Patatas bravas are a religion in Barcelona, so we decided to take the advice of a real addict to this dish. He is Edu, responsible for the Instagram account @bravasbarcelona, and with him we have tried what, in his opinion, are the best patatas de bravas in the city. Take note.
Restaurant Informal
The most sophisticated version of bravas you’ll ever taste and it’s not for less. The chef responsible for its cuisine is Marc Gascons, who already earned a Michelin star at Els Tinars, in Llagostera. Haute cuisine at the service of one of the most popular dishes of our gastronomy. Here the potatoes are cut into slices that overlap forming a sort of sticks; then they are cooked and fried, generating a very soft texture inside but without losing the crunchiness on the outside. Listen to how each bite sounds.
Passeig de Colom, 9
Steel Burgers
The Jury award at the last Bravas Fest went to the bravas of Hamburguesería Acero, which has two establishments, in Sants (Robreño, 57) and Born (Espaseria, 10) and that, apart from its burgers, has managed to raise its bravas to the top of the city. With them they achieve the same as with their burgers: simple preparation but with good ingredients and small touches. Here, for example, the allioli is made with garlic confit.
Bar Omar
The bravas of Bar Omar also have well deserved their place on this list. The peculiarity of its sauce makes them unique, so much so that you have the feeling of eating some paella-flavored bravas. Omar Díaz, chef in charge of the work, has managed that his saffron aioli and spicy sauce (to which he adds periquitos, small prawns) generate the illusion of tasting a paella dish in the form of bravas. Crazy.
Carrer d’Amigó, 34.
Cordoba Bar
The Bravas Fest Honorary Award went to Bar Córdoba in L’Hospitalet (Luarca, 10), a classic tapas bar in L’Hospitalet, a city known, in turn, for the quality of its Andalusian tapas.
Its bravas recipe has been around for a couple of generations, is secret, and only has a delicious spicy sauce that, for us, places it among the best we’ve tried, and 25,000 people are not wrong, but we’re not wrong either.
Luarca, 10.
Bar Marcel
S signaled by the 25 thousand attendees of Bravas Fest 2023, who chose with their votes the best bravas, went to Bar Marcel Santaló (Santaló, 42), a tapas bar in Sarrià whose specialty is, rightly, the bravas. A lifelong local hidden in the upper area of the city that makes a classic bravas where the spicy oil that is poured on top stands out.
Santaló, 42
Senyor Vermut
Edu warns that these bravas are spicier than the rest and has placed Senyor Vermut in the number one of his ranking for the complete pack that this bar of l’Eixample represents, which highlights a wide variety of vermouth. Jordi Miralles, the bar’s manager, welcomes us there. Frankly, I’m still amazed that this man lives without a cell phone. But back to his bravas, these have the particularity of being served with fried bell pepper strips on top, cut very thin, and black pepper balls. And the portion is only 2.95 euros, one of the cheapest in town.
Carrer de Provença, 85.
Casa Maians
One of our favorite restaurants in Barcelona makes, obviously, some scandalous bravas. Well toasted with skin, with a homemade aioli, a concentrated spicy tomato sauce and with those aromas of rosemary and Mediterranean herbs that characterize their cuisine.
Carrer Sant Carles 28
Bar Tomás
They could not be missing in this list. The eternal, the everlasting, the most popular in Barcelona. The truth is that they do not fail. Some potatoes cut by hand lengthwise, a homemade aioli from which dozens of kilos come out every day and a spicy oil on top. Nothing more. Nothing less. If you go, take advantage and ask for the other tapas on their menu, simple, cheap and just as good.
Carrer de Provença, 85
Mandri
The direct competition of the Thomas. Those in the know say they are like theirs, but without being them. Crunchy, oily and with a similar structure: homemade allioli, spicy oil and to walk. The other safe bet in the upper area.
Carrer de Mandri, 60, Sarrià-Sant Gervasi.
La Esquinica
The neighborhood bet. La Esquinica is a bar that has been consolidated for decades as the open secret of popular tapas in Barcelona. Tucked away in Nou Barri, it attracts legions who already have to queue for its abundant tapas and, of course, for its bravas, very classic, with thick potato and a single homemade sauce, between brava and aioli. It does not fail
Pg. de Fabra i Puig, 296, Nou Barris