The insider’s guide to eating out in Barcelona

Barcelona has 10,000 restaurants and new ones open every month. The First Post's top five have been chosen for atmosphere and good value as much as for good food. All have been nominated by people who live and work in the city. Remember, dinner is served from around 9pm and lunch begins at 2pm.

€1 = 90p approx.

Cinc Sentits C/ Aribau 58, Eixample
Smart, relaxed space where auteur cuisine is served
to upmarket international foodies, but with a respect
for seasonal ingredients and without flights of fancy.
Their maple syrup-cava sabayon shot (a cousin of the
Italian zabaglione) has become a Barcelona icon.
Dinner for two: 100+ euros with wine. Chef's surprise tasting menu: 50 euros per head. contact: + 34 93 323 9490, cincsentits.com

Mam i Teca C/ Lluna 4, Raval,
A curiosity in the boho-chic Raval area that caters
for locals. Lime green lighting, kitsch chandeliers
and jovial service say camp-hip; the menu retorts with
traditional Catalan staples: melting, garlicky salt
cod, robust artisan sausages, and hearty stews, plus
top-class tapas and an incomparable wine list of local
oddities.
Dinner for two: 50 euros with wine. contact: +34 93 441 33 35

Kaiku Passeig Joan de Borbó 74, Barceloneta
Barcelona’s prime paella joint. It doesn't get much better than sitting at a terrace table in the sunshine and serving yourself smoked-rice paella with fragrant rosemary, wild mushrooms and morsels of rabbit. Popular with young professionals and poseurs. Dinner for two: 30-60 euros with wine. contact: +34 93 221 9082

Tapioles 53 C/Tapioles 53, Poble Sec,
One of Barcelona’s hip private dining rooms, this 'gastroclub' serves dinner by reservation only, and you have to ring a bell to get in. But the reward is a snug, soft-lit setting where Australian chef Sarah Stothart welcomes you with Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and pan-Asian food. Expect to dine next to actors, architects, designers and opera singers, both local and visiting (the owner is well connected).
Set five-course menu for two: 108 euros (without wine). contact:+34 93 329 22 38 tapioles53.com

(reserve only)

Mantequeria Can Ravell C/Arago 313, Eixample,

This top-class deli has a hidden upstairs dining room and mind-blowing wine 'cellar' where local gastronomes with fat wallets and elder statesmen come for the white truffle and poached egg pasta, baby eels, suckling pig, and stone-cooked T-bone steak. There's no menu (dishes are recited to you) and no prices - assume around €30 for two courses. contact: +34 93 457 5116, ravell.com