Local Pastries and Tapas at Barcelona La Boqueria Market – Pinotxo Bar

A true gem that you can’t miss when you visit Barcelona

La Boqueria Market is a must visit for anyone visiting Barcelona. La Boqueria Market dates back to 1217, and it has been expanded and modified various times throughout history until the current La Boqueria Market we see now. The entrance of La Boqueria Market is just on La Rambla which is very easy to get to. The closest station is Liceu which is only 3 mins walk from the La Boqueria Market.

S always loves to go to a local market or supermarket when she goes on a trip. S feels that’s the closest way to see the local lifestyle. Therefore, La Boqueria Market was the first location for S to visit in Barcelona. As you can see La Boqueria Market has various stands and small eateries.

The one S recommends is Pinotxo Bar, a tapas bar which serves from breakfast to lunch time. Pinotxo Bar is hard to miss since it’s just right next to the entrance of La Boqueria Market. S went there twice during the time S was in Barcelona, and it was always busy! The owner of Pinotxo Bar –  Juanito was super friendly and apparently is kind of the representative or symbol of Pinotxo Bar.

The only downside of Pinotxo Bar is that there’s no menu, so there’s no price list. Therefore, S could only guess and see what other people ordered to get an idea what she could order. The first thing that caught S’s eyes was the pastry – xuixo at the bar, S only knew its name after asking the staff. Since S visited in the morning, S ordered a small portion of chickpeas (€3.5), xuixo (€2.7) and a coffee (€1.7).

S had never tried chickpeas before, and S saw that some people had order it so she wanted to give it a try too! The taste of the chickpeas from Pinotxo Bar was quite different what S expected. However, it was very delicious with an unique flavour that is difficult to describe. S would recommend to try some if you haven’t had it before, it’s surely a new experience!

The xuixo from Pinotxo Bar was the most unexpected and amazing surprise to S for this Barcelona trip! Xuixo is a deep-fried, sugar-coated round pastry filled with crema catalana. S has never been a pastry person or someone who likes sweet food, yet S has totally fallen in love with the xuixo from Pinotxo Bar. The staff will cut the xuixo in half and serve it on a plate. As you can see from the photos, the texture outside of the xuixo was like a croissant and sparkled with sugar. The inside of the xuixo was custard but not too sweet which was similar to the cream in a creme brûlée.

S couldn’t recommend the La Boqueria Market enough, especially Pinotxo Bar. The xuixo is something you must order if you visit Pinotxo Bar, as S hasn’t seen anything like this in Barcelona or anywhere else. S even asked the staff from the hotel, and they didn’t know where to find it besides at Pinotxo Bar! S would love to visit again during lunch time and try some of their tapas which was highly recommended by people as well!

Restaurant info: 
Address: Mercat de la Boqueria, Carrer la Rambla, 89, 08002 Barcelona, Spain
Phone: +34 933 171 731
Opening hours: Mon. – Sat. 7am-4pm
Site: https://pinotxobar.com/index.html