Sharing, snacking, tapas… informal gastronomy where dishes unite appetites, conversations, and pleasure is spreading through Barcelona, though not always with success. But in today's three proposals, disparate but with the common thread of the infallible flavors of local tapas, diners will leave with a smile on their face and a desire to return.
Colmado Carpanta: where one wants to return soon
The small establishment opened as a restaurant just a few months ago in the upper area, on Sant Joan Bosco street, 51, is one of those places one would go to every week if they live or work nearby. But it also deserves the excursion if one comes from afar. Simple, yet resounding, homemade, yet a bit mischievous, and always cooked with love.
Sitting at the bar or tables of Colmado Carpanta is like coming home and having a grandma's platter ready. And eating with gluttony, because the menu is not very long but everything encourages licking one's lips and coming back. It is a cuisine without frills or inventions, "recognizable" and "for getting messy," they rightly define.
Its ideologues are Guillem Pico (chef) and Adrián López (in charge of the dining room), lifelong friends who grew up in Sants and who liked to eat so much (and a lot) that they were called Carpanta, like the character from the comic strip Pulgarcito, always hungry, whom they honor with their small restaurant.
They had always wanted to set up some caloric business, although they were not trained for hospitality, but it crossed their resumes unstoppably. Until one day the right place appeared, at the affordable price they required, and at the right time to start the joint adventure. The thing started in 2024 with a takeout food place where they perfected a very well-studied rotisserie chicken, with a marinade of their own creation that combines a crispy exterior and juicy meat. Also amazing potato salads, and artillery with which to conquer many nearby homes. A small snack bar would follow first.
Until last year, already seasoned and with customers asking for a step further, they renovated the side warehouse and opened a dining room. A cozy space that aligns with their vibe, neighborhood, chatter, and long after-dinner conversations. Just as they sought "honest and unpretentious" cuisine, they did the interior design themselves, which seems to have been there all along, served on retro amber Duralex tableware.
But what matters is that the stomach jumps for joy, whether recovering eternal stews (tripe, cheeks or fricandó, now in vogue) or recalling childhood flavors, recreated with care. Like the most generous chicken and apple cannelloni filling one can eat in Barcelona (with hours of cooking, 13.95 euros), the prodigious Cardenal-style chicken macaroni also served in an aluminum tray (12 euros), the undercooked tortillas that melt in the mouth (classic; with sobrasada and quince, or cap i pota), the homemade Catalan-style chicken croquettes that delve into a circular cuisine where everything is enjoyed with pleasure, oxtail with potatoes, meatballs with cuttlefish…
And also some vegetable dishes, such as the beastly Roasted leek with fennel, almond vinaigrette and romesco (7.5 euros), among others.
Everything is shareable and, in fact, due to its size, it is ideal to do so to be able to try more dishes. Like the portions of Russian salad, the Barceloneta bomb, the fabulous cod fritters and so on.
They also tempt with desserts: from the Torrija para gordos (French toast for fatties) to the canutillos filled with Catalan cream, rice pudding and a flan that trembles on the spoon and makes the palate dance.
Their kitchen is also for takeout, although in the dining room the average ticket is 23 euros, they specify. And they open every day.
Bar Alegría, Tomàs Abellán's touch (of Gràcia) grows
After seven years consolidating the new stage of the centenary Bar Alegría in Sant Antoni (Gran Via-Borrell), chef Tomàs Abellán decided it was time to give it a brother in Gràcia. Another space with caliu was needed, and he found it at Torrent de l'Olla, 77, where for more than 75 years the Can Tosca eatery thrived, becoming a meeting point for the neighborhood's gypsy community, even attracting Lola Flores and Peret.
The recent signing for the brand wants to pay tribute to the territory and its history, maintaining the spirit of a social bar, where one can eat well, respect seasonal and local produce, and pair it as it deserves. Only that Alegría strengthens its radius of action during nighttime hours, so it covers from the midday passerby, to the neighbor who comes down for dinner or the Barcelonian who already knows the chef's firm pulse, son of Carles Abellán, and comes expressly. Also for a good vermouth.
Tapas and sharing are natural at its tables, where dishes and half portions parade, with a base of Catalan recipes, but with just the right manipulation of raw materials, all announced on a blackboard. Despite being open for only a few months, it is as solvent as its older brother in Sant Antoni, and at an average price of around 30 euros per person, depending on drinks.
There are no shortage of house classics, consolidated from Grup Alegria, such as the truffled omelet (15 euros), the family bikini (fresh mozzarella, Iberian ham and black truffle, 11€), the Russian salad with pan feo (also with 24-carat prawns), or seasonal jewels such as Maresme peas with black sausage. Also noteworthy are the grilled squid with pil-pil and ink (16€), or the traditional cannelloni, among other infallible dishes.
To finish, it is worth raising your glucose with the La Viña style cheesecake or the Flantástico.
The interior design is the work of Eros Interiorismo (who also developed the first Alegría), which fuses past and new elements, creating its own character. It follows the trend of bars that, being new projects, seem to have been around forever.
Sofía Bar & Tapas, sharing with glamour
Sofia Bar & Tapas, the restaurant of the luxurious Grand Hyatt Barcelona hotel (Pius XII square, 4), has launched a new menu, following its Mediterranean theme, but incorporating creative nuances.
Chef Fiorenzo Paolo Migliavacca updates the gastronomic offer of the stylish but warm restaurant on the ground floor, prioritizing identifiable flavors and local products, encompassing "precise cooking, grills, cured meats, mild marinades and touches of smoke" to enhance them, he says. The motto is also to share, ranging from cold to hot tapas.
There are no shortage of essentials and bites such as Delta de l'Ebre oysters, salted prawns, delicate croquettes (Iberian ham, ceps and black truffle, or payoyo cheese) or signature bravas. But other pearls emerge such as artisanal tuna mojama with creamy avocado, osmotized melon and mint vinaigrette, grilled octopus with traditional ajada (19 euros), the tremendous smoked beef tartare (19 euros), or toasted brioche with Iberian rib (14€), emphasizing that technique is very present despite the apparent prominence of the product.
But if anything is surprising, it's the creative twist on a dish as traditional as paella. Here it is served in an stimulating version of Crispy Seafood Paella Ingots with Prawn Tartare. To do this, they have cooled the senyoret rice, cut it into portions and wrapped it in its own sucarrat, creating bites full of flavor, which they crown with seafood.
The informal style, and the fact of being on the ground floor of the international hotel, means that the repertoire is completed with gourmet pizzas, from 14 euros. From the essential Margherita to one with botifarra with truffle cream, smoked scamorza and mushrooms.
Meanwhile, desserts range from updated Catalan hits (Catalan cream foam with a salted caramel heart) to tiramisu, in a schedule that extends from lunch to dinner, but specifically reminds the local public at midday during the week with an executive menu proposal, with starters, main courses, desserts and drinks included.
Prices are contained for a five-star hotel and service, although wines by the glass are quoted from 9 euros, and cocktails, mostly, at 17.
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