Barça Tapas and Cava Bar

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 – in the shops now or buy online.

The flexible tapas format is ideal for Barça's location on the top floor of Princes Square, where a quick, restorative bite and a glass of decent wine can fit into the most demanding shopping or social schedule. Barça delivers the goods with excellent renditions of classics such as patatas bravas, tortilla Española and grilled sardines. A dish of three light, crispy salt cod and potato dumplings goes perfectly with a nicely chilled cava, and a sizzling pan of spicy, rich slices of chorizo complement a gutsy red rioja. Around a dozen wines are available by the glass, including sparklers and dessert wines. Most tapas come in at about £3.50, or there are paellas, daily specials and a two-course 'express lunch' if you'd like a bigger plateful. Puddings, including an exemplary crema catalana, the Spanish version of crème brûlée, can be ordered any time during the day, whether or not you choose something to precede them. Sitting 'outside' on the terrace overlooking the shops seems inexplicably popular. Inside is much more inviting: Barça's smart bar is a great setting from which to work through a comprehensive list of cocktails, and the Latin theme is sensibly limited to a little Spanish pop on the stereo – and a large painting of a bull.

• High point: Choice of wines by the glass
• Low point: No getting away from the fact it's in a shopping centre