The was our first evening in Barcelona. We each had recommendations from various acquaintances, but I did steer us to try El Xampanyet based on a neighbor’s recommendation and reviews I had read. We had a nice walk there and arrived 30 minutes after their opening which was a big mistake. The place was full and had a line of at least 20 people out the door. Since they were just going through the round of diners, we didn’t expect that the line was going to move much for awhile (and at least I was tired and hungry already), so we ditched it and went to another place, Cal Pep, nearby that was recommended to my sister.

The menu outside seemed to look pretty typical, so we went in. There is a tapas bar up front which was full, but they fortunately were able to squeeze us into a table in the room in the back, but told us we could only have it for an hour and a half. We had a very animated and entertaining waitperson. We asked what he recommend and we went ahead and ordered all of his recommendations – tuna tartare, fried calamari, pan con tomate, fried artichoke, trampera omelette, grilled fish and we also added el padrón peppers, croquetta, and ultimately milhoja (puff pastry with pastry cream). Of all the dishes, I think the general favorite was the fried artichoke. Both fish dishes, the tuna tartar and the roast fish were quite fresh. I wasn’t that excited by the fried calamari (nothing especially wrong with it, but it seemed quite basic).

My sister (who lives in Lanzarote and comes to the mainland of Spain regularly) said it was a very typical tapas place. I think I just had higher expectations with all the excitement of being in Barcelona (hadn’t been here for 10+ years). Obviously, it’s not intended to be fine dining and there was nothing wrong with the meal per se, but had just hoped for a bit more of an exciting meal.

https://www.calpep.com