Bobo Pulpín

With a cartoon octopus as its mascot and a discrete locale tucked behind the Cathedral of Barcelona, Bobo Pulpín may have inadvertently flown under the radar of Barcelona’s cadre of restaurant hunters, trendsetters and food-obsessed Instagrammers. But no longer. After one taste of its crispy tapa of fried octopus head and bull de pulpo (a pork rib and octopus sausage), it’s not hard to recognise the skill and creativity that have become the Iglesias brothers’ signature attributes, which I now want to proclaim far and wide. Bobo Pulpín is a spin-off of Cañota, part of the Grup Iglesias restaurant empire, which also includes Rías de Galicia, espai Kru, Bellavista del Jardín del Norte, and all the Adrià restaurants (Tickets, Pakta, Enigma, etc.). The restaurateurs have now conceptualised an entire eatery whose menu revolves around octopus—a dynamic component that pays homage to their Galician roots.

The cornerstone of Bobo Pulpín’s eccentric menu is an offering of six octopus dishes from six countries, held up by a smattering of other tapas, both familiar and foreign. From Mexico and Peru, you have the chilled, ceviche-style octopus cocktail and the ‘Sanguchito’ (a sandwich of fried octopus on black octopus ink bread with cilantro mayonnaise). The Indian recipe is an octopus tikka masala curry with chickpeas, while the ‘Sweet and Sour’ octopus with bamboo shoots hails from China. Of course the Korean dish is spiked with kimchi, and the classic Galician dish of ‘polbo á feira’ (boiled octopus and potatoes with paprika and olive oil) represents Spain, as is to be expected. All the dishes I tried were executed with precision and downright delicious.

Mix in an assortment of the house brand of conservas such as razor clams with pickled hot peppers, some classic tapas (the traditional Galician empanada of tuna is a must), a hearty serving of chicken and foie gras canelón or an octopus and sobrassada mollete sandwich, and plenty of wine or vermouth, and you have an impressive menu whose biggest fault is that it makes it too hard to choose.

Bobo Pulpín. Freneria 5. T. 93 639 3213. Open Tues-Sat 12pm-11.30pm, Sun 12pm-4pm.