Secret Tapas at Cheri Barcelona, the 35 Euro Set Menu Is Not the Deal Out Front

Updated August 2026

The board outside says 35 euros a head. We fed four people, with drinks, for 115,65.

We did that by ordering the same food off the regular menu instead, and the only reason we knew to do it is that Vika read both menus properly while I was already reaching for the set one. This is a short review of a good lunch and one piece of arithmetic that is worth about twenty five euros to a family of four.

How We Ended Up Here at All

We were trying to get to the Gothic Quarter. We took a taxi from the Sagrada Família, 18,64 euros on the meter, and it put us down in the middle of the Eixample instead. It took a couple of blocks of walking to work out that whatever this neighbourhood was, it was not the one with the medieval streets in it.

Everyone was hungry, which is how travel decisions actually get made. So we searched for a well reviewed tapas place near us and something called Secret Tapas came up. We followed the directions to the door and then walked straight past it, because there is no sign anywhere outside that says Secret Tapas.

What is there is a restaurant called Chéri, at Carrer d’Enric Granados 122. We asked a man standing out front if he knew where Secret Tapas was, and he told us it is inside, and pointed at a small board by the door with the Secret Tapas menu on it.

So, to save you the confusion we had: Secret Tapas is a menu served inside Chéri. Same door, same dining room, same kitchen. If you are standing on Enric Granados looking for a sign, you are looking for the wrong word.

The Arithmetic

The Secret Tapas menu is a set format. Two tapas per person chosen from a list of eight, a main course of seafood paella or seafood noodles with a minimum of two people, a dessert called the Flavour Festival, and it is 35 euros per person, tax included, drinks not included.

Four of those is 140 euros before anybody has ordered a drink.

Vika’s observation, which turned out to be the whole review: the same tapas are on the regular menu. Iberian ham croquettes, bravas, Andalusian squid, padrón peppers, they are all à la carte. The set menu is not a secret list of dishes, it is a bundle of dishes you can already order.

So we ordered what we actually wanted to eat, in the amounts we actually wanted to eat it.

115,65 with drinks against 140 without. That is roughly a twenty five euro difference on one lunch, and the gap gets wider once you add four drinks to the set menu side.

To be fair to the house: the set menu is not a scam, and if you want a paella and a structured meal it is a perfectly reasonable way to buy one. But it is being presented out front as the offer, and for a family who wants to share plates and stop when they are full, it is the more expensive way to eat the same food.

The Secret Tapas menu, photographed at the table. Two tapas per person from a list of eight, a seafood paella or noodles for a minimum of two, a dessert, and 35 euros a head with drinks extra.

What Was Actually Good

The calamari, and it is not close. The Andalusian squid was the best thing on the table, light and properly fried, and the dipping sauce that came with it got demolished. Our own benchmark: we ordered fried calamari at Tapas San Miguel the following day and it was nowhere near as good. That one was fine. This one was the reason we are writing about the meal.

The gambas al ajillo came out still frying. They arrive in the little pan, oil still going, which is a bit of theatre before it is a bit of food. Perfectly cooked underneath the show.

The pa amb tomàquet, which we had to ask for. We had eaten something similar the day before as an included starter, so we showed the waiter a photo of it and he knew immediately what we meant. It came out as four portions at 1,95 each. Josh does not like tomato and ate it happily, which tells you what you need to know about the bread.

The beef fillet, which we never tasted. The kids took it apart before Vika or I got near it. The peppers that came with it were left entirely to the two of us, which is the usual arrangement.

The beer was ice cold, which on a day that hot is most of what a beer needs to be. Vika enjoyed her sangria.

We had to ask for the pa amb tomaquet, showing the waiter a photo of something similar from the day before. He knew exactly what we meant.

What We Would Skip

The sautéed mushrooms. They were fine. They were 14,95. Nothing about them made us want to keep eating them and we finished the plate mostly to avoid wasting food. Part of the problem was construction, the egg on top never really got into the mushrooms the way that dish is supposed to work, so it stayed a plate of mushrooms rather than becoming the thing it was trying to be. We would not order it again.

The fries. Uneventful. They tasted like they came out of a precut bag, and we are not going to hold that against a lunch this good, but nobody should order them expecting anything.

The Truffles, and Two Kids Meeting Truffles

At the end the kitchen sent out a plate of homemade chocolate truffles, listed on the receipt as an invitation, meaning on the house.

Neither of our kids had ever tried a truffle. It is a lot of very intense chocolate for a palate that has not met one before. Emily did not like them at all. Josh had a few. I enjoyed them. Vika does not have much of a sweet tooth and passed.

Not a complaint, a nice gesture and a genuinely good truffle. Just do not assume a free chocolate is an automatic win with children.

The truffles arrived on the house at the end of the meal. Josh had a few, Emily did not like them at all, and neither of them had ever tried one before.

Does It Work With Kids?

Yes, and this is the thing no review site answers.

Chéri styles itself as a bit of an occasion, dark wood, tiled floor, a long bar of bottles, a room that looks considerably older than it is. It reads adult. It was not remotely a problem. Nobody blinked at two school-age kids, the plates are made for sharing, and food arrives fast enough that nobody had time to get restless.

The other thing that makes it work for families is that the kitchen runs non stop, which the blackboard outside says outright. In a city where a lot of kitchens shut between about four and eight in the evening, being able to eat a real meal at half past two, or at half past five, is worth a great deal when you are working around a nap, a museum slot or a long walk.

Questions Families Ask

Is the Secret Tapas set menu worth it in Barcelona? Not if you want to share plates. It is 35 euros a head with drinks extra, so 140 for four. We ordered the same tapas à la carte and fed four with drinks for 115,65.

Where is Secret Tapas Barcelona? Inside Restaurant Chéri at Carrer d’Enric Granados 122, in the Eixample. There is no Secret Tapas sign outside, only a small menu board by the door.

What does tapas cost for a family of four in Barcelona? Ours was 115,65 including two beers, a sangria and two iced teas, at a sit-down restaurant in the Eixample. Individual plates ran from 7,65 for bravas to 27,90 for the beef fillet.

Do you need a reservation? We walked in without one at half past two on a weekday in August and were seated immediately at table five.

The Verdict

Good food, a room we enjoyed sitting in, and a bill that was fair for what arrived. Order the squid, order the gambas, ask for the pa amb tomàquet, skip the mushrooms.

Would we come back? Honestly, probably not, and that is not a criticism. Barcelona has so many kitchens and so many cuisines packed into one city that spending a second lunch in a restaurant we have already done feels like a waste of a meal. If somebody invited us here we would be pleased to come.

But read both menus before you order. That is the part that saved us twenty five euros, and it was not my idea.

The bill, four covers, table five. 105,14 plus ten percent tax, and a line reading invitacio against the truffles.