Boca Grande

The stunning cocktail lounge of the Boca Grande Restaurant is one of the most chic night spots in Barcelona. Aside from the Parisian prices, I have only words of excitement for their Hendrick’s gin and tonic with cucumber slices: the best I've had in a long time. You’ll have to strangle your credit card, sure, but with top-shelf labels, luxurious decor, and select and polished clientele, it’s worth it. It’s not uncommon to rub elbows with Catalan nobility, famous athletes or elite models.

The surroundings are nothing to sniff at either: stuffed animals, designer furniture, quality fabrics, Victorian mirrors, old photographs ... Everything’s arranged at varying levels, and there’s also the miracle of a terrace, for the nicotine junkies. It’s such a marvel of design, in fact, that you won’t be able to go just once – you’ll have to go back and discover every corner of the place, credit crunch be damned.

They’ve even taken care with the details in what could be considered the best toilet in town. Believe me when I say it’s a magical space located in the catacombs of the bar that brings to mind, aesthetically, the set design of ‘Eyes Wide Shut’; it’s a five-star WC with DJ-programmed tunes and dance music that brings together the concepts of latrine and dance floor with originality and elegance. I’m thinking they called it Boca Grande because that’s how people react when they’re there, with their mouths hanging open.