There are restaurants where meat is blackballed, vegetarian restaurants, a species that is becoming more and more popular. There are even a few vegan restaurants, where, as you know, neither meat nor any animal product is eaten. Either of these two choices, which are clearly respectable, test the chef’s ability to craft wonderful, varied dishes without using that infinite range of combinations and flavours lent by animal and fish flesh. Quite a challenge!
The restaurant we’re reporting on today is curious. It is only vegetarian to those of us who are completely omnivorous. I mean, if there is no meat or fish dish it’s a vegetarian restaurant, right? Well, not technically.
At 4amb5 Mujades, the name comes from its address, number 45 on the Rambla del Raval, combined with an ancient agrarian measurement from the Roman era, the “mujada”. Here, the STARS – in capital letters – are vegetables, sometimes disguised as meat, but vegetables.
It’s a long exercise in gorgeous trompe l'oeil featuring compositions that simulate familiar meat dishes but are actually made of vegetables. And to give these compositions the same intense flavour, animal or fish fat do appear, but in the background. It’s opposite day! Vegetables’ true, precise counterattack on meat and fish, which in the 4amb5 galaxy lose the war that they have been winning for so many centuries.
The venue has a rustic feel and is painted brown. It’s small, holding at most 30-35 people, and the servers are personal, as they have bought into this special project halfway between fine cuisine and the carefree, youthful, informal restaurant it is. The chassis of this restaurant is acceptable; the difference is its engine, its kitchen. It’s perfect for gourmands looking for new experiences, #foodies and #instagramers who want to take cool pictures, and perfect for a couples’ dinner. Avoid large tables; you want to pay attention to what you’re eating.
As we always do, we order the sampling menu and will highlight the best and most beautiful dishes. We usually want to save the best for last, but we can’t hold out any longer without telling about the best dish of the evening: “Potato and cuttlefish stew”. It has nothing to do with what you might visually imagine, but it has every single bit of the flavour that your mind could imagine when it fantasises about this traditional dish. At the centre of the plate is a round mass made with threads of fried potato which resemble wicker. Around it, bathing the potato composition, is an intensely-flavoured broth made of cuttlefish. If you ate this dish in a sampling menu in a restaurant with one Michelin star, you would stand up to applaud. This is a “stop the presses!” dish.
We then try a delightful “Jerusalem artichoke with pil-pil”, with a spicy sauce and beautiful aesthetic that recreates codfish with pil-pil. It tastes as it always does, but the only part of codfish in the dish is the flavour and the skin. What lies under the skin is the Jerusalem artichoke. Beautiful execution, amazing taste.
Jerusalem artichoke with pil-pil
No less beautiful nor delicious is “Lamb rib with chard”. Look at the photo: it really looks like a lamb rib… but around the bone, which is real, what you see isn’t lamb but a chard paste layered atop a lamb stock. Delicious. All the dishes are flavourfully playful, but we don’t want to ruin your surprise when you try them for the first time. The desserts are also worth it – don’t skip them!
Lamb rib with chard
Waldorf salad
Chicken (Aubergine) yakitori
Sweet potato sobrassada
Egg-less, milk-less cream
At 4amb5, the food reaches the highest heights of gastronomy. Aesthetically it is beautiful, plus it is innovative and the flavours are outstanding. Some people may think that such charades are unnecessary just to make dishes that are almost identical to the traditional ones. But this is art, and you have to want to get it. Not everyone is willing to play this kind of game, but we love being able to step out of our routine with such successful results as today’s. What about you?
| Score | ||
|---|---|---|
| Food | Wines | |
| 74 | 70 | |
| Service | Venue | |
| 67 | 63 | |
| Price | Miguelín Stars | |
| 45€ |  |
|
| Per person: 2 appetisers to share, 1 main course, 1 dessert and 1 glass of wine | ||
Where is 4amb5 Mujades?
Address: Rambla del Raval, 45 – 08001 Barcelona
Telephone: +34 93 681 50 93
Timetable: Wednesday to Monday 1 to 4 pm and 8 to 11:30 pm
Contact: 4amb5@4amb5.com