La Cárcel

La primera estrella se la gana por el lugar en el que está, en el casco histórico de Arcos de la Frontera –maravillosa localidad – . La segunda por el buen trato del servicio. La tercera por la calidad de la comida y la cuarta por el precio.
Habitualmente, cuando visito un pueblo de sierra busco una gastronomía más tradicional. No obstante, había leído tantas críticas buenas de este sitio que decidí probar.
Lo primero que me llamó la atención es ver que estaba lleno de gente. Parece una tontería pero eso influye mucho, sobre todo cuando los bares cercanos estaban prácticamente vacíos. Una vez que entras, la atención de loa camareros es bastante buena. Educados, simpáticos y atentos. Si no vas pronto te costará coger mesa. Reservar puede ser una buena idea.
Es un bar con un menú más moderno que tradicional. Tapas, medias raciones y raciones. Probé las croquetas de setas y estaban francamente buenas. Deliciosas y suaves. También unos paquetitos bastante curiosos fe dátiles con queso y mermelada y un plato de magret de pato con reducción de PX. En esto último fallaron un poco. El magret estaba bien hecho, pero tenía un exceso de salsa que enmascaraba su sabor.
Se sitúa en una buena zona. En el casco histórico de la localidad, por lo que es una buena opción para coger fuerzas antes de andurrear por la bonita Arcos.
Si no te apetece comida de sierra y platos más clásicos, este es tu sitio.

Great tapas bar close to the top of arcos de la frontera’s Santa Maria church. Very friendly and helpful service. I enjoyed the octopus served in olive oil, paprika, and spices; Iberian ham toasts with the omnipresent salmorejo (tomato, olive oil, and herbs) sauce and poached quail egg; and lightly fried shrimp spring rolls. I was disappointed with the mushrooms which had almost no mushrooms and instead ended up like a potato frittata with a few mushrooms sprinkled in it. The oxtail croquettes tasted fine but I couldn’t taste any oxtail at all.
Very affordable at around 2 to 3 euros per tapa. Some outdoor tables (albeit about a third of the block up from the restaurant). Very happening bar on the weekends. It’s busiest between 9:30 and midnight.

Just arrived in Arcos and stopped in for our first meal based on the Rick Steves’ guidebook recommendation, it did not disappoint. The menu was available in English, in addition to the traditional tapas it also included quite a few new options. We recommend the shrimp with pineapple sauce, it was a large shelled shrimp wrapped in lettuce and a spring roll wrapper, fried, and served with a drizzling of a sweet/​sour sauce and from the cold menu the white asparagus with salmon and avocado, which was served over lettuce. All in all a memorable mid-​day treat in a well air conditioned space.

Travel around enough in Spain, and you will eat at plenty of forgettable tapas bars. Either the tidbits are the same, or a rehash of the same ingredients in different forms, or the ingredients just are not stunning.
Then you come across La Cárcel, it was not outstanding tapas, but it was memorable b/​c they made theirs different, perhaps even a more gourmet element.
1. Many Spanish locals and tourists eating away, good sign.
2. The tapas were more inventive or just had a unique twist which is what stuck in my head. We knew a few we wanted to try from TripAdvisor reviews, but honestly it’s better just to order 1 – 2 to start with, then order whatever catches the eye as it’s being served around you.
Tapas is suppose to be just relaxing and nibbling, not full on dinner meals ordered all at once. so try this method and you will eat a greater and better variety than blindly ordering everything all at once.