TAPERíA LOLITA

When known as Inopia, this place quickly became Barcelona’s tapas place de jour. Instead of trying to surprise and defy expectations, here the ambition was to meet and exceed them. No fancy foams, just fresh quality ingredients and simple but excellent made-to-order dishes. The menu was long and the queues even longer.

One half of the duo behind the place, Albert Adrià – brother of the renowned molecular gastronomy master Ferran Adrià and whose family name played no small part in the success – has now left the place, but Joan Martínez is not letting the place slip. It’s been tarted up and also serves up cocktails after the kitchen closes but the focus remains on tapas with old time classic patatas bravas and classics in the making like la bomba d’Eixample (a deliciously buttery minced meat-potato mash concoction). Lolita may have less star wattage but is still out to seduce..