Restaurant in Llafranc, Spain
Costa Brava views, serious Mediterranean cooking.
Casamar is the strongest case for a considered Mediterranean meal in Llafranc: a Michelin-recognised kitchen inside a family-run hotel with over seventy years of operation, hillside views over the bay, and a flexible format spanning à la carte and two tasting menus. At €€€, it sits well below the €€€€ tier of Spain's headline restaurants while holding a 4.7 Google rating. Book dinner for occasions; lunch à la carte for value.
Casamar is the right call for couples or small groups who want a considered Mediterranean meal on the Costa Brava without committing to the full theatre of Spain's €€€€ tasting-menu circuit. The setting, within a family-run hotel that has been operating for over seven decades and is now in its second generation, gives the dining room a settled confidence that purely restaurant-focused venues rarely match. If you are visiting Llafranc for the first time and want one meal that captures what this stretch of the Catalan coast actually tastes like, this is where to go. It is also a sensible choice for a special occasion where the priority is quality and atmosphere rather than provocation.
The restaurant sits inside Hotel Casamar on a hillside position above Llafranc's bay, which means the views from the dining room extend across the beach and the coastline beyond. For a first visit, arrive early enough to take in that setting before the room fills. The kitchen under chef Quim Casellas works across a clear range of formats: an à la carte with a dedicated rice section, and two set menus named Punta d'en Blanc and Degustación. The à la carte gives you the most flexibility, and it is the format to choose at lunch when you may want a lighter commitment. The Degustación menu is the move at dinner when you want the kitchen to sequence the meal for you.
The cooking sits at the intersection of traditional Catalan and Mediterranean technique, with Casellas incorporating produce and flavour references from the immediate local area. The menu has included dishes such as white asparagus with hollandaise, aged pork rib, and puffed rice with caviar. These read as accessible reference points rather than test-kitchen challenges, which is important context for first-timers: this is not a conceptually demanding meal. It is precise, regionally grounded cooking that makes sense for where you are. The Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 confirms consistent quality at this level without overstating the ambition. The Opinionated About Dining ranking at #472 in Europe for 2025 places Casamar in a competitive band of restaurants that serious diners track.
For a first-time visitor, the lunch versus dinner question at Casamar is worth thinking through carefully because the two experiences serve different purposes. Lunch here has a practical advantage: you get the kitchen at full capacity during daylight, the views of the bay are at their most readable, and the à la carte format means you can eat for less than a full set-menu commitment. If budget is a consideration within the €€€ price range, lunch à la carte is the more flexible entry point. A focused lunch of two courses plus the rice section is a strong introduction to what Casellas does without locking you into the full sequence.
Dinner at Casamar is where the occasion logic kicks in. The Degustación menu is built for an evening pace, and the hillside setting reads differently after dark with the lights of the bay below. For a birthday, anniversary, or any meal where the event itself matters, book dinner and take the longer menu. The pricing across both menus sits at €€€, which is meaningful in the context of a Costa Brava summer trip where coastal restaurant pricing can escalate quickly. Casamar's position as a hotel restaurant with a loyal returning clientele also means service tends to be measured and attentive rather than rushed, which supports the evening format well. The 4.7 Google rating across 889 reviews suggests this consistency holds across seasons.
Llafranc is a small coastal village in the Baix Empordà region of Girona, well positioned for travellers already exploring the Costa Brava. For context on other places to eat and stay in the area, see our full Llafranc restaurants guide, our full Llafranc hotels guide, and our full Llafranc bars guide. If you are planning a broader itinerary, our Llafranc wineries guide and experiences guide are also worth checking.
The booking difficulty at Casamar is classified as easy relative to the broader Spanish fine dining market. That said, Llafranc is a summer destination and the hotel's dining room has a limited number of covers. Book at least two to three weeks ahead if visiting in July or August. Off-season visits in May, June, or September carry less urgency but confirm in advance regardless. Contact via the hotel directly since no online booking system is listed in current data.
Dress is smart-casual for the €€€ price point in this setting. The room is not formal, but a beachside resort aesthetic does not mean anything goes at dinner. For special-occasion meals on the Degustación menu, err toward smart rather than casual.
For comparison context across Spain's broader fine dining circuit, El Celler de Can Roca in Girona is the region's three-Michelin-star benchmark and sits in a different category entirely. Quique Dacosta in Dénia and Ricard Camarena in València offer useful reference points for what Mediterranean-focused cooking looks like at the next tier. Martin Berasategui, Mugaritz, and Atrio in Cáceres extend the wider Spanish fine dining picture if you are building a longer trip. For global modern cuisine comparisons, Frantzén in Stockholm and FZN by Björn Frantzén in Dubai show how the format translates across markets.
| Venue | Price | Format | Booking Difficulty | Setting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Casamar (Llafranc) | €€€ | À la carte + tasting menus | Easy | Hotel, hillside bay views |
| Aponiente (El Puerto de Santa María) | €€€€ | Tasting menu only | Hard | Converted tidal mill |
| Arzak (San Sebastián) | €€€€ | À la carte + tasting menu | Moderate–Hard | Family house, longstanding institution |
| Azurmendi (Larrabetzu) | €€€€ | Tasting menu only | Moderate | Purpose-built, countryside |
| Cocina Hermanos Torres (Barcelona) | €€€€ | Tasting menu only | Moderate | Industrial warehouse |
| DiverXO (Madrid) | €€€€ | Tasting menu only | Very Hard | Hotel, theatrical |
At €€€, Casamar sits below the €€€€ tier that dominates Spain's most-awarded restaurants. For what you get, a Michelin-recognised kitchen, a hillside bay setting, flexible format between à la carte and tasting menus, and a Google rating of 4.7 across nearly 900 reviews, the value is strong by Costa Brava standards. It is not a cheap meal, but compared to committing to a €€€€ tasting menu at Aponiente or DiverXO, Casamar gives you quality and setting at a meaningfully lower price point.
Yes, with a specific recommendation: book dinner and take the Degustación menu. The hillside setting above Llafranc bay, the hotel context, and the structured tasting menu format make it well-suited to birthdays, anniversaries, or any occasion where the meal is the event. For a couple's anniversary in particular, the combination of views, regional cooking, and the seven-decade family history of the property gives the evening a grounded sense of place that more concept-driven restaurants in this price range cannot match.
Two to three weeks ahead is the practical minimum during the summer peak of July and August when Llafranc sees its highest visitor numbers. Outside peak summer, a week's notice is likely sufficient, but confirming in advance is always the safer approach. Casamar is classified as easy to book relative to the broader Spanish fine dining market, so you are not facing the months-long lead times of venues like DiverXO.
Smart-casual is the appropriate standard at this price point and setting. The hotel context and €€€ positioning means the room is not formally strict, but dinner on the Degustación menu warrants dressing up slightly. A beach resort aesthetic does not translate to the dining room in the evening, so bring at least one smart layer if you are combining a beach day with dinner. For lunch à la carte, smart-casual holds without the formality pressure.
No specific dietary policy is published in current available data. The standard recommendation for any restaurant at this level with set-menu options is to contact the venue directly when booking, clearly stating any dietary requirements. The kitchen's focus on Mediterranean and Catalan produce, with rice dishes as a dedicated menu section, suggests reasonable flexibility, but confirm directly rather than assuming. The hotel's contact details are available via the property address at Carrer del Nero, 3, Llafranc, Girona.
The kitchen's Mediterranean and traditional Spanish focus means fish, shellfish, and meat feature heavily across both the à la carte and the two set menus (Punta d'en Blanc and Degustación). check the venue's official channels before booking if you have specific dietary needs — at €€€ pricing, a quick call ahead is worth the effort to avoid surprises on the night.
Book at least two to three weeks out if you're visiting in peak Costa Brava season (July and August), when Llafranc fills up and the hotel dining room draws both guests and outside visitors. Shoulder season — May, June, or September — gives you more flexibility, though Casamar's Michelin Plate recognition and OAD ranking (#472 in Europe, 2025) mean it's not a walk-in venue on busy weekends.
The setting is a family-run hotel restaurant above a small coastal bay, which points toward neat, relaxed clothing rather than formal attire. Think resort-smart: pressed trousers or a summer dress works; a jacket is unlikely to be required but wouldn't look out of place given the €€€ price point.
Yes, particularly for couples or small groups who want something more considered than a beachfront bistro without the formality of a full tasting-menu operation. The hillside setting above Llafranc bay, the Degustación menu option, and the Michelin Plate status all support a celebratory booking — it reads as a destination rather than just a convenient dinner.
At €€€, Casamar sits in a reasonable range for Michelin-recognised cooking on the Costa Brava, where comparable quality is scarce in a small coastal village. Chef Quim Casellas's focus on local Mediterranean ingredients with technical touches — the à la carte includes rice dishes, white asparagus, aged pork rib, and a puffed rice and caviar option — gives the menu genuine range. If you're already in the Llafranc or Girona area, the value case is solid; travelling specifically for it requires more commitment than the recognition level currently justifies.
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