A small juice bar and healthy food cafe serving salads and sandwiches from it's countertop.

Traditional recipes and eating habits are so entrenched in Barcelona that trends – the trend for healthy eating let’s say (see the Observer Food Monthly’s May Cover) largely pass it by. Which on the one hand I like, London used to drive me crazy as it chased one fad after another be it cupcakes or ice cream made with human milk. On the other hand, if you’ve gotten used to eating in a big city and reaping the culinary jewels that its inherent diversity scatter around – it’s hard to be faced with the same old.

So Rodríguez & Co is a juice bar – which is pretty wow for Barcelona (although of course Flax & Kale has 4 large glass fridges full with cold pressed juices and nut milks). Their Instagram feed made my mouth water which surprised me since I’m in the camp that prefers to eat their vegetables rather than drink them. (It seems a shame to throw away all that fibre.) It’s a small operation with enthusiastic staff / owners. They source the majority of their ingredients from Catalunya and where they can, they choose organic.

Their juices are made to order as are the sandwiches which are available on a variety of breads. A lot are gluten-free – also a rarity. In the afternoon, they put out large bowls of salads made of pulses or grains.