Barcelona's food scene is one of the best in the Mediterranean. Catalan cuisine leans heavily on olive oil, garlic, seafood and fresh market produce, with more pasta and rice dishes than you might expect in Spain. The local speciality is pa amb tomaquet, bread rubbed with tomato and drizzled with olive oil, which appears at the start of almost every meal.
Restaurants generally open around 8 or 8:30pm and stay open until midnight. Barcelonians eat late: sitting down at 9:30 or 10pm is perfectly normal. Lunch (1:30-3:30pm) is often the main meal, and many restaurants offer a menu del dia, a set lunch of two or three courses with wine for 10-15 euros. This is the best value eating in the city.
For tapas, the bars around La Boqueria market are hard to beat. Pinotxo at the market entrance is a local legend. For traditional Catalan cooking, look for restaurants serving suquet de peix (fish stew), escalivada (roasted vegetables), botifarra (sausage) and crema catalana. The Born and Barceloneta neighbourhoods are packed with good options at every price level.
Spanish wines are excellent and remarkably good value. Ask for the vino de la casa (house wine) and you will rarely be disappointed. Cava, Catalonia's sparkling wine, is the local celebration drink.