Barcelona’s nightlife is not what so many say it is. At least gastronomically. Unlike other cities, Barcelona’s food disappears from the map as night falls, and with the exception of some pizzeria or kebab that extends a little, from eleven or twelve at night to eat something in the city that is not a bag of potatoes from the supermarket is literally impossible, since there is not a single restaurant or bar that opens all night. Or at least that’s how it was until now.
In Plaça Espanya, the Simultaneous has been open for a year , the only restaurant in Barcelona open 24 hours a day and that allows us to transport us, for a moment, to that city that at some point did not sleep and where night and day merged.
What to eat at 4 am in a restaurant?
In the Barcelona of the 21st century , the only nighttime restaurant in the city had to be, obviously, in a hotel. We are not proud of it, but the truth is that Simultaneo at the Hotel Catalonia, in Plaça Espanya, is good.
The food is (very) tasty, the location is perfect for a bite to eat on the way back from a festival or before leaving for the airport, to say the least, and the price is no more expensive than in so many places in Barcelona (top burger with fries, 15 euros).
So it’s our turn to recommend it. A large and diaphanous space that can not deny the hotel look welcomes at street level at the entrance of the Hotel Catalonia, where tables and comfortable armchairs will embrace us as we need a seat to embrace us when we return farting from a night party.
Let’s make it 5 o’clock in the morning. At that time, we can order the night menu, which doesn’t take away from the hotel aspect either (it is divided into “Brunch” and “Continental 24h.” sections), hides some interesting dishes. You can opt for eggs benedict, salmon bagels, pancakes and other gourmet recipes.
But one can also find some huevos cabreados, which are scrambled eggs with good eggs and good ham. A decent lasagna, a large and satisfying Caesar salad and a hamburger that, we are surprised to say, competes with many in Barcelona, with excellent meat and a price (15 euros, with good and plentiful potatoes included), which allows that for 20 euros we can have a complete dinner to go home as warm as we like to return.
While we eat, we look around us, at the appearance of the hotel and the customers, many guiris but also many of those rare characters who gather at night, and who find in this restaurant in Barcelona the only place to quench thirst and hunger at the same time in the early hours of the city.