Are you a fish and seafood lover? And are you looking for seafood in Barcelona? Then La Paradeta is the perfect place for you! Every time I brought friends and family here, they raved about the food.
What is so special about La Paradeta? The whole eating concept is unusual: first, the entire place is dedicated to seafood and fish. However, you can also order a basic salad.
Then you do not order cooked dishes from a menu here. Bear with me.
That fish bar…
You place your order at a fish bar, similar to a fishmonger. The fish and the seafood presented are raw. The choice is vast: baby octopus, baby cuttlefish, whitebait, lobsters, tuna, monkfish, mussels, oysters etc. The price per kg or per unit is displayed for each type of fish and seafood.
The customer chooses what he wants to eat. Each product is weighted. The fishmonger asks for your preferred cooking method (fried, a la plancha or with a marinara sauce). Then he directs you to the till.
You can also order drinks, sauces and bread at the till. You pay before seating. Don’t forget the receipt because the kitchen staff will use it to follow up on your order.
Sit at a table, wait for your seafood and…enjoy!
Once the food paid, you sit, and wait for your table number to be called out. Indeed, the kitchen staff calls out each table number every time a dish is ready.
There are no waiters, so one of the diners at the table has to stand up and pick up the plate at a kitchen window.
The cooks strike each dish they serve out off the receipt. You got it! La Paradeta is a self-service restaurant. Patrons can also drop dirty plates at the end of their lunch or dinner at a second kitchen window.
Seven restaurants in Barcelona and Sitges
There are seven restaurants in Barcelona and Sitges: Sants, Born, Sagrada Familia, Sitges, Meridiana, Passeig de Gracia, Gracia and Parallel. I have been to the one in La Sagrada Familia and the one in Born. I don’t know the other restaurants.
Despite the increased number of restaurants in the group, there is always a queue outside. And it is not possible to book a table. But I can understand why: the food in La Paradeta is simple but exquisite.
My favourite is the baby octopus dish a la plancha with olive oil, parsley and garlic. The choice of wine is quite good too. I have never been disappointed by a bottle of white here.
Restaurant addresses:
La Paradeta Sants -C/ Riego 27, 08010 Barcelona – Tel. 934 319 059
La Paradeta Born – C/ Comercial 7, 08003 Barcelona – Tel. 932 681 939 – Access: Metro Arc de Triomf (L1), Barceloneta (L4), França station (Renfe)
La Paradeta Sagrada Família – Passatge Simó 18, 08025 Barcelona – Tel. 934 500 191 – Access: Metro Sagrada Familia (L2, L5)
La Paradeta Sitges – C/ Sant Pere 24-26, 08870 Sitges – Tel. 938 949 323 – Access: Sitges station (Renfe)
La Paradeta Meridiana – C/ Pacífic 74, 08027 Barcelona – Tel. 935 346 557 – Access: Fabra i Puig (L1) | Sagrera (L1, L5, L9, L10, Renfe).
La Paradeta Passeig de Gràcia – C/ Consell de Cent 318, 08007 Barcelona – Tel. +34 930 181 164 – Access: Metro Passeig de Gràcia (L3, L5, Renfe) | Plaça Catalunya (L1, L3, Renfe)
La Paradeta Paral·lel – Avda. Paral·lel, 46, 08001 Barcelona – Tel. +34 936 314 278 – Access: Metro Drassanes (L3) | Paral·lel (L3, L4)
For more info, click on their website.
You might also be interested in this great oyster bar in Barcelona center.