Restaurant in Granada, Spain
Four tables. One menu. Book ahead.
A four-table tasting menu restaurant in Granada's Forum district with Michelin Plate recognition in 2024 and 2025. Chef Samuel Hernández runs a single seasonal menu drawing on French, Portuguese, and Spanish culinary traditions. At the €€ tier, it is one of the few venues in Granada operating at this level of kitchen focus. Book one to two weeks ahead.
Cala is the right call if you want a structured, intimate tasting menu experience in Granada and you are willing to let the kitchen set the pace. Four tables, a single seasonal menu, and a dining room designed for focus rather than noise: this is a venue for a couple or small group treating a meal as the occasion itself, not a backdrop to it. It is not the place for a casual tapas night or a large group dinner. If you want to graze across Granada's food scene, Bar Los Diamantes or Bodegas Castañeda will serve you better. If you want a chef-driven tasting menu in a room that seats fewer than twenty people, Cala earns your reservation.
The premise at Cala is specific: chef Samuel Hernández runs a single tasting menu that rotates each season and draws explicitly from three culinary traditions. His French lineage comes through in technique and structure; his Portuguese influence shows in the treatment of certain ingredients and preparations; and the Spanish foundation, both Andalusian and broader, anchors the sourcing. That three-way inheritance is not a marketing concept — it shapes how the menu is constructed. Dishes are not Spanish food with French garnish; the influences operate at the level of method and flavour logic.
Seasonal and locally sourced produce is the stated priority, which at the €€ price point in Granada means you are getting serious kitchen ambition without the price tag of Spain's starred dining rooms. For reference, a comparable commitment to technique and seasonality at El Celler de Can Roca in Girona or Arzak in San Sebastián costs significantly more and requires booking weeks or months ahead. Cala operates at a different scale, but the editorial commitment to a single tasting menu with wine pairing options signals a kitchen that is not hedging.
The Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 is a meaningful data point here. A Michelin Plate does not carry the weight of a star, but it does mean Michelin's inspectors consider the food good enough to flag the venue in its guide. In a city where Granada's dining conversation often centres on free tapas culture and historic bodegas, that recognition positions Cala as one of a small number of kitchens operating at a technically distinct level. The Google rating of 4.7 across 502 reviews reinforces that this is not a critical favourite that divides opinion — the consensus is positive and consistent.
Four tables. A contemporary interior described as meticulously designed. The Forum district, near the Parque de las Ciencias, is not the Albaicín or the historic centre , it is a quieter, more residential part of Granada that does not draw tourist foot traffic. That location means the room is unhurried. You are not competing with the noise and pace of the city's busier dining neighbourhoods. For a first-timer to Cala, expect a composed room, a focused service style, and a meal that runs at the menu's pace rather than yours. That is a feature, not a limitation, if a tasting menu format suits your evening.
The intimate scale also means the kitchen has full control over the experience. Four tables is small enough that timing and service can be genuinely personalised in a way that larger tasting menu venues struggle to deliver. Restaurants at the opposite end of the scale, like Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona, have engineered solutions to maintain quality across a larger operation. Cala's answer to that challenge is simply to stay small.
With only four tables, Cala fills quickly relative to its capacity. Booking a week or two ahead is advisable, particularly on weekends. The €€ price range puts this in Granada's mid-tier bracket, which means the tasting menu with wine pairing remains accessible compared to Spain's headline fine dining addresses. No phone or website is listed in our current data, so check Google Maps or a local booking platform for the most current contact details and hours.
The Forum location, near Parque de las Ciencias, is roughly a fifteen-minute taxi or ride from the Albaicín and the historic centre. If you are staying in central Granada, plan the journey: this is not a venue you will stumble across. Budget time to get there and back, particularly if you are combining the evening with sightseeing earlier in the day.
Granada's food culture defaults to informal: tapas bars, wine bars, and historic bodegas form the backbone of most visitors' eating. Venues like Taberna La Tana and Bar FM offer the convivial, flexible format that suits most nights in the city. Cala occupies a different register entirely. It is one of very few venues in Granada running a chef-led tasting menu with this level of stated culinary rigour, and the Michelin recognition confirms that the kitchen is executing at a standard that most of the city's restaurant options do not attempt.
For a first-timer asking whether this is worth prioritising over Granada's many excellent casual options: yes, if a tasting menu format appeals to you and the occasion warrants a more considered meal. The price-to-ambition ratio in the €€ tier is genuinely strong for what the kitchen is attempting. If you want to compare within Granada's contemporary dining set, Atelier Casa de Comidas and Arriaga are both worth considering, as is the farm-to-table approach at Albidaya. But for a tasting menu with a clearly defined culinary identity and two consecutive years of Michelin recognition, Cala is the most specific answer Granada currently offers.
Beyond Granada, if you are travelling through Spain and comparing tasting menu options at different price and ambition levels, the reference points shift considerably: Quique Dacosta in Dénia, Azurmendi in Larrabetzu, and Martin Berasategui in Lasarte-Oria operate at a starred level with different price expectations. Cala is not competing at that tier, but within Granada's actual dining options, it is doing something the other venues are not.
For more on eating and drinking in the city, see our full Granada restaurants guide, our full Granada bars guide, our full Granada hotels guide, our full Granada wineries guide, and our full Granada experiences guide.
Expect a single tasting menu that changes each season , you do not order from a standard menu. The room seats only four tables, so the pace is calm and the service focused. The location in the Forum district near Parque de las Ciencias is not central, so plan your transport. At the €€ price point, the kitchen is asking you to commit to its format for the evening, which is worth doing if that suits you.
Yes, at the €€ price tier. The Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025 signals that the kitchen is executing at a level above Granada's casual dining norm. Wine pairing is available, which is worth considering for the full experience. If you are comparing value against Granada's tapas options, the tasting menu costs more per head, but you are getting a structurally different meal.
For a Michelin-recognised tasting menu at the €€ tier in Granada, yes. The price-to-ambition ratio is strong. You are not paying starred-restaurant prices for a comparable level of kitchen focus. The caveat is format: if you prefer informal dining or want flexibility over what you eat, Cala's fixed menu structure is not the right choice regardless of price.
It is one of Granada's better answers for a special occasion dinner. Four tables, a contemporary room, a single focused menu, and Michelin recognition together create the conditions for a meal that feels considered. Book in advance and confirm the evening's menu format when you reserve. For a birthday or anniversary where the meal is the centrepiece of the evening, it works well.
Book one to two weeks ahead as a baseline, and further ahead for weekend evenings. Four tables means that even moderate demand fills the room quickly. It is not as difficult to secure as Granada's peak-season hotels or Spain's starred tasting menus, but same-week availability on a Friday or Saturday is not guaranteed.
With only four tables, large groups are not the right fit. A table for two or four works well within the intimate format. If your group is six or more, check directly with the venue about private hire or whether adjacent tables can be combined. Our current data does not include a phone number or website, so use Google Maps to find current contact details.
As a single tasting menu with a stated focus on seasonality and chef direction, dietary restrictions are leading discussed directly with the venue when booking. The kitchen is small and the menu is fixed, so advance notice is more important here than at a venue with a full à la carte list. Contact details are not in our current data , check Google Maps for current contact information.
For contemporary dining in Granada, Atelier Casa de Comidas offers Spanish contemporary cooking at the €€ tier and is worth comparing directly. Arriaga is another contemporary option in the city. For a more informal evening, Bar FM handles seafood small plates well at a similar price point. If you want the full tapas-and-wine experience that Granada is known for, Taberna La Tana and Bar Los Diamantes are the practical choices.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cala | Mexican, Modern Cuisine | €€ | Easy |
| Atelier Casa de Comidas | Spanish, Contemporary | €€ | Unknown |
| Taberna La Tana | Wine Bar | Unknown | |
| Bodegas Castañeda | Tapas Bar | Unknown | |
| Bar Los Diamantes | Tapas Bar | Unknown | |
| Bar FM | Seafood Small Plates | €€ | Unknown |
A quick look at how Cala measures up.
check the venue's official channels before booking. With only four tables and a single rotating tasting menu, the kitchen has limited flexibility to deviate from the set format. If you have serious dietary restrictions, flag them at reservation stage rather than on arrival — a menu this structured leaves little room for last-minute substitutions.
Yes, and it's one of the stronger options in Granada for that purpose. Four tables, a Michelin Plate kitchen, and a format that hands all decisions to the chef creates the kind of focused, unhurried dinner that works well for anniversaries or milestone meals. It won't feel festive or loud — if that's what you want, it's the wrong room.
The format is a single tasting menu — there's no à la carte, no ordering, and no choosing your own path through the meal. Chef Samuel Hernández draws on French, Portuguese, and Spanish culinary traditions, and the menu changes each season. Arrive knowing you're handing the evening to the kitchen.
Book at least one to two weeks out, more on weekends. Four tables means the restaurant fills quickly relative to its size — even mid-week slots can go fast if a private group takes one of the tables. Don't assume availability the night before.
Atelier Casa de Comidas is the closest like-for-like: a structured, chef-led format in a similarly intimate setting. For something more informal and characteristically Granadan, Taberna La Tana offers serious wine alongside good food without the tasting menu commitment. Bodegas Castañeda and Bar Los Diamantes are better picks if you want the classic tapas experience the city is known for.
At the €€ price range, it's a reasonable ask for what's on offer: a Michelin Plate kitchen, a seasonally driven menu that rotates, and a room with only four tables. The value case holds if you're genuinely interested in the chef's French-Portuguese-Spanish framework and want a structured dinner. If you'd rather graze across several places in one evening, Granada's tapas circuit is a better use of your time and money.
Yes, at the €€ tier, Cala sits well below what a Michelin Plate tasting menu typically costs in Madrid or Barcelona. The trade-off is format rigidity — one menu, no deviation. For the price point and the level of kitchen intent, it holds up. Compare it against Atelier Casa de Comidas if you want to see what a similar outlay gets you elsewhere in the city.
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