Europe 2023

Worth queuing for.

Bar Cenete sits in Barcelona's Raval district, a family-run establishment that's more interested in feeding locals than impressing tourists. This no-frills tapas bar serves proper Andalusian cooking - the owners brought their Granada recipes when they moved north decades ago.

Inside, it's all functionality - a long bar, basic tables, and walls decorated with football scarves and old photos. The speciality here is their tortilla - a proper Spanish omelette that comes out thick, golden and slightly runny in the middle. Their montaditos (small sandwiches) and raciones of fried fish draw local workers at lunchtime.

Prices have stayed remarkably reasonable for central Barcelona, and the service maintains that gruff efficiency typical of old Spanish bars. You'll hear more Catalan and Spanish than English here, and the house wine comes without pretence in basic glasses. This is the increasingly rare sort of place that serves the neighbourhood rather than tourists and Instagram.Leer más