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Vermouth hour has never been forgotten in Barcelona, but in recent years the tradition of gathering with friends to share an afternoon aperitif, and the usual side dishes, has gathered a new generation of devotees only too happy to accommodate. Ghat Apartments brings you the modern, as well as the classic, temples of vermouth.
EL SIFÓ D’EN GARRIGA
El Sifó d’en Garriga – Ghat Apartments
La Cuina d’en Garriga isn’t alone anymore. To its side, is born a new space that connects with the restaurant by a hidden corridor; an alter ego that likes to play, informal and with a rapid visit. Its name is the Sifó d’en Garriga, the kitchen is open all day long and lives in a world where labels follow one another and become entangled: it’s a bar, a coffee, a restaurant, a vermouthery…
Well, it’s essentially a place where to go whenever you want. A place that mixes white tiles old like the world with apparent bricks and unfinished walls, from industrial inspiration. This esthetic shock between past and present works very well and generates the informal atmosphere which is perfect to eat the delicious dishes so well cooked.
Every tapas are accompanied by their adequate drink: natural drinks, beers, spirituous, vermouths, and good wine. By the way, Helena Garriga recommends us an excellent red wine that arrives on the table in a «porrón» (little glass flask). Don’t be scared to use it. «porrón» in the air, to enjoy life: places like this one are made for this.
Contact: +34 93 215 72 15
Address: Consell de Cent, 308
Schedule: From Monday to Friday from 8:00 am to 00:00 and Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 am to 00:00
How to go: M: Passeig de Gràcia
LA FÁBRICA DEL VERMUTILLO
La Fábrica del Vermutillo – Ghat Apartments
This little bar lives and breathes vermouths like in the old times. There aren’t many tourists for a real local and typical atmosphere. She does herself its vermouths and tin cans. The vermouth is excellent there, the boss has this in the blood since he was a child, it’s a real catalan vermouthery where you could stay hours to order vermouths. The vermouth myth is real!
Contact: Tel : +34 646 06 21 85
Address: València, 244
Schedule: From Monday to Thursday from 9:00 am to 00:00. Friday and Saturday from 9:00 am to 1:00 am and Sunday from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm
How to go: M: Universitat
CASA MARIOL WINE BAR
Casa Mariol Wine Bar – Ghat Apartments
At the Casa Mariol Wine Bar, which is part of the bodega of the same name, you’ll have the chance to get to know Suau, which is an version of a drink (a blend of soda and coffee) that was popular in the Ribera de l’Ebre region decades ago. You can also taste cask wines from the Ebre, accompanied by a nice ‘clotxa’ (bread stuffed with herring, onions, tomatoes and garlic) and then top it all off with delicious cakes from Batea (a town also in the Ebre).
Contact: Tel : +34 93 436 76 28
Address: Rosselló, 442 Eixample Dret
Schedule: From Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 10:00 pm. Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
How to go: Sagrada Família (M: L2, L5)
BODEGA LO PINYOL
Bodega Lo Pinyol – Ghat Apartments
Lo Pinyol is a beautiful spot, with high ceilings, colorful tiled floors, a lovely marble sink, and wine and vermouth barrels suspended over a made-to-measure wooden bar. There are three cosy spaces: the traditional bar at the front, an interior room with books that you can exchange for others you’re finished reading, and a dining area at the back for more private meals.
This is a place where €3 gets you a vermouth and a scrumptious little tapa that you can choose from among ‘esgarradet’ (crumbly cod fish with red pepper), cream of wild mushroom topped with chanterelles, ‘markina’ (fried Basque peppers), tinned artichoke with sun-dried tomato, or whitebait. The bread is from Can Turris, the provisions are from Valencia, Teruel and nearby. They take such care when it comes to the products they use that they buy bread in the morning and in the afternoon so it’s always fresh. As this is a tavern without a proper kitchen, the food is commissioned to the best specialists, such as the potato omelette from Valentina.
Taverns are fashionable, and nowadays it seems like any old bar can dust off their putrefied old barrels, hang up a chalkboard and hike up the price, claiming to be a tavern. This is exactly what Pau (and her husband Jordi) and Carlos did not do; instead, they took over a business with tradition and character and made it their own. How? The formula is simple but not easy: applying plenty of of desire, friendliness, good taste and genuineness to everything they do.
Barcelona is chock-full with bars and restaurants. It’s up to you to choose where to go. And I’m starting to make my choices based on treatment by the staff – if they’re distant or rude, they won’t have to worry about seeing me again. If they’re friendly and pleasant to be around, I’ll be back, I’ll bring my friends, and I might even become a regular. And that’s exactly my experience with Lo Pinyol. Good treatment and good food means faithful customers!
Contact: Tel : +34 93 217 66 90
Address: Torrent de l’Olla, 7 Gràcia
Schedule: From Tuesday to Saturday from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm and from 7:00 pm to midnight. Sunday from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm
How to go: Diagonal (M: L3), Verdaguer (M: L5)
MORRO FI
Morro Fi – Ghat Apartments
For some time now, the Morro Fi blog has been considered an essential website for those who aspire to keeping their stomachs happy. These one-time explorers of anchovy and secallona havens have set up their own oasis. Working in a tiny space, Marcel serves the aperitifs that he has always wished he could have found in bars. Marcel’s draught beers hide a secret that only you can see if you pay close attention to the hands of this man who is known as the Rimbaud of the beer tap. Two fingers of poetic justice, that’s what I find in each glass.
Contact: Visit Website
Address: Consell de Cent, 171 Eixample Esquerre
Schedule: Saturday and Sunday from 12:00 pm to 3:30 pm. From Monday to Sunday from 6.00 pm to 11.00 pm
How to go: Urgell (M: L1)
