Lost in Barcelonetta, I almost had an 911 moment overheating in the street of Barcelona. My boyfriend and I decided to stop for some food and we saw this place buzzing with locals, not a tourist around, we figured this is the place for a stop.

It took about 40 minutes to be seated, but while we waited we were offered a glass of wine and Bombas. Bombas are fried potatoes puffs served with aioli and chili sauce (see second picture from the top).

While we were waiting we were taking notes of all the things coming out of the kitchen. Three generation of women were cooking with their heart while three generation of men entertained and served the costumers. I loved the ambiance! So simple, it felt almost like going home for dinner.

We sat down at a long table by the kitchen that we shared with a grandma and her niece. The grandma asked how did we find this place. “There are usually no tourist here” she said. “That’s what I want to hear!” I replied.

We start ordering:

Pan con aioli

Grilled sardines

Pulpo a la plancha

Morcillas

Grilled chorizo...

Our neighbor looking at our eyes rolling in the back of our heads was a bit intrigued and re-started the conversation. We told her we love food and we want the local stuff, that’s when she pops out all the names I wanted to hear: “You should try this place too, and try there” She explained she lived around the corner and this place was the best Tapas in Barcelona. For the price range I had to agree.

We were very impressed with the food, the waiter was patient with our broken spanish and our curiosity about everything that was on a plate. We ordered more food.

Please don’t go there if you want to be a tourist! I would hate to send there people that would disturb this unique neighborhood heaven. Just go there to enjoy the amazing simple food. If you can’t speak Catalan, point at what you want on a table near by it always works for me!

Summary: If you want real local food, go to la Cova Fumada. Don’t go there if you want waiters to pay attention to all your moves and speak english. Again this is a local joint, not a tourist place.

Note: A half block up the street you will find the Baluard bakery, the pest place for Bread in Barcelona. This is the perfect stop before a nice picnic on the beach. They have a lot of little snack goodies like pizza like bread, croissant and much more.