Puerta Real Restaurant

Puerta Real is on the Plaza del Rey San Fernando, on the ground floor of number 9, opposite the Sarmental door of Burgos Cathedral: you step out of the church and it is in front of you. It belongs to Grupo Rice, which also has hotels in the city, and works in two registers under the same roof: a tapas bar, the Barra86, and a dining room of Castilian cooking with contemporary touches and local produce, with three rooms for groups.

The menu: lechazo, offal and fish of the day

The menu makes much of lechazo (milk-fed lamb). To start there are grilled lamb kidneys and fried sweetbreads (€19 each dish), Burgos black pudding with roasted peppers (€19.50), cecina, quince and Manchego croquettes (€14 for six) or fried artichokes with foie sauce and egg yolk (€22). For mains, a quarter of roast lechazo with salad costs €68 and the chops €32; the beef chuletón is charged at €68 per kilo and the 350 g entrecôte at €28. The fish changes every day: baked turbot (€36), roast sea bass (€24), hake in Biscayne sauce (€22) or fried monkfish with purée (€28). Desserts are €8 to €9, with leche frita, sheep's curd with honey or brioche torrija.

With a starter, a main and dessert, allow between €45 and €70 per person without wine; the roast lechazo pushes the bill up.

Three set menus

So you do not have to think, there are three seasonal menus named by price: the €65 one (this autumn, with bluefin tuna carpaccio, ham croquettes, salt cod al pil pil and beef cheek), the €72 one, which lets you choose between sea bass, tenderloin with truffle or PGI roast lechazo, and the €86 one. Each comes with its suggested wines, from Ribera and Rueda.

Barra86, the quick side

At the bar you eat tapas, with cocktails. The list is short and carries the hand of its chef, Juan Hernández, from Lima and trained in Madrid, who has cooked in Madrid and London: oyster of the day (€3.80 each), Burgos black pudding (€12), hamachi (€16), bluefin tuna (€18), three red prawns (€12) or plantain (€9). It is the option if you are in a hurry between the cathedral and the castle.

Rooms and bookings

There are three rooms: the Inglés, for about 70 people; Las Cavas, for 40, and the San Fernando, for more than 70. Tuesday to Saturday it is open from 11:00 to 17:00 and from 20:00 to 23:30; on Sunday, from 11:00 to 17:30, with no dinners. It is closed on Monday. Book on its website by choosing day, time and number of diners, and the restaurant replies with a proposal; or on 947 26 52 00 or at [email protected].

To complete the morning, the cathedral is opposite and the Arco de Santa María and the Espolón five minutes away.