What and where to eat in Barcelona

Not sure what the difference between a fideuà and a jamon is? Here’s a nifty guide to help you on your way.

What to buy

Catalan tiles

Use these decorative ceramic tiles as coasters to brighten your table.

There are at least 13 different tile types around the city

Porron

Drink wine directly from this traditional Catalan wine vessel.

Panellets

These ancient sweets are the traditional fare of All Saints’ Day.

Espardenyes

Catalan for espadrilles; a shoe made from jute rope and linen fabric.

What to eat

Besides all the tapas, be sure to leave room for these local delicacies…

Fideuà

Similar to paella but made with pasta instead of rice.

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Pa amb tomàquet

Bread brushed with a delicious trinity of oil, tomato and salt.

Jamon

Similar to prosciutto.

Sangria

An alcoholic beverage consisting of red wine and fruit.

Crema Catalana

A sweet dish similar to creme brulee however Crema Catalana is made with citrus zest and cinnamon.

Churros

Everything tastes better deep-fried and bathed in chocolate, churros are like a dense donut that tick those two boxes.

Your trip to Barcelona isn’t complete without a good churro

Where to eat

Breakfast

Milk

This is Barcelona’s one stop shop for a coffee and a wholesome breakfast.

Enjoy a delicious (and exotic) crab benedict, featuring (you guessed it) crab meat, poached eggs, hollandaise sauce and toasted chapata. Or go for a chorizo hash, with sautéed potatoes, poached eggs, spinach and chorizo sausage.

Milk was opened by an Irish couple in 2005 and has since grown to be among the most popular restaurants and cocktail bars in the area

Milk also offers more humble breakfasts for tourists who are less daring, like the American bagel, French toast, pancakes or fruit and granola. This place has everything you need to fuel a busy day in bustling Barcelona.

Xurreria Laietana

Skip the wholesome breakfast, and if you’re game, jump straight to the Spanish churro.

Xurreria Laietana offers caramel or Nutella-filled churros, which promise a good time. This is a great way to start a day in Barcelona (and a great way to finish it if you come back in the afternoon for seconds).

Ugot Bruncherie

Add gorgeous interiors (of salmon-coloured walls, wooden food displays and antique pendant lights) and an outstanding brunch menu, and what have Ugot?

Look for the Flamingo Wallpaper and Dreamy Cakes

Ugot boasts a glorious (and rather exotic) brunch menu of roast beef and truffle hollandaise, eggs and chorizo sausage and a daily round of house-made brioche bread. Being a Spanish establishment, the café also has a range of brunch-related tapas: grilled tomino cheese, smoked herring and broken olives with garlic.

Lunch

Although most breakfast places are interchangeable with lunch, thanks to the strong Spanish brunch culture, try these places out for a quick lunch on a day of exploring.

The Pans Club

A vegetarian restaurant serving bagels, burgers and salads, The Pans Club is a great place to balance out your churro desserts while in Barcelona.

This place is famous for its quiches, serving ricotta, bacon and cheese or vegetable varieties (and more!). Their great lunch box initiative, where you can buy a quiche, salad and smoothie combo to go, is a great picnic option to take to the beach, and soak in some rays.

With the title of ‘Best vegetarian restaurant in Barcelona’, even the biggest carnivores will be salivating over this menu.

Kersol

Perfect for a post-siesta late lunch, Kersol serves a great range: salads (quinoa or potato), vegetable curry, grilled capsicum stuffed with pork, vegetable meatballs and even cheesecake, if you’re feeling like a dessert for/with/after lunch.

Lunch from the Best Vegetarian Restaurant in Barcelona

Dinner

La Pubilla

For an authentic Spanish feast, head over to La Pubilla.

Do not let the tired façade fool you, the food is incredible and without fault. Start off with steak tartar or roasted meat croquette, then head to the roast pork belly salad with tomato and herbs or cuttlefish paella for the main.

Finish off with a Catalan cheese assortment and a wine.

Based on creativity, originality and seasonal product.

La Pepita

A small local tapas bar in the heart of Barcelona, La Pepita is the best place to enjoy authentic Spanish tapas. With tapas including marinated sea bass with spinach and strawberry, roasted artichokes with blue cheese and the traditional patatas bravas (a slightly spicy potato dish), you need to get yourself to La Pepita.

The cosy atmosphere and great drinks menu also help to make this one of the best hangouts in Barcelona. Dinner service starts at 7:30pm, but get there early to nab a table, this place is popular.

Lab Restaurant

Imagine the best culinary experience you have ever had, and then combine that with some hard-core science, and you get Lab.

Serving dishes like crispy lasagna, pasta foie gras and lady figs and messy zarzuela, the creativity in this restaurant will excite you as much as the food does.

Prepare yourself for a thrilling and sophisticated gastronomic experience

Where to stay

If you’re wondering where to stay while in Barcelona, check out our reviews of Hotel Claris and Mercer Hotel.

Wellbeing means different things to different travellers. Here’s how to pick a hotel that gets it right for you.

The best wellness holidays aren’t necessarily spent wrapped in a spa robe. Sometimes they’re found around a dinner table in Cambodia, on a hiking trail in New Zealand or after finally beating jet lag on the other side of the world. The hotel you choose is what makes them happen.

1. Easy access to good food

meals from Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20 — Taste delicious meals at Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20.

One of the quickest ways to derail healthy habits on holiday is to spend half of it working out where to eat instead of digging into the culture around you. Thankfully, Novotel has done much of the hard work already, with chefs building menus that lean into the flavours, ingredients and traditions of each destination.

In Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Korkor soup – often dubbed ‘Cambodian ratatouille’ – sits alongside raw blue crab dressed with lime and chilli, best enjoyed with views across the Gulf of Thailand.

In the lovingly chaotic city of Bangkok, the presence of food cranks up the sociability. At Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20, you can settle in with mango sticky rice and stranger-turned-friends beside the pool at Sky on 20 rooftop bar, or bring them along to tackle river prawns and stir-fried crab with holy basil at the buzzing Crab Paradise Dinner Buffet.

Then Novotel Dubai Al Barsha welcomes you with a laidback twist on the level of indulgence the Middle Eastern city is best known for up on Deck Se7en. Looking towards Burj Al Arab, the rooftop lounge has everything from Mediterranean-style dishes like seabass ceviche to Italian prosecco sundowners.

At the other end of the scale, in the hills that surround the Novotel Bali Ubud Resort, calm comes from nature. At Siralada restaurant, Balinese traditions shape the menu while thunder rumbles over the surrounding jungle – proving the setting is as nourishing as the food itself.

While at Novotel Nha Trang, chef Kieu Thi My Hanh and her team showcase Vietnam’s knack for balancing freshness, texture and fragrant herbs. Pho remains a favourite, while seafood salad with pomelo and mango brings those flavours together in one bright dish.

It’s all an approach backed by partnerships with expert food creators such as Alfie Steiner, whose plant-forward recipes prove healthy food should never taste plain.

2. Better sleep options

Novotel Bali Ubud Resort room — Sleep deeply with Novotel.

There are few travel experiences more disappointing than arriving in a new country, determined to seize the day, only to fall asleep fully clothed by 3pm.

For Australian travellers, jet lag is often an unavoidable part of the journey. That’s one reason Novotel runs sleep-focused initiatives that help guests adjust quickly without compromising on health. We’re talking partnerships with Sydney-based sleep specialist Olivia Arezzolo, known for her advice on everything from better sleep habits to beating jet lag, alongside features like pillow menus, in-room yoga content and tailored sleep guidance.

The sooner you’re operating on local time, the sooner you can get back to more pressing matters – like deciding which spa treatment to book.

3. More ways to move

woman hiking around queenstown new zealand — Stay at Novotel Queenstown Lakeside and explore local hiking trails. (Credit: GettyI mages/ naruedom)

Every place in the world has its own way of getting you moving: whether that’s hiking up ice-bitten mountains before a sauna or gentle stretching by the pool before a facial. From fitness centres to spas, Novotel recognises that wellbeing rarely looks the same.

At Novotel Queenstown Lakeside, activity is inescapable. Here, hiking trails, ski fields, bungee jumps, and white-water rafting have made the region famous. The hotel’s location on the shores of Lake Wakatipu means less time spent organising yourself and more time out there experiencing them. To top it all off, you can book a private hot tub for the evening before heading back into the wilderness tomorrow.

Bali, of course, takes a softer approach. At Novotel Bali Ubud Resort or Novotel Bali Nusa Dua, movement is less about conquering a mountain and more about a dance class between the tropical gardens and lagoon pools. Afterwards, the spa takes over, with traditional treatments like a Lulur body scrub: a combination of rice, turmeric, sandalwood, ginger and jasmine that’ll soothe muscles already relaxed by the Balinese heat.

4. Better connections

Kids will love a stay at Novotel Sharm El Sheikh.

One of the best things about travel is that it gives your family stories you’ll be telling for years. Novotel helps create them with activities that bring everyone together, whether that’s trying something new, learning a local skill, or simply spending more time together.

Go for a distinctly Thai twist at Novotel Phuket Vintage Park, where many of the family activities draw on local culture. Kids can try everything from beginner Thai boxing and language lessons to umbrella painting and – a pastime beloved by children the world over – pool foam parties. Everyone is welcome to join in, whether that’s getting splashed, covered in paint, or simply watching their children discover a new side of Thailand during the dedicated Family & Kids Day.

A different adventure awaits at Novotel Sharm El Sheikh. Kids could be perfectly content with discos, drawing classes and new holiday friends, but the Red Sea has other ideas. Sitting on the edge of Naama Bay, days here might involve snorkelling colourful reefs, taking a boat trip to Ras Mohammed National Park or heading into the desert by quad bike or camel for a Bedouin-style dinner beneath the stars.

5. Location is everything

Surin Beach, Choeng Thale, Thalang District, Phuket, Thaiföld — Explore Phuket’s gorgeous beaches. (Credit: Bence Biczo)

Everyone’s idea of wellness looks a little different. With more than 600 hotels across 65 countries, Novotel gives guests the freedom to choose the destination that suits them best. Whether that’s a beachside escape in Phuket, an alpine expedition in Queenstown or a city break in Bangkok, there’s a good chance a Novotel isn’t far away.

All that’s left? Choosing your version of wellbeing.

Discover stays to inspire your everyday at novotel.accor.com.