EDITION!

CAFÈ SUEC
FOR THE
EVENING
HOTEL CLARIS
There’s something about a terrace that really
draws ’em in. If there’s no terrace, it’s not like
people stand around complaining about it. But
if there is a terrace, they’ll queue up to get a
seat. It’s like the line, ‘If you build it, they will
come,’ that the little girl keeps telling her dad in
Field of Dreams. Some time ago, the good folks
at Hotel Claris decided to keep their terrace
open during the winter months. Although the
cover that keeps the heat in does block some of
the view, it also serves to ensure a cosy area
where you can dine on their gastronomic
offerings such as turbot with couscous, or eggs
with potatoes and caviar. They also have a
cocktail bar, and you can enjoy live music there
three times a week.
Pau Claris, 150 (Eixample Dret)
t 93 487 62 62
www.hotelclaris.com
ORIO
Its location makes Orio one of the most
interesting eateries in Barcelona. Right on
C/Ferran and with an open-air terrace on the
Pas de l’Ensenyança, Orio, which belongs to the
Sagardi group, is a tapas bar with designer
pretensions. Inside, the room is presided over
by a huge rowing boat. Outside, meanwhile, the
terrace has half a dozen tables with outdoor
heaters, all of which help to give this narrow
passageway a welcoming, cosy feel. Feast on
typically Basque pintxos (often described in
shorthand as tapas on bread), or opt for a
Sit out under a clear Mediterranean night
sky–the stars shining, the moon gleaming – and
enjoy some fabulous al fresco food and drink
warming hot dish. When it comes time to pay
the bill, you might nd it a bit higher than you’d
have liked (it’s hard to get away with paying less
than €20, even if you just have tapas), but
sitting on a terrace that’s so much in demand
gives you a certain caché.
Ferran, 38 (Barri Gòtic)
t 93 330 03 03
www.oriogastronomiavasca.com
CAFÈ SUEC
No one comes to this ‘Swedish Café’ to get
ideas for their next Ikea visit. You also aren’t
likely to nd any Volvo keys lying around on the
TAPAS 24
tables. Sweden has been completely
metabolised by Barcelona here, and this bar is
like any other in Gràcia. Well, almost. This is a
fantastic place where, in a t of journalistic
laziness, we could say that there’s a great vibe.
Apart from the owner, some of the servers and
a few customers, what will remind you the most
of Sweden is the cold you’ll experience out on
the terrace in winter. But never mind – it’s still a
great alternative to the neighbouring and
overcrowded Plaça Virreina. There are only four
tables outside Cafè Suec, where you’ll nd all
sorts: the kind of people who go swimming on
Christmas morning, hypothermic smokers, and
hunters taking advantage of the bar windows to
get a good view of their prey.
C/ de les Tres Senyores, 1 (Gràcia)
t 93 213 30 49
BAR LOBO
The restaurant group Tragaluz took a few years
to gure out what Lobo was going to be. It went
through many changes in its structure, its
concept and its food. Would it be a club
upstairs? And would there be a DJ on the oor
below? Maybe it could be an informal
restaurant? A Japanese restaurant? Maybe a
sort-of Japanese restaurant? While all this
confusion was occurring inside, Lobo’s terrace
became the civilised option in the small square
outside, where it competes with its
neighbouring terraces from Mirinda and
Segarra. Very popular with tourists, Lobo’s
terrace wins extra points during the winter
months for the comfort factor.
Pintor Fortuny, 3 (Raval)
t 93 481 53 46
www.grupotragaluz.com
EL MERENDERO DE LA MARI
Sometimes, when you nd yourself in the midst
of winter, eating at this seafood restaurant that
specialises in rice dishes, you feel like a
Japanese soldier who, decades after WWII,
continues to wander armed through the jungle,
convinced that you still have an empire to
24 Buy tickets & book restaurants at www.timeout.com/barcelona & bcnshop.com