El Quim de la Boqueria

The Boqueria market is one of Barcelona’s must see sights, selling the top quality local fruit, veg. and seafood that will grace the tables of the city’s best restaurants later that night. So where better than La Boqueria to go for lunch, where you can combine taking macabre photos of sheep heads and still wriggling eels and lobsters, with tasting the best ingredients in Spain at their freshest.

That’s exactly the draw of El Quim’s kiosk restaurant in the heart of the market. Pull up a stool and let the eponymous Quim rustle up trademark dishes such as cigrons amb cloïsses (Catalan for chickpeas with clams) and xipirons amb mongetes de Santa Pau (baby squid with white beans).

It’s not the cheapest place in town but for fresh Catalan cuisine and tapas you can’t go far wrong. Open from 7am (except Sundays and Mondays), El Quim is perfect for lunch or breakfast, but it closes after lunch so you’ll have to find somewhere else for supper. Check our guide to dining out for more restaurant options.