Quina Creu

A couple of minutes from the cathedral but tucked away on Carrer de la Corderia, Quina Creu fills a high-ceilinged space that, according to the house, sits on top of an old medieval oven, with a traditional ensaïmada oven still on show. The décor is rustic and theatrical with nods to cinema, and the music runs from jazz and bossa nova to funk. The kitchen mixes classic tapas with Asian and Moorish-inspired twists, meat grilled over holm-oak charcoal, fish and paellas, and the menu is long. To get your bearings: the gratinated scallop with Parmesan and seafood velouté, ordered by the piece; the confit pork rib pintxo with Cantonese sauce in a brioche bun, the most talked-about thing at the bar; fried Camembert with cranberry jam; and the two tartares, beef with goat's cheese cream and sun-dried tomato, and tuna with wasabi mayonnaise, mango and avocado. For meat, the 650-gram T-bone and the beef fillet tataki come off the grill. A shot of herb liqueur on the house usually arrives at the end. It's a good place to share plates in a group and linger over a gin and tonic, and one of the few kitchens in the centre where you can still eat after 11pm. When it's full, service can be slow.

Reviewed in November 2026