El Xampanyet

Address: Carrer Montcada , 22, Barcelona

Phone: 9 33 19 70 03


I remember this tapas bar from one of the Andrew Zimmerman's Bizzare Food Spain episode and really wanted to try their sparkling white wine (xampanyet) and cold tapas ever since. So we went there for lunch today before heading to Museu Picasso de Barcelona, which is just across the street.

The restaurant has been around since the 1920s, so the interior is pretty old-fashion, which I love. To order, you can either let the waiter know what you want, or just go to the bar counter and point at the tapas you'd like to have. We had the canned seafood (mussels, clams, oysters, etc), salmon, cat fish, roasted tomatoes, as well as the house special Cantabrian Anchovies. And one of the reasons why we chose to go to El Xampanyet was for its house special xampanyet, and the sparkling white wine definitely did not disappoint.

Seems like this is a tapas bar liked by both locals and tourists, and I can see why -- Nice/lively ambience, good service, good food, and good xampanyet. Lunch there was also much cheaper than our breakfast at El Quim, thus more satisfying. Be sure to bring enough cash when dining at El Xampanyet and other mom and pop restaurants/tapas bars since they don't usually accept credit cards and even if they do, it seems like Mastercard and Visa are the only accepted cards.