"A small, unassuming-looking space in an even less noteworthy street, this isn't a place you'd walk into by accident–which is probably a good thing since it’s almost always fully booked. Alapar calls itself a Mediterranean-Japanese Izakaya (or Japanese tavern). That means you can expect lots of Japanese-style dishes–like sashimi, nigiris, and gyozas, but all made using top-notch locally sourced Mediterranean produce. Highlights include the “montadito”—a Spanish word referring to a small, open sandwich—of squid tartare and Iberian pancetta, the gyoza with Catalan butifarra sausage and fava beans, and the “suquet,” or Catalan fish stew, of red mullet and foie gras." - Isabelle Kliger, Gemma Askham