Cocktails starting at just €5 make Milk a good place to start your night’s activities but we think it’s actually better the morning after. With its plush decor, including plenty of cushions, and recovery brunch, featuring eggs in many forms, thick pancakes, smoothies and juices, Milk will help ease the hangover, no matter how hellish it is. Plus it’s home to one of the best Bloody Marys in Barca. This is how you want to start your day.

This all-day restaurant is located inside the Santa Caterina market, so you know what comes out on your plate is super fresh. Although Cuines Santa Caterina has tables outside, this is one of those rare occasions where you actually want to be inside. The place is huge, with an open tapas bar and kitchen running down the whole length of the restaurant, an LED screen displaying the daily specials above it, and long communal tables out on the floor…safe to say it’s buzzing. Good luck choosing what to eat too as the menu is stacked, with a mix of Asian and European dishes that are all well executed. The monkfish with clams and romesco sauce and tuna ceviche were both pretty spesh, so if you don’t mind a bit of mix and match, you’re in for a feast.

A few streets back from Barceloneta, Bar Bitacora is the ideal place for lunch when a jamon y queso sandwich on the beach just won’t cut it. There’s an open kitchen and bar where you’ll find the locals during the day, and a covered terrace out the back, which is where you should aim for. Classic tapas is the name of the game at Bitacora and they don’t mess around; the portions are big, so order in stages. That being said, the grilled sardines are worth doubling up on. It does gets much busier in evening, so be prepared if you plan on heading here after dark.

Tucked away is probably the best way to describe La Candela…it’s a small restaurant in a quiet square that requires some backroads navigation to get to but that means it still has a hidden gem kinda quality about it. Service is on the more relaxed side and you’ll be wanting one of the al fresco tables, so there’ll probably be some waiting and it’ll definitely be worth it. The menu is a mix of classic and modern tapas dishes…the squid pops are a particular fave…and even with many, many bottles of wine, it won’t break the bank.

Yes, it’s one of the city’s biggest attractions, and yes between hungry tourists and locals trying to get a bit of shopping done, La Boqueria can get mental busy, but it’s worth braving the crowds for. Not only can you check out all the amazing goodies on show, and pick up a little inspo for your own kitchen, but you can get cones of jamon, chorizo and manchego for five euros, enormous oysters at €1.50 a go, croquetas, coconuts, juices and all manner of other treats to eat as you’re walking round. And if you’re prepared to wait for a spot, there are small tapas bars in the market itself, putting all that fresh produce to good use.