set portes
 

Here's a question. Taking the good advice of the Barcelona posters we are planning a late afternoon (around 6pm or so) Sunday dinner at Set Portes. We are staying on the northern portion of Las Ramblas. Is it safe to walk to and from this restaurant (my preference) at this time of night or should we plan to take a taxi. We are very comfortable in big cities but do not want to take chances we should not. Thanks. Joanne

We've done the same walk on a Sunday night without any problems. I think we took a cab back because we were feeling lazy. Of course, in a big city, anything is possible so you always have to be alert and stay on well traveled paths. Have a great time!

6pm on a Sunday afternoon is perfect for walking through Barcelona.

If I were you, I'd cross the Barrio Gothico and walk down C/Argenteria, passing the Santa Maria del Mar, and then further down towards the coast. You'll arrive at the Passeig Isabel II, almost where Set Portes is.

Enjoy !

Thank you.

If you are coming down the Ramblas, I agree that going through the Gòtic is best. Take Ramblas to Portaferrissa and go left.

This is a great shopping street, though little will be open on Sunday. Go straight to the Cathedral plaza. Then take a right onto Bisbe (runs along the East side of the cathedral) and it takes you to Plaza Sant Jaume. This is the government building.

Continue straight onto Ciutat (which becomes Rigomir) down to Ample, and take a left. You are now at the old Post Office. Take a right on Fusteria, which takes you right to where Colom becomes Isabel II.

Left onto Isabel II and 7Portes is on your right.

That is the nice tour/walk to 7Portes. The fastest way, though, is taking Portaferrisa to the Cathedral and continuing on o Laietana, then all the way down to Isabel II where your restaurant is.

6 pm is very early for dinner in Barcelona, just check that the resturant is open, When you do check ask for the "restaurant for dinner" as the bar/coffee area will probably be open all day long.

So is Set Portes really any good? Some on this board say it is great; I've also read that it used to be great and is now just a tourist trap, where everyone in the restaurant has a guide book. Opinions?

Hi missypie

My sister and I had dinner at 7Portes when we were in Barcelona this past May. We split an order of spinach with raisins, a fava bean and mint salad, and paella (sp?). The food was good, and the waiters were patient with my sad attempts at Catalan! The restaurant is not far from a marina, I can't think of the name of it right now-- Port Vell? that we enjoyed walking around.

Johanna

Regarding the dining hr., yes, a 6 p.m. dinner in Barcelona would be extremely early (10 p.m. more the norm, at least for me), but Set Portes, like a Parisian brasserie, has continuous dining hrs. from 1 p.m.-1 a.m., making dining possible between the usual Spain lunch and dinner hrs.
www.7portes.com

Walking will be fine; I like Stardust's route. We walked from the Placa de Catalunya to 7 Portes a few weeks ago on a Monday night, starting down Las Ramblas around 7 p.m. Yes, the restaurant was touristy, but the tourists were more the "upscale" kind. And the food and service were both wonderful! We didn't have reservations but were able to sneak in rather early, I think around 8:30 p.m. It became very crowded soon after that, with a long wait time for walk-ins.

I forgot to mention that we walked back to our hotel (near the Placa de Catalunya) after dinner, around 10 p.m., and had no problems. We took Argenteria and then Via Laetana (wrong spelling, I'm sure). Just hold onto your purse at all times, even when you consider yourself in a "nice" area!

I ate at Set Portes and it wasn't may favorite meal in Barcelona. I also didn't care for the formal atmosphere. Personally, I prefer the newer, more adventurous chefs and more informal places.

My feeling about Set Portes may have been compromised by the fact that we ate indoors. I don't know if they have terrace seating, but it seemed a shame to be at the seaside and sitting indoors.

I saw large Spanish families there obviously celebrating an occasion (birthday, first communion, etc) and they seemed to be enjoying their meals (paella especially). So mine may be the minority view.

As for walking in the Barri Gotic, I prefer not to do it after dark or anyplace I don't know where exactly where I'm going.

Whoa! I totally missed the 6 pm thing. They might not be serving then. That is downtime between lunch and dinner, which at the earliest should be at 8. On Sundays comida (lunch) is normally at 3 pm, and dinner is accordingly later. Actually, that is normal food times here.