and sangria combo. This is super-tourist, although the pairing is also appreciated and used by locals. The problem is that the quality of the ingredients is often bad, it is not uncommon to stumble upon frozen products, not to mention that the prices are much higher than in the rest of the city.
If you want to avoid looking like a tourist, keep in mind that paella is a dish that is eaten for lunch, often even as Sunday lunch. Nevertheless, you will also find paella on menus for dinner. Remember one very important thing: it takes time to prepare a great paella, so allow 20 to 30 minutes after the waiter has taken your order. If they promise you a quick time, it means that the paella is pre-cooked or defrosted, and therefore the quality will never be what it should be. The paella should be served to you in a large black pan (the ‘paellara’) with wooden spoons so as not to affect the flavour.
Finally, you will often find a note on the menu warning that paella can be ordered for a minimum of two people. If you are travelling alone, you can try to ask the waiters for an exception, especially if the restaurant specialises in this dish, but there is no guarantee that your request will be granted. Of course, you can always join a table of complete strangers, make friends and eat paella with them!
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