Es Caló

Without a doubt, this is the best black rice on the island. The views and the service are exceptional, creating the perfect atmosphere for a memorable meal. From the moment the starters arrived, it was clear we were in for a treat. The cava sangria was light and refreshing, perfectly complementing the fried squid, which was crispy and flavorful. Every dish was prepared to perfection, and the attention to detail made the entire dining experience truly outstanding. If you're looking for a fantastic meal with stunning views, this is the place to be in Formentera.

This is a magical place as quiet as paradise. We felt very comfortable. The food was the best of the staff. Super attentive friendly service helpful took photos of us and read our every wish from our eyes. It was a mega experience I can only recommend the great best quiet most beautiful restaurant on the island.

Great setting with nice outdoor space and a relaxed enjoyable atmosphere. Prices are high here but if you wish you can still stay affordable. The paella with blue or spiny lobster is the popular dish here, we went for the fish and seafood paella it was nicely cooked, well presented and some lovely crab, prawn, squid, fish and mussels. Come for the setting stay for a slow leisurely meal with plenty of wine! A great afternoon!

The location is beautiful, the dining area is on a deck overlooking the sea. The food was good, simple fresh fish dishes. We had grilled red prawns and crayfish to start and then treated ourselves to the lobster paella, as we’d never had that before. We live in Spain, and to be honest the food was average. The service however was disappointing, every dish or serving of wine was done by a different member of staff, only one of whom said hello, in fact they looked startled when we did say hello, maybe that’s an indication of the kind of customers they normally get or it was end of season fatigue. But a lack of engagement from the staff affects the customer experience. It was especially disappointing that when leaving none of the staff could make eye contact, say thank you or goodbye after spending €350 on dinner for two people. Wouldn’t return.

Wonderful! We had a reservation at El Mirador that the restaurant cancelled on us due to closing their outdoor seating due to wind. I called Es Calo and they gladly took us last minute. I’m so glad they did, the views and atmosphere are incredible, the staff are so good and happy to serve, and the food is fantastic! The paella was wonderful, appetizers were great (tuna tartare, bread…).

This was recommended to us so maybe our expectations were too high. We felt this restaurant was just average. It wasn’t bad but it certainly didn’t surprise positively either in food quality or service. It all felt like rhe business was running on auto-pilot. Comparing the average experience with the prices, we felt they were off. Almost 20 euro for 1 sliced tomato with half a can of tuna. Same story for the paella at 32,50. You can get it cheaper elsewhere on the island with identical (beautiful) seaview setting. So I wouldn’t recommend against this place yet I do believe the owner can do more to give its customers a better experience.

Lovely spot. Terrace with sea view is worth the trip on its on. Fish and seafood was all fresh a tasted fantastic

Sunday lunch with a beautiful sea view. Great food and good service, we had seafood paella for 3 which had lovely flavour and a lot of different fish.

Once of the nicer restaurants around town, it has a wide ranging menu and has a good choice of seafood, meats, and paella. Make sure you make a reservation, otherwise, you will not get seated. If you can get there early enough around 8pm, you'll get a nice seat on the ledge facing the water. The restaurant has a great view of the water and you can see the sunset as you begin your dinner. Also if you look hard, you can see the Ibiza terrain in the horizon. The paella is the best we've had on the island. Nice flavor that is not overwhelming and perfectly done rice. I had the fish of the day and that was very well prepared as well. I'd say that you should know how to pick out the bones though! Not something everyone can do well. I noticed a lot of people ordered the fresh lobster. It's a bit of an upscale place, so I think a lot of people come here as their nice meal for the vacation or to celebrate something. Put this place on your list of restaurants to visit on the island!

People really like this restaurant. Like a lot. I've spoken to a few people who think it's the best place here on the island. I don't subscribe to that notion. It is good though. I will say that. My wife and I came in here for a lunch during the season when we both had the day off (can you even believe it?!) because we wanted to see what all the fuss was about. The service was good, as you might expect from a place with a higher price point like this one. They did do one thing that I wasn't a fan of but I'll get to that later. First the food. The standouts: we ordered the octopus here, as I've been know to do at many a restaurant all over the world. Octopus is delicious, so it makes sense. Because it is one of my favorite dishes, I have ordered it in many places and had it prepared many different ways. The grilled octopus here though, was the best octopus I've ever had anywhere. That's not even hyperbole. I honestly couldn't believe how good it was. I think that whenever people order a specific dish at various places, they expect it to taste a certain way and have a certain texture, etc. This was the case for me as well when I ordered this, and the flavor was out of this world, BUT, it was the texture that sold me. The waiter told me that they boil the octopus first and then grill it, so the texture is maybe a bit different from what you expect when you have grilled octopus at a different place. It was perfect. Literally flawless. There was nothing they could have done to this starter to make it better. It is now #1 on my list. The desert we had was also quite good. We ordered it on a whim because I'm not really a dessert guy but it was a good call. Cream, pistachios, what I'm assuming was some sort of graham cracker crust or something similar. It was surprisingly good, especially for someone who isn't a fan of dessert. This leads me to the item that wasn't stand out: the paella. We ordered the paella with lobster (obviously) and like you do whenever you order lobster, the waiter went in the back and brought out a live lobster to show you. This is one of the ridiculous things that they do in all restaurants (and completely unnecessary i might add) but it happens. The joke is, that a place will show you a lobster from their tank, and then when they are making your food they will make it with a lobster they have frozen in the back. I know for a fact that places do this. I'm not going to accuse Es Calo of doing this. What I will say, is the lobster they brought out to show us was definitely NOT the one in the paella. The one they showed us didn't have claws, and our paella lobster did. This is important because the lobsters without claws tend to cost more money. I wasn't ready to stress about it because for me lobster is lobster, but it must be said that they tried to pull the old switcheroo on me. That being said, while the paella was good, it wasn't the best paella I've had on the island, and it was amongst the most expensive. If I go back I probably won't be ordering the paella but that's no big deal. If you're wondering, my wife did actually talk to the waiter about the lobster switch, and he apologized (he wasn't the person who brought out the livelobster, it was someone else) but for me it wasn't a huge deal. This place is good and has things that are fantastic, but I wouldn't call it the best restaurant here.

Beautiful location. Incredible food! Service impeccable! The Dorada a la sal is a production for the kitchen and server. Elegantly filleted table side, absolutely fantastic entree! We live half the year in Ibiza and make the journey to Es Calo several times a year. I appreciate the consistency of food, service and attention to detail. Make a reservation! Enjoy! So disappointed! There with important people and had to send the "signature dish" pescado a la sal back because it was very undercooked. Then the remainder of the party was served while the two others waited. Just disappointed. Not the service I hoped for to impress my company. Fifth visit. Need to find an elegant alternative on formentera.

fresh and delicious. we had the mixed grill fish and it came with grilled vegetables. it was very very good. the setting is very relaxing and beautiful. but reservation is a must if you want to have good seats/table. we arrived there without a reservation, but they were attentive enough to us and we were still served well.