Bar El Xampanyet, Barcelona
Tucked into a narrow lane in the El Born neighbourhood, Bar El Xampanyet has been pouring its house cava and stacking plates of house-cured anchovies since 1929. The azulejo-tiled walls, marble bar and unhurried pace feel completely untouched by tourism's worst instincts.
What to Order
The house cava — poured from unlabelled bottles and priced at around €2.50 a glass — is off-dry, slightly cloudy and absolutely the right drink for a warm Barcelona afternoon. It is made exclusively for the bar and you cannot buy it anywhere else.
The anchovies (anxoves) are the other non-negotiable: salt-cured, meaty and served on bread with a drizzle of olive oil, they are a world apart from the tinned variety. Order a plate the moment you sit down.
Round out the table with the house-pickled vegetables, a plate of Manchego cheese and whatever the chalk board lists as the day's special — the kitchen is small but the cooks are serious.
The Bar and the Neighbourhood
El Xampanyet sits on Carrer de Montcada, one of the most beautiful medieval streets in Barcelona, and is a two-minute walk from the Museu Picasso — making it the ideal pre- or post-museum stop.
The bar fills up fast from 19:00 onwards; arrive at opening time (19:00 on weekdays) or show up at 12:00 for the lunch session to avoid a long wait for a table.
The neighbourhood of El Born around it rewards wandering: the restored 19th-century iron market building (El Born Cultural Centre) is free to enter and contains excavated ruins of the 1714 siege of Barcelona beneath its glass floor.
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