Bodega Azor — Restaurant in Calella

I’m not a big fan of Calella, but if you are there, you must experience this absolute gem of a bodega. Exquisite food, wine, atmosphere, and service, and attention to details such as making sure the elegant glassware is always clean and sparkly. Ask the servers for their recommendations. I did so, and they recommended the coca with iberian ham, a kind of cheese I can’t remember, mushrooms, truffles, and pine nuts. The ingredients were of the best quality, the portions were huge, and it tasted like 1000 years of European civilization. So many wonderful flavors interacting in a new way, it was an unforgettable experience. I followed their recommendation of red wine by the glass, which on that day was a tasty and balanced Ribera del Duero, absolutely delicious. I finished with the homemade chocolate truffles with salt and olive oil, the ideal dessert to finish such a meal. The vibe was warm, social, even neighborly; I saw many of the patrons who had to be either locals, or if not, repeat visitors, chatting with the skilled and knowledgable servers, addressing them by name as if they have known each other forever. This is the perfect place to go if you want to escape the bad-quality, mass-produced food and dysfunctional organization that abounds in this world, and have a rewarding experience as a fly on the wall at a genuine, impeccably-functioning Calella institution. I can’t wait to...

The cava and oysters were very good, but the rest of the experience was disappointing. We told the waitress we liked fish so we got the salmon cubes with pesto; mine contained many bones. When the waitress saw my face and asked what was wrong I mentioned the food did not meet my expectations. I told her more than once, but nothing was done. Only at the very end, after repeating myself a third time, the waitress gave a “sorry” and said she had never seen a guest so disappointed, but no real solution or compensation was offered.

The main dish also did not match our expectations: it was presented as a simple sandwich rather than the more refined plate we imagined. All food was served so quickly that we finished dinner within half an hour, while we had hoped for a relaxed evening.

Overall, a disappointing experience, despite a promising start.

It can be that our expectations were too high and I totally leave that with us. We could have done more research beforehand. However, in my opinion, you never let an unhappy customer leave. They could at least have...

This place is amazing. It is a nice small restaurant in a side street of the, very touristic, commercial street. If you don't know it's there you would walk past it easily. A lot of locals eat here and I know why. The staff is very committed and runs like crazy to help everyone in time. And you can see that they love their job. The owner seems to know every one.

Then there is the food. There a quite a couple dishes to choose from. All of them sounded delicious but we chose the capa with Duck ham, grilled pepper, confit onions and capers and the one with ham and brie. Both of them were great, but the one with the duck was out of this world. You really need to taste this when you are there. Also the desserts were nice. The fried bread with cinnamon ice cream was the best and the home made chocolate truffles with salt and olive oil was, surprisingly, a great combination. If I ever return to Calella I definitely come back. If you go there don't forget to leave a great tip since the...