It’s a matter of fact that Spanish cuisine is one of the best things on Earth.

So, if the food side is a fundamental aspect of my travels, in Spain it becomes even more. And, if in the rest of the World it’s the willing to taste something new to stimulate my appetite, in Spain it’s just my voracity that hits levels never touched before: great food in large quantities and at surprising rates.

Just heaven!

When traveling, I prefer to eat something quickly for lunch and wait to comfortably put my legs under the table at dinner time, but over my last weekend in Barcelona I never backed down when – at least twice a day – I was asked to sit and eat a never ending meal, no matter what time.

The following are the three places I liked the most and would recommend to those who ask me where to eat in Barcelona.

The first one, discovered by chance during an afternoon walk, is where I came back the next day for breakfast; the second one was the perfect location for a Sunday lunch with a high school classmate of mine, who moved to Barcelona several years ago; the third one was recommended by a Spanish colleague, born in Gaudi’s town.

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Breakfast at Baluard

[Praktik Bakery Hotel, Carrer de Provença 279]

Baluard is a bakery on the ground floor of the Praktik Bakery Hotel where the smell of warm bread, just baked croissants, spicy creams and melted butter spread throughout the environment up to the sidewalk, down the street.

Local residents come here even to buy bread only, but it’s really hard to refrain from having a full sweet breakfast and not to taste tons of the pastries showed in the window: I truly believe it is the perfect way to gently awaken all the five senses at morning.

The locations is minimal, in a post-industrial style, with large windows and steel columns.

The walls are covered with dark bricks and a large shelf on the central wall of the room displays tens of white jars from which plants of all kinds sprout out.

You can sit on a large padded bench, on a dark leather sofa or at a open-area table in the backyard: from here you can have a view over the laboratory where all the delicious things are created.

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Lunch at Chiringuito las Sardinitas

[Avenida del Litoral 36]

Here the password is fish, in all the variations of the typical Spanish dishes: the menu lists from countless tapas to paella, Galician octopus to simply grilled fish.

All in extra large portions.

This place is actually a large terrace by the sea, a sensation that remains even if you are not lucky enough to find an outdoor table and get sitting inside.

A laid back atmosphere warms all around: white is the main color, table are in painted wooden, chairs are all different from one another and lamps are straw bags hanging upside-down from the ceiling.

It’s a place that tastes of summer time, Sundays spent by the sea, sand stuck on the feet, flip flops and cheerfully chatters.

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Dinner at El National

[Passeig de Gràcia 24 Bis]

The location is just wonderful: this restaurant is inside a nineteenth century former industrial building, at the end of a small alley along Passeig de Gràcia.

The great premises is divided into four main areas: meat, fish, tapas & rice and fast–deli, each one easily recognizable by the peculiar style in which it is furnished, maintaining liberty as the fil rouge of the entire place.

Of this place, besides the great meat I had at Braseria, I loved even the bathroom, which has an anteroom with a series of white makeup desks in a perfect theater actresses’ dressing room style.

Here the prices are a bit above average, but the wide variety of the offer certainly helps to find a good compromise between the taste and the bill. You can also take a look at the menu of every restaurant area on the official website (the link on the name above) if you really want to avoid surprises.

Are you not hungry now?