Maccabi, and Other Kosher Dining in Barcelona

Date of Visit: October 2021

As a kosher traveler to Barcelona, you can’t miss Restaurant Maccabi, located smack in the middle of all the action on La Rambla, the city’s uber-popular pedestrian promenade. It is supervised by Chabad of Barcelona.

Do not get intimidated by the modest seating capacity – the restaurant has additional (larger) space upstairs, including a small private room. The menu is varied, the staff is friendly and accommodating, the prices are reasonable, and all dishes I tried were delicious. Isn’t it fortunate, when the only kosher centrally-located restaurant is also an amazing one?

The menu is a mix of Middle Eastern/Israeli dishes (hummus, kebabs, shakshuka), universal favorites (burger, pasta, salads) and Spanish/Catalan cuisine (paella, a range of mains with local flavors, and a selection of tapas – your only take on the kosher version of this ubiquitous Spanish tradition). I was also impressed by a nice selection of fish dishes.

I ate 3 dinners at Maccabi during my 5-day stay in the city (the other 2 days were Friday and Saturday). My top favorite was Grilled Sea Bream (something rarely found on the U.S. menus), which was simply impeccable. On my second night I had Chicken Paella (scrumptious!), preceded by Israeli salad and tap beer. My last night’s choice was an interesting Cod au Gratin dish – it may not look like much on the picture, but it was very tender and melted in the mouth.

During my visits I also tried a few tapas, and fell in love with the local specialty Pimientos de Padron – mild green mini-peppers (although I would go easier on salt these were covered with). With so many enticing choices on the menu left untried, I wished I could take Maccabi along for my further travels in Spain.

For Shabbat food I went with Taim Catering (also supervised by Chabad). The service offers online ordering, and the owner is very responsive via email and Whatsapp. For EUR 10 they delivered the order to my hotel, which came nicely packaged, double-wrapped when appropriate, and complete with good-quality disposables. The food was decent, but somehow my palette was not as excited as at Maccabi (I am sure many of the dishes would taste better if I could heat them).

I got Saturday Special, which included 6 mini-salads (hummus, egg salad, tuna salad, tabbouleh, Moroccan-style carrot, and roasted eggplants with green beans), a main of meat roll stuffed with veggies & hard boiled egg, with a side of basmati rice, a small challah and delectable chocolate cake. I added grape juice and extra challah rolls and pitas to the order and several other dishes to cover my entire Shabbat and beyond: schnitzel, fish balls, Moroccan eggplant salad, a potato omelette, and a bunch of bourekas and empanadas for snacks.

Near the Synagogue of Barcelona (outside of city center), there is a Ben Ben Kosher House – a kosher grocery, butcher and cafeteria. I did not venture to that neighborhood and cannot comment.

Chabad of Barcelona is also located off-center, in the Les Corts neighborhood. At the time of my visit in October 2021 they did not have community meals due to COVID.

Lastly, there is vegetarian falafel stand, easy to miss among the abundance of the La Boqueria Market, a centrally located large public market filled with tourists and non-kosher delicacies. Falafel Vegano (Falafel Shel Shani) may look non-descript, but it offers classic falafel with all the trimmings, done right. It is under supervision of Rabbi Meir Shimon Bar Hen.