C O M P I L E D BY
Prada Garcia
P H O T O S BY
Alfredo Lahoz
THE SHORT LIST
BARS, RESTAURANTS AND HANGOUTS QUE MOLAN BIG TIME M E T I C U L O U S LY S E L E C T E D ( B U R P ! ) /// R E P E AT E D LY J U E R G A -T E S T E D /// N E V E R E V E R PA I D F O R
DISCO
LINEA 6,25 ENRIC GRANADOS 52
Sometimes, you just need to dance. Unfortunately, sometimes that is simultaneous to you needing money, and those pesky Barcelona discos tend to cobrar mucha pasta just to get in. Not la Línea, though. Its red lights and modest labyrinth chill-out sofa-filled rooms do not prepare you for the pista de baile. Not only is it huge, but full of people shaking their asses to everything from Spanish hits, to Reggaetón to Beyoncé/Shakira-style tunes. The waitresses will serve you moderately priced liquor with a smile on their faces, and after a few copas, it won’t seem at all weird that there is a shirtless chubby guy grinding up on a pole right next to you. Oxygen is in short supply and when lightheadedness sets in, the pijo attitude goes right with it. So, even though it’s the Eixample, you can party like a Ravalian.
COMIDA CASSOLANA
ALASKA SANT ANTONI MARIA CLARET 20-22
WINE AMB SARDINES
LA PLATA MERCÈ 28 TEL. 933 15 10 09
Going every week to La Plata from now until the end of June is a great (and cheap) way to observe the evolution of sardine season. The fish are getting bigger and more delicious by the minute, and this bar is an institution in the matter of frying them to perfection. They're crispy and you can eat the whole thing: spine, head, and tail. La Plata is so good at this because there are
no other platos to distract the cook: the bar has no menu and serves only pa amb tomàquet, pà amb butifarra, esqueixada and the famous sardinas. They're so good that customers wrote them poems and decorate them; these works of art adorn the walls. And for those who believe Catalans are genetically modified to never provide good service, I say get there by happy hour and clients will testify that de toda la vida, they have had a plate of fish and a glass of wine waiting for them even before they cross the street.
BAR-SONOTECA
BE BOP A LULA
LO N D R E S 2 24 - 2 2 6
This bar is so cool it isn’t even open on weekends. Not even for the VIPs. But, if you make it on a Thursday night, you could be privy to one of Barcelona’s most eccentric bars, as well as the finest make-out room in the Mediterranean. The ground floor is taken up by a huge bar, a small TV and a giant plastic poster of some women standing at a window, rumps in relief. Sometimes there are stools, sometimes not. However, if sitting is your thing, head upstairs to the
aforementioned make-out room. The entire upper floor is made of a zig-zag of black couches, each corner offering a slightly private space for you and your honey to get down and dirty. Of course, sometimes groups, a.k.a. “cockblockers” show up, thus cortándote el rollo, but then again, who doesn’t dig a little exhibitionism every now and then? After a few ron con colas, frisky is par for the course, and the dirty old man regulars love it. So, give ‘em a thrill.
TEL 932 07 25 45
Alaska as in “Anchorage?” “Pegamoides?” No bitch! Alaska as in Gràcia, on Sunday, dishing out some of the finest cassolana food this city has to offer. Don’t be scared by the random crowd: tables of heavily tattooed Latin Kings are distributed throughout the dining room full of Catalán families and friends, and the terrace is largely dominated by cigar-smoking avis and the random group of hungry, lost guiris shooting them dirty looks. Hunger brings them together and snippy waiters keep the peace. The secret is in the food. What takes the edge off better than a little fried fish and romesco? Maybe a beer? Better a Moritz. So, pull up a chair. Yes, you, bi-otch, and thug out to some samfaina cassolana while the avia next to you gums her fish and asks for “més vermut, sisplau!”
VIETNAMESE
CAPITOL II VILLARROEL 199
TEL. 934 19 22 83
Writing this is a little difficult thanks to a food coma resulting from the Capitol II’s Vietnamese menu del día. I am also quite dehydrated, compliments of the chef, a.k.a. “salty dog”. Capitol II is the identical sister restaurant of Capitol, which is just around the corner and does not make the short list for one special reason: only the characters hit up the sequel. Located across the street from Hospital Clínic, Capital II sees all kinds of craziness: mourners, worriers, sickies and healthies… all coming together over arroz frito. They walk in and forget their worries; their minds become occupied with the mechanics of chopsticks as opposed to bedpans, and they know that they will be rewarded, for after your meal you not only get a free chupito, but on your way out, no matter your age, you are extended a choice of sweet red lollipops. The mourners head back to the hospital with a spring in their step, and the worriers seem to take things a little easier, happily clicking their dentures in and out of place while chuping the chup.
BCNWEEK
11