El Xampanyet
Carrer Montcada, 22
Tel: 93-319 70 03
Open:Mon - Sat midday - 4pm and 7pm - 11.30pm; Sun midday - 3.30pm
Price guide: €€

Lovely old-style tapas and cava bar on the same street as the Picasso Museum.

Be warned - its good, so its popular! If you go any time after about 8.30pm at night, it will be standing room only - if you want a table you will have to hover and perch your glass of house cava on the bar or a nearby shelf until one comes free or the friendly owner is able to bag one for you. Or you could choose to just eat standing up, as many locals do.

If you can get to eat here, the tapas really is good stuff - not the cheapest in the centre, but the most authentic we have come across.

The White Bar
Carrer de la Princesa, 50
Tel:93-295 46 52
www.chicandbasic.com/eng/whitebar_born_barcelona/
Open: Tues - Sat 130pm - 4pm and 8.30pm - 11pm; closed Sun, Mon
Price guide: €€€

Trendy restaurant which as the name suggests, is stylised all white, although this can change with coloured lighting depending on the mood the management are trying to put across. Linked to the Chic & Basic hotel upstairs, this place screams "posh London".

It's all about cool and funky here. The music, the lighting and the setting are all geared to making the experience as groovy as possible and to a large extent it succeeds. The food is bistro, mediterranean style and in the large part very good, although there is a fairly high price tag on it, with a meal plus wine often upwards of €50 a head.

Cool experience if you have deep pockets.