Ice cocktails in Barcelona: the city's top bars

A while ago Berlin had a big 10th anniversary party. In the daytime it's a perfect spot for lunch. Their Malay cook is very fast at making salads with spicy sauce, cooking pasta and frying juicy beefsteaks. Fridays and Saturdays they open the ground floor with soft couches immediately occupied by romantic couples. From 10 p.m. the music gets louder while the drinks get heavier. From this time on the prices for the drinks or anything ordered on the terrace get 20% bigger. The bar area has free Wi-Fi.

Schilling is the elder brother of Berlin Bar. The places share the same owner, still, their background is different. Schilling is located in the very centre of the city. Despite its Gothic-style interior, its visitors are far from being goths. Trendy and interesting people love to spend nights there, chatting, enjoying free Wi-Fi access and having a glass or two of red wine. The bar has no terrace or patio, but it’s all right considering the atmosphere. The number of dishes served is not large; still, it is quite enough to go with beverages.

There are alcoholic beverages in San-Telmo, but no dances. The bar is at client’s disposal 7 days a week, so you can have breakfast there in the morning and lunch in the afternoon and enjoy wine or another drink in the evening. The take-out option has been recently added to the menu, and now a client can take out a fresh sandwich generously filled with jamon or cheese and a freshly brewed coffee.
The official website promises the bar’s visitors a DJ and dances once a month on Thursdays, and they do have a DJ, but for some reason no one is dancing. The bar is the most joyful and revelling after 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Being a good place for a pre-party, San-Telmo can be a starting point for your journey to Berlin or Mary’s Place located nearby.

A small cafe within a modern art gallery which displays contemporary Catalan artists' and photographers' collections. One day the gallery owners realized that there are a lot of young people among their visitors and decided to make some extra money, so they opened a cafe right inside their gallery. Now the spot has its own terrace, the menu offers savoury dishes as well desserts. However, the bar menu is still very modest: just beer, wine and champagne.

L'Oveja Negra can be called a 'sangria transfusion station'. Here they will make sure that even a light drinker is leaving the bar tipsy. As far as I know, the place is closed during day hours and opens only after 7 p.m. As for the décor, you will see huge wooden tables, a pool table, college students, waiters and dim lights. Visitors are diverse but the spot is popular with Barcelonians. Here sangria is sold by liters, is as cheap as chips and you are guaranteed to have fun the whole night.

Bar Maumau is a trendy loft set in a former factory. Its atmosphere attracts underground and modern art aficionados who arrange their own exhibitions, flea markets, and short or independent film shows. Here you will find the widest choice of gin tonics in Barcelona, as well as cocktails mixed according to original recipes. On Thursdays you can enjoy a funk DJ set played by Wakanda.

I got to Blue Margarita cocktail bar by pure chance in a Saturday night frenzy – though I was quite sober I started to see double after spotting thousands of perfectly lined bottles in the mirrors. Three girls work at the counter – typical housewives – make-up free faces, ponytails and old clothes. They mix the drinks with lab accuracy – in the blink of an eye your Margarita is ready. The girls pour generously but know the limit. Fridays and Sats are special nights – DJs, louds music and countless drinks.

The latest project of Cangrejo bars' owners, Museum is also kitschy and features exaggerated rococo decor. The crowd includes a various mix of guys, from meatheads to intellectual hipsters, many of them being gay. Pop music and drinks at moderate prices is what makes Museum a nice pre-party spot.

Barcelona used to have two Congrejo spots sharing the same name. To tell one from the other, they were later given second names according to their location. Cangrejo Eixample is a bar with a quiet setting whereas Cangrejo Raval hosts wild gay parties and exciting Saturday night shows. Choose the one that fits your mood!