Good Food in BCN! and other Barcelona, Spain Local Custom Tips

I live in Barcelona and would like to give some tips for people who come and visit the city and want some REAL typical BCN/Catalan food. The area around La Rambla is fantastic to take a stroll, but it's a definitely a no-go area when it comes to food! In the small streets of the Barrio Gotico there are some nice places, but the Eixample, Gracia and Sant Gervasi offer a lot more. If you want to eat tapas the right way, La Cerveseria Catalana (Rambla Catalunya), TapaTapa (Passeig de Gracia), Lizarran (Typical Basque tapas) or Irati (Calle de la Palla) are the places to go, NOTE: do not always expect nice silverware or extremely friendly service, it's tapas we're eating folks, not dinner :-). Be aware of the fact that practically all restaurants in Barcelona (and the rest of Spain for that matter) offer a "MENU A MEDIODIA" (lunch menu from 14:00 to 16:30) which is a very economic way to try typical Spanish dishes. For sandwiches, do not go to chains like Pan&Co or Bocatta, but go and find one of the smaller bakeries such as Moli Vell or any place that puts FORN on it, and you won't be disappointed, Bopan on Rambla Catalunya/Calle Provenza is my personal favourite, not cheap, but real value for money! There is another top classc place on Rambla Catalunya, just before getting to Placa Catalunya. For pizzas, go to "Al Passatore" on Via Laietana, La Bella Napoli on Calle Casanova, Little Italy in the El Born area. For good paella's, Elx is one of the best places (there is one on Calle Vila i Vila in the Poble Sec area, and another one in the Maremagnum). For Barcelona's famous seafood, Botafumeiro is the place to be, it is very expensive though (80 E pp). But there's more, The Lobster House on Calle Paris/Calle Aribau is perfect to enjoy some nice fresh prawns or Lobster (what's in a name?). Near the Sagrada Familia is a place where all kinds of seafood and shellfish are actually "swimming around" in aquariums, so you can pick the ones you want to eat, and they will be prepared for you right there!

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