Don Pepe

About

Pattaya does a lot of cuisines badly and a few surprisingly well; Spanish food mostly falls in the first camp, which is what makes Don Pepe an outlier. Opened around 2020 in the Central Pattaya Shopping Arcade off Soi Diana — taking over the unit that used to house the Swedish-run Calles Grill Bar, now closed — it is, by most accounts, the only genuinely Spanish tapas restaurant in the city. The kitchen cooks paella to order, the cold-cut boards carry Joselito Gran Reserva jamón ibérico de bellota (about as top-shelf as Spanish ham gets), and the beef list runs to Rubia Gallega, the Galician breed steak obsessives cross continents for.

TripAdvisor has it at 4.5, with reviews that keep circling the same points: spectacular, colorful plating; a warm personal welcome from an owner who clearly loves his wine list; and produce quality that has no business existing in a shopping arcade off Soi Diana.

Menu highlights & prices

The full menu lives on the official site as images — tapas, soups, cold cuts (Gold and Silver boards), cheese, paella, pasta, salads, meat, fish, a short Thai section, desserts, sherry and house wine. Itemized prices aren’t published in text form, so figures here are directional only; expect premium pricing throughout, and confirm at the table:

• Seafood paella — the signature, cooked fresh to order with a ~30-minute wait. Priced for sharing; order it for two.
• Gambas al ajillo “Don Pepe style” — garlic prawns, the tapas bench-mark reviewers use to judge the kitchen.
• Croquetas — properly made, though one or two reviewers found the breading thick.
• Joselito Gran Reserva jamón ibérico — carved imported bellota-grade ham; the most expensive plate of its size in the neighborhood, and worth it if you know what you’re eating.
• Ibérico pork and Rubia Gallega beef — the grill section’s stars.
• Sherry and Spanish wine — a real sherry list, rare in Thailand; let the owner pick.

As a planning number, reviewers and aggregators put a full dinner here at roughly ฿1,500–2,000+ per person with drinks. Portions run large for “tapas” — order fewer plates than you think.

Hours & practical info

• Hours: Monday–Saturday 17:00–23:00, last order 22:00. Closed Sunday.
• Phone: +66 61 419 3526 · info@donpepetapasbar.com
• Website: donpepetapasbar.com
• Price band: ฿฿฿฿ — special-occasion territory
• Booking: recommended, especially if you want paella without a long evening

Location & getting there

This is the part that trips people up. Don Pepe sits inside the Central Pattaya Shopping Arcade at 216/44-45 Moo 10 — a low-key commercial arcade entered from Soi Diana, the soi that links Second Road to Soi Buakhao past the Diana Estate. There’s no street-facing frontage to spot from a passing baht bus, and even the old Calles regulars used to complain that taxi drivers couldn’t find it. The reliable approach: get dropped on Soi Diana (any driver knows Diana Estate or the Soi Diana entrance off Second Road), then walk into the arcade on foot. From LK Metro or Soi Buakhao it’s under five minutes’ walk.

View on map

Tips for visiting

Book ahead — the room is small, the owner runs it personally, and Saturday nights fill with the city’s Spanish and European regulars. Order the paella the moment you sit down, then build the first half-hour around tapas and a glass of fino or manzanilla from the sherry list. If jamón is on your agenda, ask for the Joselito by the plate and split it — it’s priced like the import it is. The Thai section of the menu exists for mixed groups, but ordering pad kra pao here is like ordering paella at a som tam stall; stay Spanish. Dress is casual, as everywhere in Pattaya, but this is the rare venue where you might not feel silly in a collared shirt.

Is it worth it?

If you want Spanish food done properly and you’re willing to pay for imported produce, yes — there is nothing else like it in Pattaya, and the 4.5 rating reflects a kitchen and host operating well above their postcode. The honest caveats: this is a premium, unhurried dinner (paella alone takes half an hour), the tapas format is more generous — and more expensive — than the Spanish original, and the location punishes anyone who doesn’t do two minutes of map homework first. Go on a night you’re not in a hurry, start with sherry and the jamón, and let the paella anchor the evening.

Location data © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.