Restaurant in Barcelona, Spain
Mediterranean-serious cooking for occasion dining
Amar Barcelona, Rafa Zafra's seafood-driven restaurant at The Palace Barcelona, is worth booking for a special occasion dinner or business meal in the Eixample. The menu centres on Mediterranean seafood — oysters, caviar, fish by weight — with traditional Catalan dishes alongside. Michelin Plate (2024) and OAD Europe #242 (2025). Easier to book than most €€€€ peers in the city.
If you are planning a celebration dinner or a serious business meal in Barcelona and want cooking that is grounded in the Mediterranean without the theatrical excess of the city's avant-garde restaurants, Amar Barcelona is worth booking. Rafa Zafra's kitchen at The Palace Barcelona delivers contemporary Catalan cooking with a clear focus on seafood, and the setting — a grand hotel dining room on Gran Via — is well-suited to occasions that need a backdrop with presence. This is not the place for a low-key weeknight dinner at €€€€ pricing. But for the right occasion, it delivers.
The room at Amar sits inside The Palace Barcelona, a hotel with a long history on the Eixample grid. The ambient feel here is formal without being cold , expect a dining room that carries weight, where the pace is unhurried and the noise level stays low enough for conversation. For a date dinner or a client lunch, that composure is an asset. The energy is not buzzy or theatrical; it is the kind of room where the occasion itself feels recognised. If you are coming from a splashy cocktail bar and want to carry that momentum into dinner, this may feel too sedate. If you want a room that matches the seriousness of your reason for being there, it works well.
The menu's emphasis on seafood , oysters, caviar, fish priced by weight and built for sharing , makes it a good fit for two or three diners who want to eat broadly and share plates. Larger groups can work around the format, but the sharing-oriented seafood dishes lend themselves most naturally to smaller tables. Traditional Catalan recipes sit alongside the hotel's own signature dishes, which pay tribute to the building's history as a Ritz property, creating a menu that reads as both rooted and considered.
Tasting menu, named Amar Lentamente, is built around the sea and its produce. If your priority is exploring Zafra's cooking in a structured way , and you have the time and appetite for a longer meal , it is the format that gives the kitchen the most room. For diners who prefer flexibility or are not committed to a set sequence, the à la carte format offers enough range to build a serious meal without locking in. The Michelin Plate recognition (2024) and the Opinionated About Dining ranking of #242 in Europe (2025) suggest consistent cooking quality, though this is a step below Michelin-starred venues in the city. Budget accordingly and calibrate expectations: this is very good cooking in an impressive hotel, not a destination restaurant at the level of the city's starred tables.
Amar Barcelona is not a delivery-oriented restaurant. The menu , built on whole fish priced by weight, oysters, caviar, and long-form tasting menus , is designed for the room. Seafood at this level does not travel well, and the hotel dining room context is part of what you are paying for at these price points. There is no meaningful off-premise value here. If you are weighing whether to book a table versus sourcing similar cooking for an event or gathering, the answer is clear: the experience is seated or it is not the same proposition. For Barcelona seafood that might lend itself to a more informal or takeaway-adjacent setting, [Fishølogy](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/fishlogy-barcelona-restaurant) is worth a look for a different format at a different price tier.
Reservations at Amar Barcelona are relatively accessible by the standards of Barcelona's top-end dining. You do not need to book weeks in advance as you would for [Disfrutar](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/disfrutar) or [Lasarte](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/lasarte), where demand outpaces supply significantly. For weekend dinners or special-occasion dates, booking 7–10 days out is a sensible baseline. For midweek or lunch, shorter lead times should be workable. The hotel setting means the front-of-house operation is professional and responsive , this is an easier booking than most at the €€€€ tier in Barcelona.
Reservations: Book 7–10 days ahead for weekends; shorter lead times usually sufficient midweek. Dress: Smart casual minimum; the hotel setting and price point call for more than casual dress. Budget: €€€€ , expect a meaningful per-head spend; fish is priced by weight so the final bill can vary. Format: À la carte or tasting menu (Amar Lentamente); sharing plates of fish work leading for two or three diners. Location: Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 668, Eixample , central and accessible.
Barcelona's dining scene at the leading end is genuinely competitive. For context on how Amar sits within it, and for other options across the city at every price point, see [our full Barcelona restaurants guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/barcelona). If you are building a full trip, [our Barcelona hotels guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/barcelona), [bars guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/bars/barcelona), [wineries guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/wineries/barcelona), and [experiences guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/experiences/barcelona) cover the broader picture. For other contemporary restaurants worth considering in the city, [Avenir](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/avenir-barcelona-restaurant), [BaLó](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/bal-barcelona-restaurant), [Contraban](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/contraban-barcelona-restaurant), and [Deliri](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/deliri-barcelona-restaurant) each offer different takes on the city's contemporary dining range.
If your trip includes travel beyond Barcelona, Spain's broader fine dining circuit includes [El Celler de Can Roca in Girona](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/el-celler-de-can-roca-girona-restaurant), [Arzak in San Sebastián](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/arzak-san-sebastin-restaurant), [Martin Berasategui in Lasarte-Oria](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/martin-berasategui-lasarte-oria-restaurant), [Azurmendi in Larrabetzu](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/azurmendi-larrabetzu-restaurant), [DiverXO in Madrid](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/diverxo-madrid-restaurant), and [Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/aponiente-el-puerto-de-santa-mara-restaurant) , each a different proposition from Amar and from each other. For contemporary dining benchmarks outside Spain, [César in New York City](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/csar-new-york-city-restaurant) and [Jungsik in Seoul](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/jungsik-seoul-restaurant) offer useful points of comparison in terms of format and price positioning.
For weekend dinners, book 7–10 days out. Midweek and lunch slots are generally more available and can often be secured with less lead time. Amar is easier to book than most €€€€ restaurants in Barcelona , you do not face the 4–8 week waits typical of Disfrutar or Lasarte , but do not leave a special-occasion booking to the last minute.
At the €€€€ tier, yes , if the occasion calls for it. The Michelin Plate (2024) and Opinionated About Dining's #242 Europe ranking (2025) confirm consistent quality. The caveat: this is not starred-restaurant cooking, so if you are comparing it directly to Lasarte or Cinc Sentits and expecting equivalent technical ambition, adjust expectations. The value case is strongest for diners who want seafood-forward Catalan cooking in a setting that holds up to a special occasion, not for those seeking the city's most technically demanding kitchen.
The menu is anchored in seafood , oysters, caviar, fish priced by weight , and some of the leading options are designed for sharing. Come with at least one other person to eat well across the menu. The room is inside The Palace Barcelona on Gran Via, so the hotel setting shapes the whole experience: professional service, a quieter atmosphere, and a dress code that expects more than casual. Budget for fish priced by weight, which means the final bill can run higher than a fixed-price menu might suggest.
If you want to experience Rafa Zafra's cooking at its most considered, the Amar Lentamente tasting menu is the format for it , it gives the kitchen room to work through the full range of Mediterranean seafood produce. For diners who prefer control over their meal or are not committed to a longer sitting, the à la carte format offers enough breadth to build a serious meal. The tasting menu is the better choice for a celebration where the meal is the event; à la carte works better when the dinner is part of a broader evening.
It is possible, but not the optimal format here. The menu's strength is in shared fish dishes and a broad spread of plates , formats that reward two or more diners. Solo diners can eat well from the à la carte, but some of the most interesting options on the menu are sized or priced for sharing. The hotel dining room setting is also more comfortable for couples and small groups. If you are eating alone in Barcelona at this price tier, a counter-service format elsewhere may serve you better.
Contact the restaurant directly to confirm , specific dietary accommodation policies are not available in our data. Given the hotel setting and the professional front-of-house operation, the team should be equipped to handle common restrictions with advance notice. The menu's heavy orientation toward seafood means that fish and shellfish allergies are worth flagging clearly when booking.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Amar Barcelona | €€€€ | — |
| Cocina Hermanos Torres | €€€€ | — |
| Disfrutar | €€€€ | — |
| Lasarte | €€€€ | — |
| Cinc Sentits | €€€€ | — |
| Enoteca Paco Pérez | €€€€ | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Amar Barcelona and alternatives.
A few days to a week ahead is usually enough for most sittings, which is notably more accessible than Barcelona's hardest tables like Disfrutar or Cocina Hermanos Torres. That said, Friday and Saturday evenings and holiday periods book faster, so if your dates are fixed, reserve as soon as they are. The restaurant is inside The Palace Barcelona on Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, 668 — hotel guests may find slightly easier access through concierge.
At €€€€ pricing, Amar delivers if you want Mediterranean-rooted cooking with genuine credentials: a Michelin Plate, OAD Top 242 in Europe for 2025, and chef Rafa Zafra's focus on high-quality fish and seafood. It is not the place for a casual dinner at that price point — the format and setting skew formal and occasion-oriented. If you want more technical avant-garde cooking for the same spend, Disfrutar or Cinc Sentits offer a stronger case; if the hotel setting and Catalan-Mediterranean focus fit your brief, Amar justifies the cost.
The menu is built around oysters, caviar, whole fish priced by weight, and traditional Catalan recipes, alongside the hotel's signature dishes and the Amar Lentamente tasting menu. Fish priced by weight means your final bill can move significantly depending on what you order, so factor that in when budgeting. The setting inside The Palace Barcelona is formal, and the experience is better suited to a planned occasion than a spontaneous dinner.
The Amar Lentamente menu is the most structured way to experience Rafa Zafra's cooking, with the sea and its produce as the central focus. If you are coming specifically to explore the kitchen's range rather than ordering à la carte fish by weight, the tasting menu is the cleaner choice. For guests who prefer to pick and share, the à la carte — oysters, caviar, and the fish selection — gives more flexibility without committing to the full format.
Amar works for solo diners in a practical sense — the setting inside The Palace Barcelona is the kind of room where dining alone reads as purposeful rather than awkward. The à la carte is better suited to solo visits than the tasting menu, which is designed around a fuller progression. If solo dining at a counter with more interaction is a priority, Barcelona has livelier options at lower price points.
Specific dietary accommodation policies are not confirmed in available venue data, so check the venue's official channels before booking if you have serious restrictions. Given the menu's heavy orientation toward seafood, oysters, and Catalan fish preparations, guests avoiding fish and shellfish will find the menu narrow. It is worth flagging requirements at the time of reservation rather than on arrival at a €€€€ restaurant of this format.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
