Tapaç 24 is a small, modern tapas bar at Dreta de l'Eixample, located in the vicinity of Casa Milà, Casa Battló and Plaça de Catalunya. It is open daily from 9 am straight to midnight, so you can pop in anytime you get sick of hordes of tourists at Gaudi's houses mentioned above.
Tapaç 24 is the creation of the famous Catalan chef Carles Abellan, who worked at Ferran Adria's restaurant El Bulli before opening his own place Comerç 24, which is now a 1-star Michelin restaurant. Later on, he opened Tapaç 24, which is a simpler, cheaper version of Comerç 24. However, cheaper should by no means be understood as less good. We were delighted by the quality of food at Tapaç 24.
There are a few tables setup on the pavement in front of Tapaç 24, but we decided to eat indoors as the road running by the restaurant is quite busy and noisy. We visited Tapaç 24 on a Wednesday around 1:30pm and did not have to queue as the majority of local people who came for lunch have already left. However, Tapaç 24 is a popular place so if you get there at lunchtime or dinner time, be prepared to wait.
Upon entering the restaurant we were greeted by very friendly staff who gave us an option to sit at a table or at the bar. We opted for the second choice as sitting at the bar offered a view of the action in the busy kitchen behind. It is not possible to see everything very clearly as the kitchen is discretely separated from the bar area by shelving, but it was still fun to watch the busy chefs.
The menu (in Catalan) at Tapaç 24 is printed on a paper bag which serves as a cutlery holder. We were also given a menu in English but soon realised that, apart from the usual dishes, there are daily specials available. Those are written (in Catalan only) on blackboards scattered all over the restaurant. Some of the staffs at Tapaç 24 speak English so they happily explained to us what the daily specials were.
We ordered tomato bread, crisp baby squid, small fried fish, McFoie and of course a glass of white wine. The bread came first and it was delicious: generously rubbed with tomato and olive oil and lightly toasted. The fish and the squid were as fresh as the catch of the day could be - apparently the kitchen at Tapaç 24 really gets fresh seafood from La Boqueria market every day. The star of our meal however was McFoie - a mini beef burger with foie gras and mayonnaise sauce. We are so particular about foie gras that we only eat it at restaurants where we know that they can do it right (one of them is Klassz in Budapest) and from now on, Tapaç 24 will certainly be on our 'Must eat foie gras' restaurant list. The hamburger was delicious: not only the foie gras but the whole combination of high quality beef, soft bread and the mayonnaise sauce. McFoie was one of the most creative dishes that we tried in Barcelona.
The bill for the abovementioned dishes, the wine and a small bottle of water came to € 38,50 for two. Not too bad at all. We would certainly go back.
Location: C/Diputació 269. Metro: Passeig de Gràcia. Open: daily 9am – midnight. Web: www.projectes24.com