After presenting the first part of our tour of the best patates braves in Barcelona, we are now completing this tour, and at the end we’ll dive in and make a ranking.
La Esquinica
La Esquinica in the Nou Barris district is so successful that there’s even a queue on the street waiting to get in. There we sample powerful patates braves with a somewhat haphazard presentation. Great balance between the garlic, which was noticeable but under control, and the heat of the spicy sauce, which was scant but potent.
Elsa y Fred
We hop over to Elsa y Fred, near the Arc de Triomf, in the quest for patates braves that are better presented, more feminine and mild, and we find them. Good potatoes on a dish that’s less tapa and more meal.
Bar del Pla
Nearby, in the Gothic Quarter, we sample yet other mythical patates braves, the ones served at Bar del Pla. The potatoes are large and sweet, cut like chips but thicker. The aioli is mild and yellowish, accompanied by a slow-cooked tomato sauce. Great, but not very powerful. We leave two bombas (a tapa of potato, meat and sauce) for the end.
Lolita Tapería
The first, Lolita Tapería, a venue with a bar on the street in the Dreta de l'Eixample district, where they serve patates braves cut in rounds, well fried with no aioli in the Madrid style. Red sauce, very red, and nervously spicy. Gotta have a beer to cool off. Huge braves, some of our favourites.
Bar Tomás
Last round, the atomic bomb, the braves at Bar Tomás in Sarrià. Careful who you meet later: the aioli isn’t fit for delicate stomachs. Potatoes fried in the usual way with a spicy red sauce which is a stroke of mastery whose secret they will never reveal (just like Coca-Cola).
Our ranking
Without further ado, let’s dive in and offer our ranking, first by categories
- Top-3 "Barcelona style" (with aioli): Bar Tomás, La Esquinica and Segons Mercat.
- Top-3 "Madrid style" (with spicy tomato): Lolita Tapería, Bodega Montferry and Monstesquieu.
- Top-3 "Spicy": Senyor Vermut, Bodega Montferry and Lolita Tapería.
- Top-3 "Potato": Bar del Pla (sweet-tasting potato), Lolita Tapería (round cut stacked in a pyramid, part-crispy and part-juicy) and Senyor Vermut (tiny crispy, juicy pieces).
- Top-3 "Mild": Elsa y Fred, Fragments Café and Fàbrica Moritz (“Barcelona style” potatoes).
Top 3 – Best patates braves in Barcelona
1. Lolita Tapería
2. Montesquieu
3. Bar Tomás / Senyor Vermut
The chapter on patates braves is now closed. We are truly lucky to have such a rich cuisine. Even something as mundane and simple as patates braves has a history behind it and a new interpretation awaiting it. How lucky we are to live here! Bon profit!