Maitea

They don’t mess about here. Maitea ('love' in Basque) has a range of over 100 hot and cold pintxos. The unusual thing about this rather atypical bar, says Nico Montaner, is that the chef, his mother, is a Basque who moved to Catalonia. This explains why she combines Catalan and Basque cuisine in such a way that a pintxo of leek and romesco sauce can be found alongside an omelette of piquillo peppers. We could go on and one about the variety of flavours, but all you really need to know is that the key to this bar is its simplicity, originality and quality. The best time to turn up is at 8.30pm – be sure you're good and hungry.