Twenty years on, the original ten Venetian dishes have never left the Xemei menu. Brothers Max and Stefano Colombo cook the food they grew up eating in Venice, in a Poble Sec dining room that feels like one.
Quick Facts
| ADDRESS | Passeig de l’Exposició 85, 08004 Barcelona |
| NEIGHBOURHOOD | Poble Sec |
| HOURS | Mon–Sun 13:30–16:00 and 20:30–24:00 (closed mid-August; verify holiday hours) |
| PRICE | €45–65 per person with wine |
| RESERVATIONS | +34 935 53 51 40 / xemei.es |
| CUISINE | Venetian, natural wine |
| GOOD FOR | Long lazy dinner, Italian craving in Barcelona |
| NOTABLE | Founded 2005 by Venetian twins Max and Stefano Colombo |
The brothers and the dialect
Xemei is Venetian dialect for ‘twins.’ Max and Stefano Colombo grew up in Venice, came to Barcelona separately in their twenties, and opened the restaurant together in 2005 with the same idea: cook the food we ate as children. Twenty years later the menu still has the original dishes — sarde in saor, baccalà mantecato, spaghetti al nero di seppia. The brothers still run the room: Max in the kitchen, Stefano on the floor.
Why this Venetian, in this city
Barcelona has a lot of Italian restaurants. Most of them serve food that lives in a generic Italian-restaurant idiom — pizza, pasta, tiramisu. Xemei is specifically Venetian, which is its own register: brackish water, salt-cod, fried fish, pickle, the heavy use of polenta, and a wine list that runs through the Veneto with serious affection. Eat here and you understand why Venetian cooking is a separate tradition from Roman or Tuscan, not a regional sub-set.
What to order
Sarde in saor — sardines pickled with onions, vinegar, raisins, pine nuts — to start. Baccalà mantecato (whipped salt-cod on grilled polenta) for the second course. Spaghetti al nero di seppia (spaghetti in black squid ink) for the pasta. The risotto changes with the season — ask. End with sgroppino, the Venetian lemon-sorbet-and-prosecco palate cleanser, served as dessert. Drink Soave or Prosecco from the natural-wine list.
Honest verdict
This is the best Italian restaurant in Barcelona, full stop, and one of the best Venetian restaurants outside Venice itself. The room is small, the brothers are present, and the cooking has not loosened up over twenty years. Book ahead, sit at the counter if it is offered, drink the natural-wine list.
Practical
How to book: Online at xemei.es or by phone — book a week ahead for weekends.
How to get there: Metro Poble Sec (Line 3) — 6-minute walk.
If you only have one visit: Sarde in saor, baccalà, spaghetti al nero, sgroppino, natural-wine pairing.
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