Restaurant in Palamós, Spain
Trained technique, honest prices, book it.
A Michelin Plate restaurant in central Palamós run by a couple trained at El Celler de Can Roca, Disfrutar, and Enigma. At €€ pricing, it delivers market-led Catalan cooking — built around local ingredients like the Palamós red prawn — in a contemporary room with a vaulted brick bar. The strongest credentials in town at this price point.
Yes — and for most celebration dinners on the Costa Brava, it is the right call at this price point. Kaos holds a Michelin Plate (2025) and a 4.6 Google rating across 557 reviews, which together signal consistent quality rather than a one-off performance. The kitchen is run by a couple whose combined training spans El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Disfrutar, and Enigma — three of Spain's most technically demanding kitchens. That pedigree shows in the cooking without inflating the bill beyond a €€ price range, making Kaos one of the more grounded options in the Palamós restaurant scene.
The room sets the mood before food arrives. Descend the stairs from Plaça de Sant Pere and you reach a bar with an open-brick vaulted ceiling, followed by a contemporary dining room that reads as considered rather than showy. For a birthday dinner, anniversary, or a date that needs to feel deliberate, the space clears that bar. It is not a tourist terrace and it is not trying to be a destination tasting-menu theatre , it sits in a practical middle ground that works well for two people who want the evening to feel special without the pressure of a formal multi-course commitment.
The à la carte changes according to what is available in the market, and the kitchen supplements it with daily suggestions built around seasonal, local produce. The Palamós red prawn appears regularly , served as a carpaccio, cooked whole, or in croquettes depending on the day , and it is worth ordering in whatever form is offered. This is one of the most sought-after ingredients on the Costa Brava, and a kitchen with Roca and Disfrutar alumni behind it knows how to treat it. Rice dishes are prepared individually rather than in bulk, which matters for texture and timing. If you are weighing a weekend visit, this approach to the menu makes Saturday or Sunday lunch a strong option: the market-driven format is at its freshest mid-week through the weekend when local suppliers are most active.
Brunch and weekend service angle is worth addressing directly. Kaos does not market itself as a brunch destination in the conventional sense, but the à la carte format and market-led daily suggestions make a weekend lunch here function similarly , lighter, ingredient-led, without the formality of a set tasting sequence. If you are in Palamós for a weekend and want one meal that combines a sense of occasion with flexibility over what you order, this is a stronger choice than venues locked into fixed menus.
Kaos sits at Plaça de Sant Pere, 14 in central Palamós, which means it is walkable from most accommodation in the old town. Booking difficulty is rated Easy , you do not need to plan weeks in advance the way you would for restaurants operating at a higher Michelin tier. That said, summer weekends on the Costa Brava fill dining rooms quickly, and given the quality-to-price ratio here, booking a few days ahead is sensible for Friday and Saturday evenings in July and August. Phone and online booking details are not listed in the current data, so the most reliable approach is to contact the venue directly or check current availability through local booking channels. For broader trip planning, the Palamós hotels guide, bars guide, and experiences guide cover the surrounding context.
Dress code information is not confirmed, but the contemporary room and the calibre of the kitchen suggest smart-casual is appropriate for a special occasion visit. Arriving under-dressed at a Michelin Plate restaurant with Enigma-trained cooks will feel mismatched.
For context on what the team's training means in practice: El Celler de Can Roca is one of the most technically rigorous restaurants in Europe, and alumni from that kitchen tend to carry a precision-first approach to produce and plating. Disfrutar and Enigma, both Barcelona-based, sit at the experimental end of Spanish cooking. Kaos is not operating at that register , it is a €€ restaurant in a Catalan coastal town , but the training informs the baseline competence. Compare this to what you get at similarly priced establishments along the coast, and the gap is meaningful.
If you are building a broader Spain itinerary around serious restaurants, Kaos makes sense as a lower-intensity, high-quality stop before or after visits to Arzak in San Sebastián, Azurmendi in Larrabetzu, Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona, or DiverXO in Madrid. It also sits in an interesting conversation with farm-to-table cooking more broadly , venues like Au Gré du Vent in Seneffe and BOK Restaurant in Münster pursue a similar market-led philosophy in their respective cities. Within Spain's fine dining tier, Aponiente in El Puerto de Santa María and Martin Berasategui in Lasarte-Oria represent the ceiling; Kaos operates several rungs below that in commitment and price, but the cooking philosophy is adjacent.
Book Kaos if you want a special-occasion dinner in Palamós that delivers trained technique, local ingredients, and a room that feels considered , without the booking anxiety or price of a full Michelin star restaurant. The Palamós red prawn alone is worth planning around. For a broader look at the town's dining options, see the full Palamós restaurants guide and the Palamós wineries guide for what to drink alongside it.
Yes. The combination of Michelin Plate recognition, a 4.6 rating, and a team trained at El Celler de Can Roca, Disfrutar, and Enigma makes Kaos a strong choice for a birthday or anniversary dinner in Palamós. The €€ price range means you get a genuinely skilled kitchen without the financial commitment of a starred restaurant. The vaulted brick bar and contemporary dining room provide atmosphere without being stiff. For couples, it works well as a date setting; for small groups celebrating, the à la carte format gives everyone flexibility.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, so last-minute reservations are often possible outside peak season. In July and August, when Palamós fills with summer visitors, aim to book three to five days ahead for weekend evenings. Weekday lunch in shoulder season is likely available with minimal notice. Phone and website details are not listed in current records, so contact the venue directly or check local booking platforms. The address is Plaça de Sant Pere, 14, making it direct to visit in person to enquire.
The Palamós red prawn is the standout local ingredient and appears in multiple preparations , carpaccio, cooked whole, or in croquettes , depending on the day's market availability. Order it in whatever form is on offer. The rice dishes are cooked individually, which puts them ahead of most comparable venues on texture. Beyond that, follow the daily suggestions, which are built around whatever the kitchen sourced that morning. This is a market-led kitchen, so the menu changes; do not arrive with a fixed dish in mind.
The à la carte format and market-driven menu structure give more flexibility than a fixed tasting sequence, which is generally better for dietary restrictions. However, specific allergy protocols and dietary accommodation policies are not confirmed in available data. Contact the venue directly before your visit if you have serious dietary requirements , the easiest route given that online booking details are currently unavailable.
Kaos operates an à la carte format rather than a formal tasting menu as its primary offering, supplemented by daily suggestions. This makes it a more flexible choice than tasting-only venues. If you want a multi-course progression, ordering the daily suggestions alongside a couple of à la carte dishes will get you close to that experience. Given the €€ pricing and the kitchen's training, the value for what arrives on the plate is solid , better than most restaurants at this price tier in Catalonia.
At €€ pricing with a Michelin Plate and alumni from three of Spain's most technically demanding kitchens, yes. You are not paying for a starred restaurant experience, but you are getting cooking that reflects serious training applied to excellent local ingredients , particularly the Palamós red prawn. Compare this to similarly priced options in town: La Salinera is more traditional, DVISI is more contemporary. Kaos sits at a productive middle point with the strongest verifiable credentials of the group.
| Venue | Awards | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kaos | Kaos is run by a couple, both trained in leading restaurants such as El Celler de Can Roca, Disfrutar, and Enigma. As you descend the stairs, you come to a pleasant bar crowned by an open-brick vaulted ceiling and, to one side, a modern dining room furnished in contemporary style. The à la carte takes its inspiration from what is available in the market, is reasonably varied and up-to-date in feel, and is always complemented by daily suggestions featuring local, seasonal ingredients (the famous Palamós red prawn, for example, is served as a carpaccio, cooked, or in croquettes). The rice dishes here are all prepared individually.; Michelin Plate (2025) | €€ | — |
| DVISI | €€ | — | |
| La Salinera | €€ | — | |
| Entre dos Mons | €€ | — | |
| Matsu Izakaya | €€ | — |
How Kaos stacks up against the competition.
Yes — it is the most credible special-occasion option in Palamós at this price point. The team trained at El Celler de Can Roca, Disfrutar, and Enigma, the room has a proper vaulted bar and a considered dining space, and the Michelin Plate (2025) confirms the kitchen is operating at a recognised level. At €€, you get a celebration dinner that feels earned without requiring a three-figure spend per head.
Book at least one to two weeks ahead in high season (July and August), when Palamós fills with visitors and the restaurant's 2025 Michelin Plate recognition makes it more sought after. Outside peak summer, a few days' notice is usually enough. The restaurant is in central Palamós on Plaça de Sant Pere, so it draws both locals and visiting traffic — do not assume availability on the night.
The Palamós red prawn is the standout anchor: it is served as a carpaccio, cooked, or in croquettes, and using the local catch is exactly what the kitchen does well. Beyond that, the rice dishes are prepared individually — worth ordering if you want something substantive. The à la carte changes with market availability, so ask about daily suggestions when you arrive, as those reflect the freshest seasonal ingredients.
The à la carte format gives more flexibility than a fixed tasting menu, which is useful if someone in your group has restrictions. Daily suggestions are ingredient-led and market-driven, so the kitchen is accustomed to working with what is available rather than a rigid script. Specific dietary accommodation is not documented in available records, so call ahead or note requirements when booking to confirm.
Kaos operates an à la carte format rather than a fixed tasting menu, so this is not the question to weigh here. The menu takes its cues from market availability and is complemented by daily specials — a format that suits two to three courses more than a long parade of dishes. If a tasting-menu progression is what you want on the Costa Brava, look at options in Girona; at Kaos, the à la carte is the format.
At €€, yes — straightforwardly. A Michelin Plate (2025) at this price tier is good value by any measure on the Costa Brava, and the training pedigree (El Celler de Can Roca, Disfrutar, Enigma) is not typically found at this price point. Compared to paying significantly more at a Michelin-starred room in Girona, Kaos delivers trained technique and local ingredients without the premium cost.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
