Bombas are Barceloneta's contribution to the Catalan tapa: a potato croquette filled with seasoned ground meat, deep-fried and finished with hot aioli and red pepper sauce.
Where to eat it: 4 restaurants across 1 city.
La Cova Fumada on Carrer del Baluard invented the bomba in 1944. The name comes from the round grenade-like shape; the original was meant as a working-class quick lunch for the Barceloneta dock workers. The recipe has stayed the same: cooked potato mashed and shaped into a ball around seasoned ground beef and pork, breadcrumbed, deep-fried, served with two sauces, the white garlic-and-oil aioli and the red pepper-and-paprika 'salsa picante'. Now every Catalan tapas counter in Barcelona has a version; La Cova Fumada still owns the canonical reading. Around the corner, La Bombeta and El Vaso de Oro both run their own variants.
Common allergens: Gluten, Egg
Tip from the editors. Mash the potato as dry as you can manage; wet mash falls apart. Chilled bombas hold together better in the fryer.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
La Cova Fumada in Barcelona's Barceloneta invented the bomba (a potato fritter with meat and spicy sauce) in 1944. No sign, no menu, cash only, the canonical version.
Try: Bombas (potato fritters)
Tip: Open weekday lunch only; cash only. Order three bombas, anchovies and beer; expect to share a table.
Quimet i Quimet in Barcelona's Poble-sec is the four-generations standing bar where bottles line the wall and the cook builds montaditos on demand.
Signature: Montadito of salmon with yoghurt and truffle honey, Conserva flights
Order: The salmon-yoghurt-truffle-honey montadito and a flight of tinned mussels.
Tip: Open Mon-Sat lunch and early dinner only; closed Sunday. Arrive before 19:30 for a hope of a corner.
Bormuth in Barcelona's Born is the vermouth-and-tapas counter on Rec since 2014: bombas, patatas bravas, vermouth on tap, late kitchen until 23:00 every night.
Signature pour: House Yzaguirre vermouth
Wine focus: Catalan vermouth and natural wine
Food: Tapas
Tip: Open daily. The bar takes walk-ups, the back room books. Try the bombas with the house vermouth.
Bar del Pla in Barcelona's Born is the locals' counter on Montcada that draws the chef trade for the modernised tapas and natural-wine pours.
Signature: Beef carpaccio with truffle, Iberico pork cheeks
Order: The beef carpaccio with truffle and the slow-cooked Iberico cheeks.
Tip: Open daily lunch and dinner; book the bar over the back room. Walk-up after 22:30 is the easier slot.
More cities are in research. Want bombas (potato fritters) covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.