If you want to taste typical Catalan cuisine, one of the best places in Barcelona to do it is at Parellada, a restaurant located in El Borne, with a special charm.
Created by the Parellada family and brother of the Fonda Europa in Granollers, this place is a benchmark of popular and traditional Catalan cuisine. The restaurant is a nod to the old fondas, a place where weary travelers were able to warm up with a good dish, before they rested and continued on.
Times have changed and these inns do not work in the same way, but in Parellada they have managed to evolve and reinvent themselves to become a restaurant with an exclusive design and walls full of pictures of friends of the family.
Parellada has a special atmosphere – it’s like being in a different world, in a traditional restaurant, but at the same time is modernized with good food and a warm light. It is like an unpretentious food market, but offers good quality and is reasonably priced.
Its menu is based on traditional and typical dishes, with rice prepared in the best possible way with an unmistakable flavor. It is a gift for the palate for those who salivate after hearing “capipota”, pork feet or Catalan cream … among others.
During the week they have the famous “dinar del viatjant” that offers a salad, rice of the day that changes depending on the day of the week, and dessert. An example of the rice dishes they have is the Cuban rice: reinvented and presented in a paella pan with black beans, butifarra, tomato sauce, fried plantain and fried egg.
To snack, there are thousands of perfect options for sharing.They have incorporated some new features in the menu, such as the pig & chips, a reinvented version with sticks of pig’s feet. The menu also includes the famous “cap i pota”, which has been on the menu since the restaurant’s beginning, or the mussels of rock for the brave foodies.
We cannot forget about the typical tapas such as the delicious bravas made with great dedication.
And if you are celebrating anything, it is the ideal place for any occasion to share with friends or family.
Parellada is an obligatory restaurant to visit in Barcelona if you want to understand Catalan culture from its roots and enjoy gastronomy in its purest state.
Calle Argenteria, 37, 08003 Barcelona
Hours: from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm and from 8:00 pm to 11:30 pm
Text: Maria Acero
Photographer: Ruth Lopez