I really wanted to go to this curious restaurant located in the Barrosa beach area, but after many attempts this Summer it had to be in the middle of winter, and it was worth the wait.
The cook is Jose Luis García, who came to greet us when we were finishing our dessert. Jose Luis is a native of Medina Sidonia, head chef of the well-known restaurant El Duque, a task that he combines with the management of El Arbol Tapas.
The place has high and low tables, and although it has hearty dishes to share, it stands out for its tapas menu, with an excellent quality/price ratio.
Its name is due to the tree that is located right in the center of the restaurant, where the green color of its plants, walls and furniture predominates.
The menu is divided into snacks, meat, fish, dishes to share and desserts.
Jose Luis mixes the traditional cuisine of the area with signature cuisine, provoking a different style in the tapas.
Although on the menu you have traditional tapas such as “salmorejo” with smoked mackerel, aubergine cake, salmon tartare with ginger and soy emulsion, and squid croquettes in their ink, you also have very original tapas.
I recommend you try some of these dishes, all of them to share, even those classified as tapas. First, caramelized foie millefeuille with sardine and apple, perhaps one of the restaurant’s star dishes. Sautéed boletus, truffled potato and boiled egg, excellent, all mixed together will delight your palate. Ravioli stuffed with oxtail and cheese emulsion, very original and popular.
To finish, we tried the baked cheese-cake and cream and walnut ice cream, excellent, something different, you will like it. And we were left wanting to try the star house dessert, the hot medina cake and its ice cream.
In wines, as I am very traditional, and from Cadiz, well, a glass of Garum, with which you can’t go wrong.
In short, a highly recommended place, open all year round, and where you should book. Enjoy it.