Restaurant Cal Pep, Barcelona, Spain

Restaurant Cal Pep
Plaça de les Olles 8, Born,
08003 Barcelona
Spain

Tel: 93 310 79 61
www.calpep.com
calpep@calpep.com

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Cal Pep is a favourite amongst locals and highly regarded as serving the very best in tapas in downtown Barcelona and perhaps all of city. It is a short walk from the Basilica Santa Maria Del Mar. There is no menu and everything served is on a day by day market fresh basis. Chef Pep personally goes to the markets in the morning to get the freshest of produce and so for example, if the baby octopus is not good in the morning, you will not be able to order it that day.

We arrived after 9pm on a Thursday night and it took over half an hour to be seated at the bar which is, I am told, the best place to enjoy the food - right in front of the action. You are advised to get a drink and look at what everyone else is eating and devise what you would like to eat. With eyes far bigger than our stomachs we ordered dishes including tuna steak tartare, sea bass, beautifully cooked steak with sautéed potatoes, chickpeas and baby octopus, fresh clams with garlic butter (almost as if they were plucked from the sea fresh), fried whitebait with a fried egg and more.

Seven dishes with traditional bread lightly brushed with tomatoes, and garlic, a bottle of rioja, a glass of cava, an espresso and a spanish coffee (cognac and coffee shot) came to just over EUR120. The service is fun with constantly joking staff and the wine is fantastic. Locals do still go which is surely a great sign. I look forward to returning to Barcelona on a holiday trip and visiting Cal Pep again!