IBIZA - SANT JOSEP - ES BOL NOU -- RESTAURANT SA CALETA

Oct 6

3 min read

Updated: Oct 7

RESTAURANT SA CALETA

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2026: The beach opposite the restaurant, Es Bol Nou, is now closed for safety reasons. This also applies to the viewing tunnel to the left of the beach. The restaurant remains open.

In October 2026, we returned to an old favourite Restaurant Sa Caleta. The restaurant is situated between the airport and Cala Jondal. Just before you turn off for Cala Jondal, you will see a sign for the restaurant on the left. Drive down the dusty camino, where there is ample parking at the bottom. The restaurant is on the left.

The restaurant began life as a simple beach chiringuito in June 1988, founded by Pepín Pujolet and Victoria Baos.

With the family's long connection to fishing and traditional recipes handed down by Pepín’s mother, Catalina Puvil, the small wooden beach restaurant gradually became one of Ibiza’s best-known traditional seafood restaurants. Today, their son, Jordi Cardona Baos, runs it and continues the family’s emphasis on fresh local fish, seafood, rice dishes, and traditional Ibicencan cooking.

We had lunch from the current 2026 menu.

We started with the ubiquitous pan con alioli and a bottle of Belondrade y Lurton (Rueda) 2022.

Boquerones en vinagre (marinated anchovies).

Almejas a la marinera (fisherman’s style clams).

Endivias, queso azul Roquefort, miel y nueces (endives, Roquefort blue cheese, honey & walnuts).

Arroz de ciego. Pollo, pescado y marisco sin huesos ni espinas.

Blind man’s rice. Chicken, fish and seafood without bones or fish bones.

Flaó (local goat and sheep cheese dessert with mint and anise).

To finish, we had the usual fiery café caleta. This after-meal drink has its origins with the local fishermen, long before the restaurant opened. Pep Pujolet, the present owner’s grandfather, had a small fishermen’s house at Sa Caleta where friends would gather on Sundays to cook rice, fish stews and bullit de peix using the day’s catch. After spending time in Galicia while serving in the navy, he brought back the idea of burning alcohol, similar to the Galician queimada. This developed into café caleta, the fiery coffee with brandy, rum, spices and citrus peel that remains a speciality of the restaurant today.

The autumn weather was unpredictable, featuring sunshine, rain, and wind, but it remained very pleasant at 24°C.

During the summer, a masseur sets up tables at the beach entrance. Next to the restaurant is a chill lounge, Es Jardí, where you can enjoy a drink and sometimes listen to live music in the evening.

The following is a visit in the summer of 2023.

Here you will find all sorts of excellent Ibicencan seafood and local produce, including:

Pimientos de Padrón.

Calamares a la plancha (grilled squid).

Gambas a la plancha (grilled prawns).

Arroz a banda.

Dorada (gilthead sea bream).

You can choose any kind of live crustacean from the seawater tanks or the fish hanging in the glass fridge in the restaurant.

Everyone sits outside in the summer.

Consider trying some excellent white wines from Rueda, such as Verdejo, or an Albariño from Rías Baixas in Galicia. They also offer outstanding local wines, particularly the rosés.

After your meal, be sure to try the famous café caleta, a flaming hot coffee infused with local liqueurs, spices, orange peel, and lemon. Be careful; it is powerful, so do not go swimming straight after your meal!

At the end of your meal, you may need a lie-down! So, walk down to the sandy beach below.

The beach is set against a breathtaking backdrop of copper-red cliffs and is relatively shallow, making it ideal for children.

You can join in a local custom: fill a bucket with water and the rich copper-coloured sand, cover yourself with your sand/mud pack and roll in the nearby seaweed, which sticks to the sand.

Lie down and soak up the sun for 20 minutes until your homemade face and body mud pack dries. Then you can dive into the sea to wash it off.

During the summer, a masseur sets up tables at the beach entrance. Next to the restaurant, there is a chill-out lounge where you can enjoy a drink and listen to live music in the evening.