Cuisine Valencian

Hours Daily 1-4pm and 8:30pm-midnight

Address Reina 29-31

Location On or near the Gran Vía

Transportation Metro: Gran Vía or Sevilla. Bus: 1, 2, or 74

Reservations Reservations recommended

Phone 91-532-71-54

Prices Main courses 12€-20€ ($14-$23)

Credit Cards AE, DC, MC, V

Frommer's Review

La Barraca is like a country inn right off the Gran Vía, and it's a longtime local favorite. The food, frankly, used to be better, but perhaps my tastes have changed since my student days. This Valencian-style restaurant is a well-managed establishment recommended for its tasty Levante cooking. There are four different dining rooms, three of which lie one flight above street level; they're colorfully cluttered with ceramics, paintings, photographs, Spanish lanterns, flowers, and local artifacts. The house specialty, paella a la Barraca, is made with pork and chicken. Specialties in the appetizer category include desgarrat (a salad of cod and red peppers), mussels in a white-wine sauce, and shrimp sautéed with garlic. In addition to the recommended paella, you can select at least 16 rice dishes, including black rice and queen paella. Main-dish specialties include brochette of angler and prawns and rabbit with fines herbes. Lemon-and-vodka sorbet brings the meal to a fitting finish.