Spiny lobster boiled, split and served cold under raw tomato and sweet onion dressed with oil and lemon. No cream, no sauce, no heat. The dish Alghero is known for outside Sardinia.

Catalan settlers arrived in Alghero after Pere IV of Aragon took the town in 1354, and the cold lobster salad came with them. The Sardinian version dropped almost everything, keeping raw tomato, sweet onion, olive oil, lemon and the aragosta itself, the spiny lobster of the western Sardinian coast rather than the clawed northern kind. It is priced by weight and usually chosen from a tank, and it is the plate that most clearly marks Alghero as a Catalan town rather than an Italian one. Restaurants on the bastions serve it as a main course for two, dressed at the table.

2 editor picks for Aragosta alla catalana in Alghero, ranked by editorial score. All Alghero signature dishes · Aragosta alla catalana across every city.

La Lepanto ★ 4.2

€€€SeafoodCentro Storico

La Lepanto on Via Carlo Alberto in Alghero builds its list around lobster, raw seafood platters and fregola with crustaceans for around €45 a head.

OrderLobster done the Lepanto way, with a raw seafood plate to open.

DirectionsBook a table

Rafel ★ 4.2

€€€SeafoodLido

Rafel sits on the sand at Lido San Giovanni in Alghero and cooks spaghetti ai ricci, lobster alla catalana and a fish soup worth the two-kilometre walk.

OrderSpaghetti ai ricci when the sea urchin season is open, lobster alla catalana when it is not.

DirectionsView

Learn to cook it, or eat it with a guide

Aragosta alla catalana makes more sense with someone from Alghero explaining it. These are the classes and tours we have checked, with booking links.

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