In just over four kilometers, walking the route from Mar Bella beach (where the promenade begins) to the height of Colón, a great diversity of gastronomic proposals flourish where the sea is the common link between the kitchens and the views. A delicious experience that Barcelona's climate allows to enjoy almost all year round.
From north to south, we first find Can Fisher, located on Barcelona's Passeig Marítim, at the height of Poblenou, on Bogatell beach. Here, the sea is reflected in the fish and seafood that arrives directly from the market every day to star in rice dishes or whole pieces cooked in three styles: baked in salt, grilled, or Donostiarra style. They always have on the menu gems such as confit cod with concassé tomato, rossinyols, and gratinéed herb aioli. In the rice, that sea is also tasted, starting with the intensely flavored fumet and the ingredients that make up their senyoret paella, with all the seafood peeled and Ebro Delta rice cooked to its grenyal point.
In Barceloneta, on Somorrostro beach, we find another establishment that, with the sand almost at its feet, allows you to enjoy seafood dishes and Mediterranean essence, with all comfort: at Sal Mar you can enjoy everything from crispy prawns with Asian tartare to canonical rock mussels à la marinière. If the craving is for rice, the one with fried baby squid, squid, Padrón peppers, and ink aioli will satisfy the desire.
And following the Passeig Marítim, it will end (oh, coincidence) in restaurants. Yes, just when the beach meets the W Hotel, in its lower levels we find a restaurant offer and, recently, also at the top of it. In the first case, Pez Vela is the protagonist, a restaurant that has a long history in the area and is a favorite of locals and visitors. At its tables, with a wonderful panoramic view of the beach and the sea, delicious dishes can parade such as grilled red tuna with roasted eggplant, sun-dried tomato, and teriyaki sauce, or a fried sea bass marinated with soy, ginger, and lemon, an interesting alternative to traditional fried food.
Going up 26 floors of the W Hotel, Noxe welcomes diners looking for exclusivity, to see the sea from a unique perspective and pair it with good cocktails. Here, the flavors turn towards the East, and more specifically towards Japan, with a menu signed by Japanese chef Azumasong and showing references from that cuisine such as the tartar trio (salmon, yellowtail, and tuna tartar, accompanied by black tobiko and wasabi cream), nanbanzuke salmon (pickled salmon with sweet and sour vegetables in sake with ginger and chili) or delicious freshly cut sashimis.
However, if heights are the requirement, right in the building next door is the brand new Azul by chef Romain Fornell. In this new project, the sea scales to the heights to sit at the table of a rooftop with modernized seafaring tradition, in an elegant atmosphere. A wide selection of seafood from local fish markets: sea bass, turbot, monkfish, and prawns, also protagonists of their soupy rice with red prawn and ñora.
On the ground floor of this same building is another classic, Maná75, which many local diners and visitors surely know for its rice dishes. What is perhaps not so well known is that the sea has ample representation on its menu, in the form of stews: spectacular mussel and clam casseroles, or its fish and seafood suquet. Good product treated with respect and adequate cooking, which allows savoring the raw material in all its splendor.
The culinary proposals are added to the main reason to approach the Mediterranean: to enjoy a city that, until just 30 years ago, had stopped looking at the seaWithout having the Mediterranean horizon framed in its windows, if we go into the España pier, in the Maremagnum area, with that salt water as a driving vehicle, we findtwo traveling gastronomic proposals that bring the sea to our palate: Fiske and the recently opened Vraba.
Fiske brings together in a versatile menu two visions of the sea, the Mediterranean (at its feet) and the Baltic, as classics of Scandinavian cuisine coexist and, in some cases, merge with our local tradition. Enjoying a cold smoked crab soup with grilled avocado and chili oil followed by a hake caught with a hook with roasted pepper pil pil are an example of this interesting proposal, with the sound of the clanging of the metallic elements of nearby boats as a soundtrack.
We finish the tour at Vraba, whose arrival precedes the magnitude that will reach port with the America's Cup, one of the largest international sporting events. Housed on the upper floor of the America's Cup Experience, this restaurant encapsulates a joint project by chefs Albert Ventura (Coure), in conception, and Jordi Vilà (Alkimia) in execution. Pieces of monkfish, sea bass or turbot served whole, along with dishes such as cod fritters with babaganoush or salmorejo with bonito mojama give a fairly accurate idea that this cuisine bets on a trio: tradition (Catalan), cuisine (seafood) and vision (with nods to oriental cuisine).
These are eight reasons to invite the sea to the table for a restaurant evening. And to them, the main one should be added: enjoying a city that, until just 30 years ago, had stopped looking at the sea. It is time to enjoy the Mediterranean in all its splendor and the creative gastronomic talent that this coastline treasures.