Restaurante Parrilla Alfonsina, Barcelona

Restaurante Alfonsina is a real gem of a find. Away from Las Ramblas and the other touristy areas this is a good quality, good priced, good time place!

You can pop in for just a drink if you are in the area (Not far from Sangrada Familia about 10 minutes walk) you can get the metro to Tetuan and it is less than 5 minutes .

Address: Diputaci , 379

The owners are very accommodating, nothing is too much trouble. A really good sign is many locals eat here.

In Barcelona we stumbled upon Alfonsina, an Argentinean bar & restaurant a few doors from our hotel. It's a small, atmospheric place, which serves lager on tap; at the time of discovery there was an incredibly civilized Spanish stag-group finishing their afternoon. It was obvious they were locals and their lunch had been good. We decided to risk it and were completely blown away by the food. The passionate, entertaining owner-hostess translated the menu and provided fresh rolls with melanzane, and shared starters of grilled provolone cheese (wow, the best introduction for some us first-timers!), calamari (very tender, battered & deep fried and served with lemon quarters, beautiful). For the main course we all opted for Argentinean steak: Entrecote or Sirloin, which had been aged and cooked to perfection. The accompanying sauce was lovely; liquid black pepper. Our hostess had recommended three wines and we opted for the least expensive, the Argentinean Elsa Bianchi Malbec. It was smooth and spicy and complemented the steak beautifully.

They stayed open until late and couldn't do enough for us. We liked the place so much that we went back there the next day, when some of us tried their 'made-at-home' spinach & ricotta tortellini in a picante tomato sauce. I seldom finish a pasta dish on account of the quantity but there was no stopping until the end. The pasta was indeed home-made and perfectly cooked, and the filling had just the right quantity of ricotta.

They're definitely worth a visit.

Please note food type: Argentinean not in drop-down so chose Bar.