Classic
Boadas Cocktails
Barcelona-City-Center
May 11, 2018
Day or night, there’s always a warm Catalan welcome at Boadas. Opened all the way back in 1933, this art deco cocktail bar is the oldest in the city. Located not far off the Ramblas, it caters to a cool, artsy and often moneyed crowd the place attracts a lot of regulars rather than the ‘pop in once to tick it off the list’ tourist crowd, and the odd famous face has reportedly been spotted in these chic surrounds.
The founder learned his trade at Hemmingway’s Floridita Bar in Havana and passed on that happy, cocktail-in-the-morning feel to his family, who now run the place, which probably goes a long way to explaining its enduring appeal. The tuxedoed bar staff are happy to prepare you something classic or mix your drink to order if there’s nothing on the menu you like (or try the cocktail of the day).
There’s a good range of spirits on offer (including some good English gins) and the daiquiri comes particularly recommended by those in the know. Drinks and stylish patrons aside, there’s plenty to distract you while you drink: the eclectic collection of art and letters on the wall includes Miro sketches as well as some contributions from more recent celebrities.
It’s not a bar that is catering for the backpack crowd: while you don’t have to be dressed to the nines, they won’t thank you for turning up looking scruffy, so best to be smart after all, you have all that gorgeous art to live up to. Its location makes it an ideal start-of-the-night venue: many of the patrons come here for a drink to kickstart their night, and later it gets a bit livelier and more crowded.
What their peers say
“This is perhaps my favourite bar in the world and its reason alone to visit the great city that is Barcelona. Walking through its hallowed doors is like stepping back in time to a golden age of cocktails. An eclectic mix of locals and a smattering of enlightened tourists populate the tiny room. The atmosphere is further enhanced by plumes of cigarette smoke emanating from the mouths of the regulars. Behind the bar, white coated bar men make elegant drinks with technical dexterity.” Nick Strangeway of Strange Hill
