Hope you’ve eaten, because I’m about to share some food that will make you VERY HUNGRY! It’s time to celebrate some of the best Spanish tapas from one of the greatest cities in the world!
Welcome To Barcelona!
Barcelona is Spain’s second largest city, and the capital of the region of Catalonia – a very proud area that extends from Barcelona to the Costa Brava, Spain’s “wild coast.” It’s pure heaven for food lovers, as you are about to see!
Before we dig in to the incredible food, let’s take a short aerial tour of the city!
When you go to Barcelona, this aerial tram is the best way to see the sights! The city is alive with energy – and food – like these hanging hams in the city’s famed Boqueria market…
The city is full of great food – but nothing is more renowned than Spanish tapas, small plates of food that take advantage of the freshest ingredients the region has to offer…
And of course, Barcelona is on the Mediterranean, so you will no doubt see a plate of fresh fish – fried up in their entirety for you to enjoy…
It’s The Battle For Barcelona’s Best Tapas Restaurant!
Tapas are a time honored tradition here: small plates full of flavor! Time now to visit one of Barcelona’s most iconic tapas restaurants – the legendary Cal Pep!
The Legendary “Cal Pep!”
Cal Pep is one of the most well-known tapas restaurant in Barcelona. It’s located in the Placa de les Olles, a small courtyard near the waterfront neighborhood of Barcelonetta. Cal Pep is known as one of Barcelona’s greatest tapas bars. There are two ways to eat at Cal Pep:
Belly Up To The Bar!
Cal Pep doesn’t take reservations, so when you show up, look for a spot at the bar, where you can watch them cook your food:
Cal Pep is renowned for their fresh daily tapas that change depending on the market products of the day – meaning, you can order off a menu, but it’s more fun to let them bring whatever suits their fancy that day!
Here is Alex waiting patiently for a space at the bar to open up…as you can see, people hunker down to watch them cook the food – and pour over dish after dish of delicious tapas…like these fired calamari..
There’s another way to enjoy Cap Pep as well…Cal Pep also has a dining room, and since the bar was packed, they offered us seats there, which we took…once we sat down, we were greeted immediately by two glasses of Cava, Spain’s champagne…
Cal Pep’s Daily Specials!
They first check to see if you have any food restrictions – we were, of course, up for anything…but the waiter had more difficulty with the young couple next to us, as the woman didn’t like ANYTHING they offered…at one point the waiter said:
“Octopussy? No? This one is negative, doesn’t want anything!””
He said it with a laugh, and they finally settled on food she would eat…for us, they started with a small Apéritif of toasted bread with sardine – a small, tasty bite to get you going…then it was Tuna tartar with toasted bread…
Next up was a small plate of fried artichokes:
Cue The Whole Fried Fish!
After ordering a bottle of great Spanish white wine – surprisingly inexpensive – a whole bottle for 19 euros…we were given a plate of fried squid and baby sardines:
Cal Pep’s Sense Of Humor!
The waiter not only comments on your willingness to try certain dishes, but as they replace your water bottle, they tip it off the table as if it will smash onto the ground – before catching it and having a laugh…we saw this done at every table while we were there…
Next up were fresh clams, served in a delicious broth – and you were instructed to use the clam shell as your spoon – scooping up the broth and sliding the clam right into your mouth…
We love Razor clams, so we added them to our meal…and we saw another table order a dish that we just had to have as well:
Our Favorite Cal Pep Dish!
We ordered this special, and we are so glad we did! It’s a plate of baby squid and chickpeas – absolutely delicious…the only downside to sitting in the back is you don’t see them cooking from there – at the counter we would have seen more of the dishes – and probably have ordered even more!
I have shared many of our Spain cooking adventures, like this:
Paella is their national dish, and after sampling some on the “Costa Brava”, I made this recipe at home…click here to see it!
Of course, we also visited some of Barcelona’s legendary food halls!
“La Boqueira” is the city’s famous food hall….massive, filled with incredible places to sit down and eat, and of course, those incredible, hanging Iberico Hams…
Click here for the full tour and to find out what we gorged on!
If you enjoy these posts, why not subscribe and never miss out? It’s easy, and there are NO ads of any kind, just stuff I like…click on the main page and “follow” me on the upper right…
Thanks so much for reading, and if you enjoy it, feel free to share on social media!
Categories: Alcohol And Bars, Bite Eat Swallow, Bite! Eat! Repeat!, Eat This!, Food, Food Pictures, Food Travel, Recipes, Restaurants, Travel, Wacky Food, World's Wildest Food
Bite! Eat! Repeat! 
I love Barcelona and the tapas are amazing!!
We are planning a return trip in the next few years as we have so much more of Spain to explore as well! Thanks for the comment!
The tapas in Barcelona is not to be missed. We visited the taps bars every night for 5 nights. I grew to love the fresh anchovies. Happy memories.
We did 3 of our 4 nights in tapas bars…one night in a two Michelin starred restaurant which was great, but we kinda missed the tapas! Thanks for the comment!
I’d love to try all the tapas, I’m adore small plates and these are filled beautifully
Ohhhhh how lovely!!! Everything looks so good! We drove up the coast towards Barcelona years ago, but cut inward into the mountains, which was a lovely experience. Stayed at a parador in Cardona. Some of the tapas I saw were still moving…. We’ll be back in Madrid next month and will have a guided tapas bar! Can’t wait!
I have enjoyed tapas more than a few times in Barcelona, but nothing as exotic as that selection. Very tasty, I have no doubt.
Best wishes, Pete.
We loved La Boqueira and enjoyed tapas and wine at the counter restaurant in the market.
We ate at the counter as well..so much fun! Thanks for the comment!
It’s lucky you saw the baby squid and chickpeas special being ordered or you would have missed out.
Indeed Robbie it was my favorite…I love baby squid and you dont get it much here in the US except breaded and deep fried!
We do get it here. Seafood is very popular in the Western CApe.
Considering LA is on the Pacific Ocean, we don’t have that much fresh seafood at all!
That’s interesting.