Nearly a disaster; you turn up [all six of you] and find a busy restaurant bursting at the seams – noisy, food arriving overhead on trays, terrific atmosphere. You check in, and find that your table was for the previous night. Ah, no matter. Despite not an inch [sorry, 2.5cm] of space anywhere, tables magically appear, carried overhead by waiters like the food, and a space is cleared amid the throng. The restaurant carries on as if nothing has happened.

Great steaks and fish, good wine…and a location right in the middle of the old town. Contemporary mediterranean cuisine in a sophisticated rustic environment, as some might say.

Restaurant Cafe l’academia doesn’t seem to have a website, but you easily track them down. Lledó 1, Barri Gòtic, Barcelona, Catalonia, 08002. Telephone 93/319–8253.