Barcelona's Independent Review Website

La Flauta
Click here to view map It would be hard to pick one place as the best tapas bar in Barca. It’s like being asked your favourite band or your favourite movie, or your favourite anything really. What do you judge it on? Atmosphere, value, selection, whether they give you freebies? If it’s judged on price then maybe La Flauta wouldn’t win but if it’s quality of croquettes or chipperones (my litmus tests for any Tapas bar) then it wins in my book. The food here is excellent but not exactly cheap. You have to understand here that I mean, really really tasty. Just thinking about the little beef Montaditos makes me want to... go and eat some... The decor is much more posh and restauranty than a normal tapas bar with nice furniture and appropriate lighting! There's no music played but the happy buzz of conversation is an equally appealing accompaniment to your meal. The overall feel of the place is very civil, the typical clientele being made up of families and business people. Aside from the agonisingly delicious food, one of the best (and dare I say unusual??) things about La Flauta is that the service is so good. The waiters are friendly and polite, many understand English if you need it, and service is generally speedy, it is not a huge restaurant and there are loads of staff which certainly helps. If you’re not a tapas connoisseur then the variously priced picar picar (sampling) menus are a good option, they will probably end up costing a little more per head but are substantial and good value. Wine starts at around €10 a bottle and individual tapas dishes are between €2-8 with more substantial and expensive dishes also available. There is also a menu del dia during lunch times for €10. The house specialities are the “flautas” which are basically small strips of bread with a selection of toppings, tasty but a fairly uninspiring concept next to the fine tapas. It’s the basics that La Flauta does so well. The croquettes are perfect - melty-smooth on the inside and crisp without being too hard outside – the calamari aren’t too rubbery and the chiperones should be proud of their low mortality rate as they are totally delicious. You really won’t find better tapas in Barcelona in the moderate but not house re-mortgaging price range.

Address:

Carrer d'Aribau, 23,
08011

Area:

Eixample Left

Nearest Metro:

Universitat

Opening times:

Mon-Sat: 1pm-4.30pm
8pm-1am

Price range:

€15-20pp

Food types:

Tapas