Carmel By The Sea Vacation Guide- Where To Eat

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We were invited to a press trip in Carmel. We were provided this experience to facilitate this series of posts on Carmel vacations.

On the last day of our trip to Carmel, we spent some time at the beach.

We visited this beach each day we were in town and Pete went for his morning run from the hotel, down Ocean Ave to the beach and then back up again. There is no way I’d be able to run, let alone walk up Ocean Ave since it’s a huge hill… but he said it was the perfect workout.

I loved this beach.

It reminded me of the beaches in Hawaii {without the humidity}. White sand and clear blue ocean water. Breathtaking!

I was totally okay not walking up and down the hill because we got to ride in the Kia Cadenza again. I think the wheels are totally cool!

 There is art everywhere in Carmel.

Someone even left these stone stacks so I had to take a picture to share. I’m so uncreative that even this would have been a difficult endeavor for me. But I totally appreciate it!

We worked up an appetite with all the walking and exploring and later in the evening we headed over to Mundaka a Spanish Tapas Restaurant.

Mundaka is right in the heart of the village and was a 5 minute walk from our hotel. Carmel-By-The-Sea is considered a “walking town” because pretty much everything can be walked to. The only time I felt like we needed to drive was to the beach.  

 Pete and I had quite the experience at Mundaka.

One of the best parts {Aside from the amazing food} was the service. The staff was very knowledgeable about everything they serve. I love when the waiter is enthusiastic about what he is serving. It makes the whole meal more of an experience than just eating dinner.

We Started with Tortilla which is potato, egg, onion and sea salt. Fabulous!

Followed up by the Pan Tomate.

I am still craving this. It was fresh bread, ripe tomatoes, amazing olive oil, garlic and Maldon Sea Salt. 

Tapas restaurants are a brilliant idea!

I love to have small bites/plates of lots of different dishes and that’s exactly what they are. There are tons of options. Something for everyone! 

They also make their own homemade sparkling lemonade. Totally refreshing and the perfect mix of sweet {not too sweet} and sour.

 This was another one of my favorite items.

Their special Bravas. Think fried potatoes, spicy tomato sauce, and cool cream. Amazing!

And then it started to get dark and the mood totally changed in the restaurant.

It was still very welcoming but now it had more of a cool, hip feel. So fun! We enjoyed more tapas and then it was time for dessert and coffee!

I’d love to tell you I shared with Pete… but I made him get his own! These were all mine and a great way to finish the meal!

Learn more about Mundaka on their website. 

If you are a wine lover I also wanted to mention the “The Carmel Wine Walk by-the-Sea™”, Wine Tasting Passport. Priced at $65, “it provides tasters with a Wine Walk flight at their choice of any 9 of the 12 tasting rooms listed below”. It never expires so you can use it on multiple trips! The Wine Tasting Passport is available for purchase at the Carmel Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center in Carmel-by-the-Sea!