ANDALUCÍA - CÁDIZ - BARBATE - RESTAURANTE EL CAMPERO

Miguel Renoir Spanish Guides
Jun 21, 2022
3 min read

Updated: Dec 1

RESTAURANTE EL CAMPERO Michelin Plate IIO

Barbate, a rather scruffy fishing village on the southern coast of Spain near Cádiz, has been catching bluefin tuna using the same methods for over 3,000 years. This traditional method, almadraba, is famous throughout Spain for catching the country's most popular tuna.

The almadraba season runs from May to June. Small fishing boats attached to giant round nets float in an ever-widening circle in the narrow Strait of Gibraltar between Africa and Europe. As the circle widens, the nets become taught, drawing the tuna closer and closer to the surface. When silvery fins start flashing across the surface, expert fishermen spear these giant fish, hauling them aboard.

Restaurante El Campero

This surprising Restaurant is a shiny white haunt for celebrities, politicians, and chefs from all over Spain. Unlike this somewhat rundown fishing town, it would not look out of place in Mayfair. It is best known for its fantastic, locally caught bluefin tuna, which it serves in almost 30 different ways.

The best cuts are morillo and ventresco, which cost around €60 per kg. You can also eat the heart and eggs, which they say are a delicacy, at around €325/kg!

There is a bright, formal Restaurant.

You can also eat at the bar.

Stalls or tables are scattered around.

You can sit on the outside terrace at a fine summer lunchtime or evening.

Prices were very inexpensive but have slightly increased lately; even so, the stunning tapas include:

There is also a tiny lunchtime menu.

On this occasion, we had dinner.

House salad.

Pinchitos Morunos de Atún

Mini Burguer de Atún (mini tuna burgers)

Surtido de crudo (tartar de cola blanca, tataki, lomo picante, sashimi descargado y sashimi de ventresca). An assortment of raw (whitetail tartare, tataki, spicy loin, white loin sashimi and belly sashimi).

Parrillada de atún (ventresca, tarantelo, parpatana y corazón) Tuna grill (belly, sirloin, fatty part of the jaw and heart).

We had a bottle of Rosalía de Castro Albariño 2018.

When we came in 2018, we had the following.

Croquetas caseras de bacalao o jamón (salt cod & ham croquetas).

Mini Burger de Atún (tuna burger in smart McDoMcDonald's style boxes).

Langostino en tempura con ali-oli de tomate (the lightest, crispiest tempura you can have)

Won Ton Crocate de Atún Rojo con Salsa Teriyaki.

Brochetita de atún rojo en tempura.

Atún lomo picante (spicy tuna).

Sashimi de Ventres.

They never buy bluefin tuna that weighs less than 30 kilos, as it is usually around 10 years old. They are cautious about who they buy the fish from. The tuna is frozen at -60 degrees so it can be used year-round.

This is because the almadraba, the ancient method of fishing for bluefin tuna, is limited to May and June, when the fish migrate into the Mediterranean through the narrow Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco. Barbate is ideally situated to take advantage of this annual migration.

For dessert, try Tocino de Cielo (Flan)