CAL PEP barcelona restaurant review

A few days before leaving Barcelona, my husband and I treated my mother-in-law to a pre-birthday lunch at one of her favorite restaurants, Cal Pep. It is a fantastic tapas restaurant featuring a gamut of fresh Mediterranean seafood as well as a few classic must have’s: Spanish Iberian ham, butifarra or pork sausage and my personal weakness, croquetas. Locals and tourists alike have hailed this small, well-known establishment for years. It’s popularity becomes evident before walking in the door which is usually ajar due to the line of people happily waiting – with a drink in hand – for one of the few seats at the bar. Even before the open, there is already a line of ravenous customers anxiously awaiting their turn to eat plate after plate of regional goodness. Although Javier, a charismatic server, likes to joke by telling the tourists that the seafood is from La Sirena, a local frozen food market, Cal Pep remains true to Catalan form by serving up the freshest ingredients available with seasonings typically limited to salt and olive oil.

Below are some of the dishes we have had……

• pan con tomate / toasted bread rubbed with tomato and olive oil
• almejas con jamon / clams with Spanish ham
• pimientos de padron / padron peppers
• croquetas
• fritura mixta / deep-fried mixture of seafood
• garbanzos con chipirones o sepia / chickpeas with mini squid or cuttlefish
• chanquete con huevo / tiny fried fish (similar to whitebait) with a fried egg
• tallarinas con ajo y perejil / small clams with garlic and parsley
• arroz caldoso de marisco / rice and seafood in savory broth

Since everything is prepared to perfection it would be impossible to pick which dish I liked best. The last dish however, is something I highly recommend if it is available. Paella is the Spanish national dish, yet it can be nearly impossible to find a proper paella in a restaurant. Although it is not paella, this arroz caldoso comes very close in flavor and is absolutely divine. Also, if you have never had tallarinas and enjoy clams, I would advise you to try this superb local specialty as well. Whatever you decide, I am certain that Cal Pep will leave you with a lasting impression of the magic of Catalan cuisine.