An English restaurant right in the middle of Barcelona…read more No - the food is not English. It's as Spanish as Spanish can be. But the concept here is the core concept associated with good British cooking. Good ingredients. Simply prepared. The cook should bring out the flavor of the original materials. The ingredients here are excellent, The cook's interventions are subtle. The flavor of the very good ingredients shine through. This does not mean there is no spice involved. My wild bison meatballs had a tomato sauce and definite elements of fire. The mussels had a soupcon of garlic. But what was served was high quality British cuisine. * * * Two exceptions to the above rule - and one caution. There is one good exception and one bad exception 1) The good exception. The British always make exceptions for desserts. Desserts are sweet, yummy and show off the skill of the baker or the skill of the pudding maker. The same applies here. We had a carrot cake and a red velvet cake. None of them tasted like the carrot cakes or red velvet cakes we get at home. Both of them were just lovely. We would order them again ... and again ... and again ... and again. 2) The vegan casserole my wife got did not impress. Everything tasted like mushroom even though there were other things besides mushrooms in the pan. Some of the vegetables notably the artichoke hearts were so tough as to be nearly inedible. She was not provided with a knife .... Which gets us to the third point ... 3) Service is terrible. The people are nice, friendly and willing to please. But don't expect to see them very often. And they sold you the food on the menu. They did not sell you silverware to eat it with. They will bring you a fork. Then they are done. Not only our table but other tables around us had to deal with the "how the heck do I eat this problem"? We just went ascetic and went without. People at other tables went up to the service rack to get the hardware they were lacking. The same benign neglect went to providing beverages. I would have been happy to build my tab for the night by ordering seconds or thirds on my drink. I never got my chance - and left the restaurant thirsty. (I have a nice bottle of mineral water I bought from a bodega to make up for the lack.) * * * These quirks aside, the food when it hits is really really fine. I ate very well, with wild boar meatballs that could be considered memorable. Fortunately, you need neither a knife nor a spoon to eat meatballs.

I went on a month long trip in Europe - Italy, Spain, and France - and Leku was one of, if not the…read morebest, dining experiences that I had. And I ate out every night. What I wanted was a chance to sample some traditional Catalan food, and luckily a friend of a friend was native to the area and took me to Leku. It certainly had that, and more. First, you may notice that it is a completely family run business. It feels that way. One waiter had a lengthy conversation with my friend about who knows what in Catalan. There were no bright line distinctions between who did what. The chef who also runs the place is part owner with I believe his mother. He was at times our waiter, our bus boy, and also of course the concerned chef who asked how each course went. And the food sure was fantastic and new. The ingredients were fresh, and almost entirely made in house. Some dishes were more traditional, while others were inventive but still inspired by the Catalan palette. For example, I had a fish dish that was paired with a mayonnaise dressing mixed with bacon! Apparently the people of Catalan mix meat and fish all the time, but it was a completely new flavor for me. A more traditional dish I had were these fried shellfish, something between a shrimp and a lobster, purchased fresh from the fish market that day. Ox tail wasnt weird at all, and it was very juicy and full flavored. The squid-ink croquets were probably my favorite, could have eaten ten of those. For dessert, I had a mojito flavored whipped cream and a cheesecake flavored yogurt. Maybe the greatest part of this restaurant was the quality combined with the authenticity of the Catalan culture. I know some spanish, but Im not sure I heard a lick of Spanish in that place. There was a large group celebrating what seemed like an anniversary. There was another older couple having dinner, and young couples perhaps on their first date. This place was not a place that tourists swarmed, which is something that by that time I had enough of. This was a place that a person native to the area would suggest, and it was a wonderful serendipity that I was introduced to it. They say you may not know how people treat you, but youll always remember how they make you feel. Well, not only did Leku treat me like an upper-class man, but as an outsider they made me feel welcome. I'll remember that most of all. Thanks guys

As far as I understand this place used to be Carlitos. Now it is something else. The menu is on the…read morehealthy side but not anything special. Service is great and the ambiance too.

Absolutely lovely. The atmosphere is super chill. The service is great and the food is so flavorful…read moreand memorable. Very good dishes with lots of flavors and textures. Wish I could give them 6 stars

Semproniana is a cute, popular Spanish food (tapas of diff portion sizes) restaurant for date night…read moreor group celebrations! The restaurant is popular among locals...I could tell that my the fact that our waiter/waitress were slightly limited in English language ability, the menu was a little limited with English description and even the whole RSVP confirmation process was done in Spanish! :) The restaurant is quite small so I recommend you book ahead of time. We managed to book a little more than a month and were glad we did! The restaurant tables were all reserved within 30 min of opening and we saw then turn away a couple who were the first to enter the restaurant the moment it opened, too. The food was all good! They are Spanish tapas style but offera a little different variation than what your average touristy places offer. I liked that they offer diff sizes for almost all their dishes..so you can try many dishes as you wish! We ordered close to 10 dishes..*gulp*..our eyes were definitely bigger than our stomachs...haha..but the dinner journey was awesome..every dish was tasty (even the black rice which we both had no idea was made of blood sausage...had we known..we probably wouldn't have ordered..but they still tasted good!!) And were definitely full coming out of the restaurant. Yet...the whole bill....was super affordable!! All those dishes we ordered..came out just $90ish total (net..including generous tips)! Would definitely love to stop by Semproniana if I have a chance to be in Barcelona again. Don't forget to make reservations ahead of time though!! Read around the reviews...RSVP is definitely needed here!

Savory authentic traditional dishes with artistic funky flair…read more Delicious. But easy too order too much, even when warned by waiter. Service prompt and helpful. Prices set to allow locals to enjoy dining and feel at home.

Great tapas restaurant in Barcelona. I came here after seeing recommendations online and the…read morereviews looked good. It's a little out of the way but we enjoyed the food and atmosphere. We were seated right away. My husband ordered a coke and we ordered some tapas for the table. We ordered some PATATICAS BRAVICAS, CROQUETAS and JAMONCICO IBÉRICO. Everything was delicious and the food came out pretty quickly. The food looked fresh and the prices are very affordable. The restaurant isn't far from a train station and it's actually a quick walk. After walking around the touristy areas in Barcelona being able to go to another part of the city was a great idea. There were tourists there too but not as many. As far as the language, the waiter was able to understand us and I speak a little bit of Spanish too that was enough to order the food. I used the bathroom and it was clean. We were seated inside but they also had outdoor seating.

possibly the best tapas bar in Barcelona. there's long line during peak days and hours and the…read moreportions are sizeable despite being "tapas". the staff is friendly and the sangria is good! I recommend getting six dishes for two people since it's a lot of food. the prices are good and the ambiance is classic.

We have been to Barcelona many times and always stop at El Picoteo. It is off the beaten tourist…read morepath and therefore an absolute gem. We usually stay at the Hilton Barcelona on Avenida Diagonal and it is a very easy walk, especially if you are looking for more authentic food then what is offered at the Hilton. We first stumbled upon this place maybe 10 years ago, when we first fell in love with calamares al la plancha and met Edu and Antonio for the first time. Although we love the food we always return for the fantastic bilingual, sometimes tri lingual :) conversations with Antonio and Edu and their wonderful hospitality! The prices are reasonable especially given the quality of the food. Our favorites are the calamares a la plancha, calamares en salsa, sepia a la plancha, pulpo gallego, ensaladilla rusa and pimientos patron. Give this place a try you won't be disappointed!!! We plan to return whenever we are in the city we love the most, Barcelona!!!

Very nice experience from the staff to the food and drinks. The restaurant has a nice decor and the…read morestaff where friendly and helpfull. The main course we took was t-bone, i love the idea that you can decide yourself how you want your meat just by either eating it like its served or putting it on the hot stone and barbeque it where you are sitting. Great food and I will come back for sure next time i am in Barcelona

I really fell in love with this charming restaurant. All dishes are freshly prepared and…read morebeautifully served. The restaurant has excellent wines (if you are a wine lover)! If you are interested in creative cuisine and beautiful interior, then this is the place to be.