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Restaurants

Some of Spain's greatest chefs are from Catalonia, and this certainly hasa great impact on the city's reastaurants.

A great variety ranging from traditional tapas bars to Indian or Italian restaurants can be found in many of the city's neighbourhoods.
Here is just a short list of the absolute "MUST try before you go" restaurants, tapas bars etc, the rest you will discover for yourself:

Salamanca This is the right place for a decent paella without having to pay a fortune. Wonderful terrace by the beach, tan while you eat!

7portes An all time classic. Great food romantic atmosphere and excellent service. Beware of busy days, it may be hard to get a table

Al pasatore That's the place to go if you want to have an authentic Italian pizza

Tapas Bars

Ciudad Comtal Typical place for montaditos. Go to the terrace in summer time. It is on Rambla Catalunya & Gran Via, hard to miss.

Can Paixano (also known as "La xampanyeria") crowded most of the time offers great "bocadillos" (spanish sandwiches) and of course the famous sparkling wine "cava"

El xampanuet Right near the Picasso museum. Loved the blue-tiled walls, and the cava and anchovies were superb.

Drinks & Cocktails

Dry Martini Near Diagonal in the Eixample this is a must see & taste. Amazing cocktails from the city's greatest bar tenders

Flamingo's Cocktail Bar. In the heart of the Gotico, just a 1 block from Ramblas, nice music too.

Hundreds of other bars. The city's center is just thriving with night life. Don't miss the "passeo del born", "Rambla del Raval"

Movies

Theatre locations and current listings are available in the weekly Guia del Ocio found at any news stand. Below are some suggestions of VO (original version) theatres.

Filmoteca
(934107590) metro Hospital Clinic, showing classics, vintage, cult, and alternative films all in VO generally themed around a specific idea, period, or director.
Cines Verdi
This cinema has five screens, one with a big auditorium showing previews of Spanish films. It always shows independent films in their original version. Every year the cinema organizes the Festival dels Premers Films. It is located in the Gràcia area, where there are lots of restaurants offering international cuisine and places with entertainment of a musical nature. On Fri and Sat there are late showings after midnight.
Cines Renoir
This cinema has six small screens. It always shows European and independent films in their original version. One is located in the Les Corts areas, in the up-market part of town, near Diagonal, where there were previously no cinemas showing interesting films in their original language. And the other one just under Gran Via, between Plaça Espanya and Plaça Universitat. The programmes describing the films are also very informative with details of actors, directors and reviews.
Cine Boliche
This is a recently-opened four screen cinema located in the charming, old Bolera de Barcelona, 'El Boliche'. It is among cinemas showing the latest releases from independent film companies, and arthouse and experimental films, although it does not show original versions. There are reduced-price tickets on Wednesdays. The cinema is located in Diagonal, a grand avenue, and film-goers are allowed one hour's free parking.
Cine Yelmo Icaria

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Games and Amusement Parks

Bowling Pedralbes. (933330352) metro Collblanc, reasonable rates for renting shoes and bowling, playing pool, or playing football, a good place to kill a gray afternoon, to start the night out, or to make a night of it, both the lanes and the bar are open from 10:00 am until at least 2:30 am on weekends.

Central Golf. (932258100) on the ocean in the Maremagnum complex, outdoor eighteen hole mini-golf course with all sorts of obstacles.

Parc d'Atraccions del Tibidabo. (932117942) Plaça Tibidabo 3, the small amusement park at the top of Tibidabo gives an unparalleled view of the city, and the rides are all the more impressive because they hang off the mountain side, call ahead because the schedule seems to change every month.

Parc d'Atraccions de Montjüic. (934417024) av/ Mirmar, the other small amusement park in the city can be reached by a ride on the Teleferic.

Amusement Parks

Illa de Fantasia, during the day it is a water-park with all the fun slides and wave pools you would expect, and at night (Saturdays) it turns into a waterdisco! Inexpensive admission, but you will need a car to get there (937514553).  
Port Aventura, very hefty admission fee (about 30€) gives you unlimited access to rides in the entire park including an 8-loop rollercoaster, wet rapids, a corkswrew, carousels, childrens rides, and virtual reality games. Accessible by car and by RENFE, (977779090).

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