In Spanish, the term cocina de mercado (which literally translates as market cooking and refers to fresh, seasonal food purchased at a local market) has become something of a cliché, but at Casa Amàlia, they give new meaning to the overused term. So dedicated to fresh, seasonal produce are they, that the menu lists exactly where every ingredient was sourced, and when we say exactly, we mean it: they even list which market stall it was bought from! All these extra details would be irrelevant if it weren’t for the fact that they use the finest products to create seasonal dishes full of personality. Casa Amàlia is a long-established Catalan restaurant which was given a new lease of life when the reins were handed to new chefs who have brought a sense of innovation and a dedication to quality to the restaurant, creating dishes which, even in a short amount of time, have become iconic.
And, at Port Vell, Casa Amàlia has been given a third lease of life since opening a table service outpost at Time Out Market Barcelona, where they’re going all out. Sergi Suaña, one of the restaurant’s partners explains: ‘Just because we now have a location with a sea view doesn't mean we can slack off on quality and go on autopilot – in fact, it’s quite the opposite.’ If at the Concepció Market, where the original restaurant can be found, they serve market food, here they serve markets food. ‘Now, we source from multiple markets, including Concepció, Barceloneta, and eventually, Boquería,’ explains Suaña. You’ll find a shortened version of the Aragó Street menu, with all its big hits and some new dishes too, and the mains are still divided into two sections, one dedicated to tradition, and the other to transformation. The wine list, though reduced to 70 items, remains impressive. Moreover, the kitchen space is much larger than at the original location, giving Peruvian chef Roberto Quispe room to add influences from Andean gastronomy. For example, an Iberian rib bun with anticucho sauce and coriander for dipping bread, or a killer ceviche.
CASA AMÀLIA MENU
Starters
Gamboom! (prawn carpaccio with lime and tarragon mayonnaise)
Confit artichoke from El Prat
Charlie-Bravo (grilled mussels with coconut and spicy tamarind sauce)
Bagoong clams
Creamy Iberian ham croquette ( made with 100% acorn-fed Iberian pork)
Creamy spider crab croquette
Ensalada rusa (potato salad with vegetables, egg and mayonnaise) with tuna belly and piparra peppers
Popeye (spinach fritter from Can Fisas with honeycomb)
Thorpedo (Iberian pork chop bun, anticucho sauce, peanuts, coriander, and red onion)
Casa Amàlia pork crackling
Sea Zebra (beach squid, ink, citrus escabeche, and acorn-fed Iberian pork belly)
Tradition
Mountain rice (mushrooms, rabbit, and butifarra sausage)
Wagyu beef rice (K.A5+)
Rice with cod cheeks
Grandma Pepi's cannelloni (three meats with béchamel)
Catavents (seafood paella with red prawn, local cuttlefish, and langoustine)
Coquelette Catalan-style
Monkfish fricandó (monkfish, carrot purée, toasted almonds, and seasonal mushrooms)
Itxaso eta mendi (seafood paella with cod cheeks pil-pil style and fresh cuttlefish)
Rubia (Galician beef tartare, hollandaise sauce, and pickles)
Black Magic
Onyar-Merlès (paella with figs, foie gras from Vilobí de Onyar, and duck breast from Santa Maria de Merlès)
Vegetable paella
Minister's Feet (pigs' trotters)
Monkfish with velouté
Ska-Xada-Ska-Livada (red pepper, aubergine, endive, tomato, pistachio romesco, and smoked cod loin)
Transformation
Catalan-style cod
Minister’s Tail (stewed Iberian pork tail with potato parmentier and chestnut mushrooms)
From the sea to the sea bass (sea bass ceviche with tiger’s milk, orange sweet potato mousse, anise, cinnamon, and cancha corn)
D’O Pirineo (slow-cooked suckling lamb, potatoes, truffled pecorino cheese, and grapes)
I love Pedroches
La Quinta (Black Angus beef rib, butter, rosemary, and cauliflower purée)
Mallorcan Panalena (grilled aubergine with Mallorcan sobrasada, Iberian pancetta, and honeycomb)
Ruperta 4.0 (slow-cooked pumpkin salad, raspberries, burratina, Café de Paris sauce, and hazelnuts)
Tarrako Tosa-Mi
Balfegó bluefin tuna tartare
Desserts
Cheesecake with Madagascar vanilla, blueberry cloud, and raspberry crisp
Fior di Gelato (artisan biscuit and two scoops of ice cream of your choice)
Irina's Flan (flan made with free-range eggs from Calaf and whipped cream from Granja Armengol)
Matcha Volcano
Melon Cucumber Fresh Party (melon and alcohol-free mojito, lemon sorbet, Granny Smith apple foam, basil, and cucumber)
Pochy Pum Pum (dulce de leche syrup coulant with mascarpone ice cream)
Cheesecloth and honey (goat’s cheese with honey and nuts)
Saturn
Casa Amàlia French toast
Casa Amàlia truffles
Translated by Olivia Simpson