One of our favorite meals in Barcelona was at the intimate tapas bar, Cal Pep.
With only about a dozen seats at the bar, it’s best to get there before it opens, which we wisely did. They also have a small dining section that is reservation only, but you need a party of at least four to book it.
There is no menu and what you are eating that day depends on what is fresh and available and also the whim of your server. Once seated, your server asks you a handful of questions and then the food starts coming out. Every party gets served different items and it’s pretty fun to see what your server has chosen for you. If you have something you particularly desire, you can let them know, and they will be sure to include it.
The whole experience was very different but fun. Our server was constantly watching and joking with us, often scraping the last bits of rice and sauce into our plate and pretending to hover over us to make sure we ate everything.
Seating was a bit cramped, making it a little hard to take photos.
Bread and Tomato
Everyone started with this toasted bread spread, rubbed with tomato and olive oil. It was a nice start to our meal.
Tortilla trampera
A Spanish-style omelet, but with the addition of chorizo and aioli.
Fried Artichokes
Lightly battered and fried artichokes. These were fun to nibble on.
Clam with Ham
One of their signature dishes. It was simple, but delicious. The ham added a smoky saltiness to the fresh clams.
Seafood Rice
While this was filling, we did feel the rice was a little dry.
Foie Gras Sausage
This was my one request for our meal, as it was the reason I wanted to come here after seeing it recommended on FoodieHub.
It was also the highlight of my meal. The tender sausage is filled with ground pork and pieces of foie gras. It’s accompanied by white beans cooked in a port reduction. I could have eaten several orders of these without being sick of it.
Upon seeing my delight over our dish, the server even gave me a recipe card. If you sign up for their mailing list, they will periodically share recipes from their restaurant.
We probably could have squeezed in another dish or two at this point, but since we had more eating on the agenda, we ended our meal here.
Overall, we had such a fun meal and unique experience here and I’d definitely recommend visiting Cal Pep if you’re in Barcelona.
Cal Pep
Plaça de les Olles, 8, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
https://www.calpep.com/Ingles/index_ing.html
