La Parada del Mar

Walk into La Parada del Mar, on Avinguda de Joan Miró in Cala Major, and the first thing you meet isn't a table but a fishmonger's: the counter of the day's fish and shellfish, where you choose what you want to eat, how much and how it should be cooked. Then you sit down, order a drink, and within minutes the food starts arriving. The cooking is deliberately simple — griddled, fried, steamed or a la marinera — so the produce does the talking: baby squid, Andalusian-style fried squid, razor clams, queen scallops, cockles, steamed mussels, griddled clams, large prawns or, for a celebration, lobster, with salad, chips or Padrón peppers on the side. If you'd rather not decide, there's a nine-course tasting menu with dessert and a bottle of wine between two, which cost around €35–37 in 2025 and is what many tables go for. The Repsol Guide has given it two Soletes, its award for informal places where you eat very well. For coeliacs, fried dishes can be made with chickpea and rice flour. The atmosphere is that of a busy eating house, with quick waiters and tables that turn over; it's not the place for an intimate dinner.

Reviewed in November 2026