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All Spain Barcelona La Pubilla
AO Edited Gastro Obscura

La Pubilla

Open since 1912, this restaurant is one of the few left that serves chicken with lobster and other Catalan-style surf and turf staples.

Barcelona, Spain

Added By
Austin Bush
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For dessert, try the flan mel i mató, made with a type of Catalan cheese.   Austin Bush for Gastro Obscura
For dessert, try the flan mel i mató, made with a type of Catalan cheese.   Austin Bush for Gastro Obscura
Octopus makes for a surprising garnish for this pig face terrine.   Austin Bush for Gastro Obscura
La Pubilla has been in business since 1912.   Austin Bush for Gastro Obscura
Offal and various off-cuts of meat feature prominently on the menu.   Austin Bush for Gastro Obscura
A terrine of pig face and foot is seared until crispy, and served on a bed of mashed potatoes, garnished with chunks of tender octopus.   Austin Bush for Gastro Obscura
Menu items are listed up at the front of the restaurant.   Austin Bush for Gastro Obscura
Welcome to one of the few places in Barcelona to find these rare surf and turf specialties.   Austin Bush for Gastro Obscura
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About

Chicken paired with lobster; veal meatballs braised with cuttlefish; rice dishes that blend shellfish and chicken: these are some of the most classic examples of mar i muntanya, a style of Catalan cooking that blends proteins from the sea and the land. Although a hallmark of Catalan cuisine, these dishes are getting increasingly harder to find, especially in Barcelona. But at La Pubilla, a restaurant in the city’s Gràcia neighborhood, the tradition lives on.

Originally opened in 1912, nearly a century later La Pubilla was taken over by chef Alexis Peñalver and today is considered a reference for modern Catalan cuisine. The restaurant’s lunchtime menu includes a mar i muntanya de la setmana, “surf and turf of the week,” typically a dish rooted in this Catalan tradition but with a contemporary tweak or two. 

Recent examples include terrina de peu i morro amb pop i parmentier, a terrine of pig face and foot—a Catalan specialty—seared until crispy, and served on a bed of mashed potatoes, garnished with chunks of tender octopus; and panxeta rostida amb calmars i ceba confitada, roast bacon with squid and confit onions.

The mar i muntanya is always present on La Pubilla’s excellent value set lunch, along with other dishes that tend to revolve around offal or other off-cuts—the emphasis being on cuina catalana & de mercat, “Catalan & market cuisine,” convenient given that it’s located directly across from Mercat de la Llibertat. It’s also one of a dwindling number of places in Barcelona that continues to serve esmorzar de forquilla, “fork breakfast,” essentially a hearty, meaty way to start the day.

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Mar i muntanya dishes are not always part of La Pubilla’s breakfast and dinner menus.

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Austin Bush

Published

December 11, 2024

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La Pubilla
Plaça de la Llibertat, 23
Barcelona, 08012
Spain
41.399561, 2.153749
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