Well, it’s Saturday 19th October, Sunny and 28 °C and we did the Ruta De la Tapa in Catral. We really enjoyed the route last year and this one follows on a couple of weeks after the Benijofar event, which we visited once again.
So we’ll mark each of the venues we visted out of 40, so for example:
Service: 5/10
Ambience: 5/10
Drinks: 5/10
Tapas: 5/10
Overall score out of 40 possible points:20
As we could only do the one day, we had listed the bars we really wanted to visit then our intention was to pop to any others after completing this list.
Bar Anguila
This was the first place we visited and when we had tried to find out beforehand what ‘Pagalvok’ was we came up short, so we were intrigued here. The tapas was lovely, freshly prepared, the potato and onion combined and the flavours blended nicely with the meat.
We managed to get a table inside, drinks service was very quick. There were a few locals in having breakfast, but the tapas came out quite quickly, and was freshly made.
Beer was a small bottle, soft drink a 33cl can.
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 8/10
Drinks: 8/10
Tapas: 8/10
Overall score out of 40 possible points: 32
Antojicos
When we arrived here it was quiet, meaning we got served very quickly.
The tapas here was morcilla with a quails egg on top, on bread. This was very nice, especially as I like morcilla. Beer was bottled, the soft drink a can.
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 8/10
Drinks: 8/10
Tapas: 8/10
Overall score out of 40 possible points: 32
Merida
We were going to pop next door, but every seat was taken and we decided not to hang around.
Bar La Plaza
Quick service as they had the pay point to the right where you ordered and got your ticket. We both went for the tapas and beer option here, but you got to choose which tapas dish you wanted.
We went with the lomo and Potato Bravas.
The lomo was tender and tasty, the Potato Bravas sauce was rather bland and needed that kick of spicyness.
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 8/10
Drinks: 8/10
Tapas: 8/10
Overall score out of 40 possible points: 32
Bar Sanchez
As ever this was popular, luckily we arrived early and managed to grab a table. A huge selection of tapas to choose from. Quick and professional service, these guys know how to run a tapas event for sure. Bottled beer and canned soft drink, but boy what a selection of tapas available.
So we had morcilla with egg, bacon with padron pepper, tortilla and their advertised dish of Feliz Navidad, which was like a small burger with nice texture and flavours. This was so popular people were queueing just to wait for the next batch to be made available, this is how popular this was.
I actually had a second round here, just to enable me to taste another couple of tapas. This time I went for the omlette and the salchicha. Again both were nice.
Service: 9/10
Ambience: 9/10
Drinks: 8/10
Tapas: 10/10
Overall score out of 40 possible points: 36
Enreo
I have to say they were well prepared, with the desk at the bottom entrance being the pay point to get the tickets. Several different dishes to choose from and the beers were bottled. What I liked here was the option for being able just to order a tapas without a drink, or in addition to the drink and tapas.
Something else to add was everything was labelled in English too, very helpful for those of us not fluent in the local lingo!
We had the X lo queue sea by JMB, which was a seafood type of spring roll.
Our second tapas was pulled pork. Both these dishes had plenty of flavour and texture.
Service: 9/10
Ambience: 9/10
Drinks: 8/10
Tapas: 10/10
Overall score out of 40 possible points: 36
Ovi
This was our first ever visit here, but won’t be our last.
Service was friendly, polite and welcoming. Different tapas to choose from and both dishes we tried were tasty. The prawn roll was nice, the sauce added flavour. The Ovi Piquillo meat tapas was fine.
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 8/10
Drinks: 8/10
Tapas: 8/10
Overall score out of 40 possible points: 32
Venecia
This bar was very busy, but we managed to get a table. Service was fine, the tapas dishes were tasty. here you all got the Ravioli Veneciano as the standard tapa but you also got another one to choose. This was a cheese, onion and ham tartlet, which was very flavoursome.
While we were there the band were there and started playing, which added to the party mood of the day.
Service: 8/10
Ambience: 8/10
Drinks: 8/10
Tapas: 8/10
Overall score out of 40 possible points: 32
Bar Susi
Totally rammed as we got there, so sadly had to pass this one by.
El Burladero
Total chaos here when we got there. I had added this to our list as we’ve always had great tapas here and the Secreto sounded lovely. Reality was it was like a jumble sale with people pushing at the bar and it seemed that Spanish were getting served first. This meant that I was sat while Soph was trying to get served, but watch 4 lads who walked in a good 5 minutes after her, walk out with the Secreto, but they then ran out. So people were now being offered a clear broth or a type of sausage roll instead, which to be honest were not that good, we both chose the latter option.
Service: 6/10
Ambience: 8/10
Drinks: 8/10
Tapas: 6/10
Overall score out of 40 possible points: 28
Our Winners
This is a 2 way tie this time, Bar Sanchez for the ambience and choice of tapas and Enreo for the quality of their tapas. There were none of the establishments we managed to get to that disappointed. if any one was going to be last on the list, sadly it was El Burladero, for the reasons we mentioned above.
The Prizes For Taking Part.
If you managed to collect 7 stamps, you can enter into the draw to win prizes including a smartphone from Telfy, one of 24 vouchers of 30 to spend in any of the participating establishments, a night for 4 people at Alannia Costa Blanca or a Goltratec Bluetooth.
Final Thoughts On The Catral Ruta De La Tapa 2024
Loved it today, it’s a shame we are unable to attend the Sunday to visit the other establishments, and also revisit a couple of the ones from today. What is good to see is they kept the same prices as last year which are €3.00 each for a beer and tapas or €3.50 each if you want a soft drink. As I have beer, this means it’s a 50c per drink saving compared to most of the other tapas route events.
Another thing I really like about the Catral event is most of the people we saw on the Saturday were Spaniards, who were out as families and enjoying themselves.
What was great to see was no tiny, half filled plastic cups of draught beer or bottled soft drink. The bars and restaurants we visited did a great jo of providing good quality product and service. Some of these establishments were taking place for the first time and managed to cope exceptionally well.
Looking forward to next years event, where we might hopefully be able to do both days and get around more places!
