Gibraltar’s national dish is calentita, a baked chickpea flour flatbread inherited from Genoese settlers. I should say plainly that we didn’t eat it, and I didn’t see it on a single menu in two days. What Gibraltar is actually known for eating is British and Indian food, and that’s what’s in front of you.
The real answer to this question is fish and chips, a good curry, and a pub.
What Is the National Dish of Gibraltar?
Calentita. A baked flatbread of chickpea flour, water, olive oil and salt, brought over by Genoese settlers, with an annual festival named after it. The name comes from the Spanish for “nice and warm”, which is how it’s sold.
I want to be straight that I can’t tell you what it tastes like. We spent two days here, ate three meals out and bought a takeaway, and calentita wasn’t on one menu I looked at. If you want it, a festival or a bakery is a far better bet than a Casemates restaurant.
What We Actually Ate
We went to The Little Rock at Casemates hunting for proper English food. I had the fish and chips and absolutely loved them. Jethro ended up with a meat shawarma, because when it came to it there wasn’t much traditional British on the menu that he actually wanted.
That’s worth knowing before you build an evening around it. Even in the places set up to sell you Britishness, the menus are broader than the signs suggest.
The best thing we ate all trip was a takeaway from Raj’s, bought for the drive home: popadums, naan, and an Afghani curry. It was outstanding! We’d planned to eat it on the sand at Sandy Bay, found there was nowhere at all to park, and ended up eating it in the car further down the road instead. I was properly disappointed about that, and it’s still the meal I think about.
Halfway round the Rock we stopped at St Michael’s Cabin, which the cave exit funnels you directly into whether you intended to stop or not. A spinach quiche and three cold drinks between us. We needed it badly and were far too tired to finish it.
The Deals Nobody Lists
Casemates Square is ringed with restaurants and a surprising number of them run two for one offers and cocktail deals. I couldn’t find one page online listing them, which is honestly the single most useful thing I can tell you here.
Walk the whole square first and note what you fancy before you sit down anywhere. We didn’t do that, took a two for one on margaritas after a full day of dehydration, and they hit us far harder than two drinks have any business doing. One each and we went looking for food.
There’s also a cocktail bar on the top deck of the Sunborn yacht hotel, with a pool and gorgeous views straight over the harbour. We went for sundowners and it was full, so I can only tell you it looked like exactly the right idea. Go earlier than we did, and note that the main entrance is on the left side of the boat, which we discovered by walking the wrong way first.
The Other Reason to Eat Here
If you live in Spain, Gibraltar is a supply run. Proper fish and chips, real Indian takeaways, pub food, and shelves of British groceries right down to Terry’s Chocolate Orange.
I loved that part of it more than I expected to, and it’s genuinely one of only two things I’d add a day here for. It isn’t fine dining and it isn’t local tradition. After four years in Spain it’s a real treat, and I’m not going to pretend otherwise.
For where all this sits in a day, see the best things to do in Gibraltar, and is Gibraltar expensive for how a meal here compares with the Spanish side of the border.
If you’re still deciding whether the food alone justifies the trip, the short answers are on facts about Gibraltar.
