What to try for lunch
The main meal of the day: paella, fresh fish, suquet, gazpacho and calçots.
Lunch is the main meal in Spain. Spaniards usually have lunch between 1:30 and 3:30 pm, and that’s when restaurants serve their best dishes.
🥘 Paella
Spain’s most famous dish. Although paella comes from Valencia, it’s made in almost every restaurant on the Costa Daurada.
The most popular versions:
- with seafood (Paella de Marisco);
- mixed, with meat and seafood (Paella Mixta);
- black rice (Arroz Negro) with cuttlefish ink, usually served with garlicky alioli.
💡 A good paella takes about 30–40 minutes to cook, so it’s rarely served quickly.
🐟 Fresh fish and seafood
Since Tarragona is a port city, fresh fish is a must here.
Most often on the menu:
- Dorada (gilt-head bream);
- Lubina (sea bass);
- Rodaballo (turbot);
- Rape (monkfish);
- Merluza (hake);
- Gamba Roja (red prawns);
- Sepia (cuttlefish);
- Pulpo (octopus).
If Pescado del día (“fish of the day”) is on the menu, it’s usually the freshest catch.
🍲 Suquet de Peix
A traditional Catalan fish stew with fresh fish, potatoes and a rich broth. One of the most authentic dishes in the region, though it isn’t on every menu.
🍅 Try gazpacho in summer
When it’s hot, many restaurants serve gazpacho — a cold tomato soup with vegetables and olive oil. It’s very refreshing and especially popular in summer.
🧅 Calçots
In winter and spring, be sure to try calçots — a special sweet Catalan onion, grilled over an open flame and served with romesco sauce. In season, many restaurants offer a special Calçotada menu with calçots, grilled meat, wine and dessert. This is one of Catalonia’s best-known food traditions, and its birthplace is said to be the town of Valls, just 20 minutes from Tarragona.
🌐 Translated from Russian; the translation hasn't been proofread yet.