El Bigote is a wooden shack built onto the rocks round the headland from Cala Mastella, on the east coast. It serves one thing, a fish stew, at set sittings, and it has been doing that for decades with very little interest in changing.
It is the most photographed restaurant on the island that nobody can find, which is roughly the point. You walk round from the cove, you book in person, and you come back at the time you are given.
How it works
There is no telephone booking and no website. You walk round to the shack, usually in the morning, ask for a table, and you are given a sitting time to come back for.
Bring cash. Cards are not taken, and there is no machine anywhere near.
The menu is the stew, served in stages, with whatever came in that morning in it. There is no choosing, and the amount of it defeats most people.
What it is like
Wooden tables on a platform over the water, the sea a metre below, and pine on the rock behind, with no other building in sight in either direction. When the weather is not right, it does not open.
It runs through the season only, and the exact months move.
Good to know
It is not somewhere to arrive hungry and hopeful. Unless you are lucky, the booking is a separate trip from the meal, so it works best on a day when you are already at the cove.
Getting there is on foot. Park above Cala Mastella and walk round the rocks, a few minutes on uneven ground.
Time is loose. This is a lunch that takes as long as it takes.
Quick answers
What does El Bigote serve? A fish stew, and nothing else.
Can you book by phone? No. In person, on the day or the day before.
Do they take cards? No. Cash.
Where is it? On the rocks round the headland from Cala Mastella, on the east coast.
Is it open all year? No, through the season only, and not in bad weather.
Is it suitable for children? The setting is rocks and open water with no railings. Judge for yourself.
Nearby
Cala Mastella is the cove itself, tiny and sheltered, and San Carlos is ten minutes inland with Las Dalias beyond it.