Cal Pep, Barcelona, Spain

Ok, I guess I'm wayyy behind on my food reviews. It's the start of autumn in Hong Kong and I'm just starting to write about my favourite restaurant from the summer holidays. I have no excuse except that it's been a fantastic busy summer and I'm finally settling down to do some real work.
My fellow foodie travelling buddy S had raved about Cal Pep last time she visited Barcelona so when we found ourselves back in Barcelona for a week long visit, I couldn't wait to make my way there ... even with the warning that we were in for a wait of at least an hour. Cal Pep is located at no. 8, Placa de la Olle (http://www.calpep.com/), which is close to the sea side end of Gran Via. In the evening, the restaurant opens at 8 pm sharp, and from about 7.30 pm onwards you'll notice a queue. (The first time S went, it was full of locals ... this time we were in a queue with about 15 other American tourists - apparently it's been written up in TimeOut and a few other US guides. I guess the secret's out.)

The restaurant is divided into two sections, a long bar overlooking the open kitchen and a dining room area. The bar is the place to sit, facing the energetic chefs hollering at each other as they serve up plates of crunchy deep fried seafood, pan fried steak and fish, while filling everyone's glasses to the brim with cava and vino. It's the heart and soul of Cal Pep. When the restaurant doors open, the guests will quickly fill up the 16 or so seats at the bar. When these seats are filled, it's at least another 45 min wait before the first round clears. The rest of the guests form an orderly queue directly behind the long bar of patrons. If like us, you were unlucky enough just miss out because some tourists in the queue ahead of you were bagging seats for their friends waiting at the bar in the middle of the Placa, all is not lost. Just order a bottle of Cava (local sparkling white) which the bar staff will happily serve you and keep cool for you behind the bar. There's nothing like being a little bit tipsy and watching the plates of good food whish past to get your appetite going.

As for the food ...

Tuna tartare

Well the English of the staff is limited, as was our Spanish, so we decided to let the waiters decide for us ... though we did let them know of the (few) preferences we had developed from gaping at those seated at the bar table during our wait ... "No chickpeas" ... "definitely want tuna" ... "clams!". Firstly, you will be served with the toasted bread rubbed with tomatoes, drizzled with olive oil. Unless you are very very hungry, we suggest that you leave it for now. Wait for the platter of deep fried mixed seafood plate ... so lightly battered, crunchy and tasty, there's a mix of white bait, a flatish fish (eel?), squid and shrimp. This dish is to die for. Then they might follow it up with the baby clams cooked with parsley and olive oil, with bits of pancetta. My favourite is probably the tuna tartare, which is tangy from being lightly marinated, to be scooped up onto the accompanying small crispy toasts.

At first we were going to give the tortilla a miss because it looked so heavy. When it came towards the latter part of our meal we had to take a deep breath before digging in. But one bite and we were in heaven. The outer layer is light and cripsy and the inside still gooey, the best part was that they had cooked it in chorizo oil with chorizo bits so that the whole torilla ooozed with a smokey, salty flavour. Lathered with the aoili (garlic mayo), we polished off the whole dish even though we were absolutely stuffed.

But the most memorable dish is probably the pimientos (small green peppers). The first time I had them with S, we had a plate full of salty deep fried peppers which were slightly spicy. The second time I visited with J, I was hit with two bombshells of spicy pimientos ... J looked at my bemused as she crunched her way through the plate while I fanned the flames in my mouth and wiped the tears with my napkin, saying, "Hey S, there are not spicy at all!". It was only later at the airport checking out recipe books that I realised that eating pimientos in Spain is like playing Russian roulette ... 1 in 10 is extremely spicy!

Deep fried seafood, oh the crunch!

Even if you have tourists breathing down your neck behind you, you must stay on for the dessert. The flavoured cream is an interesting concoction, but it's the daily pastries that they get from a local bakery that will knock your socks off. The puff pastry with chocolate truffles that J and I dug into at the end of our meal left us in no doubt that we'd have to go back. Soon.