Madrid Restaurants: Reviews & Recommendations

[vserna]

Just one really expensive item at Casa d'a Troya these days: the lobster 'salpicón' (salad) at 40 euros per portion - due to the fact that the price of European lobster (Homarus vulgaris, the blue one) has shot up so much in comparison with the widely available Canadian or Maine lobster (H. americanus, the greenish one, when it's uncooked). And Pilar Vila only uses indigenous fish and shellfish...

[Bux]

vmilor, I wonder if many people don't attach some sort of price heirarchy relative to the Michelin stars. Many are willing to spend morefor a three star than a one star and less yet, for a restaurant without stars. Since Michelin tends to favor cooking over the raw product, restaurants with simple presentations of superb seafood will suffer in comparison to those with fancier presentations, even if the raw materials are a bit less pristine. I don't mean to imply that the Michelin inspectors don't appreciate quality ingredients, just that by themselves they are not enough. This may be one of the many reasons many are finding Spanish restaurants undervalued in the Guia Roja. (Not the only one, however.)

[vmilor]

I don't mean to imply that the Michelin inspectors don't appreciate quality ingredients, just that by themselves they are not enough. This may be one of the many reasons many are finding Spanish restaurants undervalued in the Guia Roja. (Not the only one, however.)

Bux, I could not agree more. And I hope things will stay the way they are.

If one single percebes makes its welcome appearance in a 2 stars Parisian restaurant, as an appetizer offerings(say combined with scallops and squid) the price is 50 to 60 Euros. Now when I eat half pounds of pristine quality Percebes in Spain the price is only half as much and I do understand what they taste like and why they are not given away. By the same token 40 Euros blue lobster at Casa Troya is a value and I am sure they are perfectionist. Even FL or the Fifth Floor in the States serve farmed baby lobsters which do not taste like Galician Blue Lobster. And prices are much higher.

CFW, I also eat too many meals under $100. Mostly adequate. The issue is that in Madrid, Donostia, Sevilla, etc., when I splurged in tapa bars, eating real wild mushrooms picked early in the morning, 2 cigalas(I believe langostinos is not langoustine--I was also confused at first) a la plancha, gambas a la plancha, omelette with truffles and tidbits + very pleasant Txakolin to quaff we are paying something like 50 Euros for two. And the raw materials are superior to what I find in the very high temples of eating in the States. I also fully agree with you on the wine pricing. American restaurants are simply punishing us, the wine drinkers. So your 100 for 2 without wine is easily $200 with a couple glasses of champagne and a bottle of decent wine. I mean for a nice, well rounded meal with your significant other. In Italy and Spain the proseccos and cavas are very fine and there are plenty of choices for 20 Euro which are medium+ to very fine wines. For 50 or 60 Euro I am able to find old Riojas and some very good Ribera wines and I rated quite a few low to mid 90s(and I am a harsh grader when it comes to wine) and in the US restaurants, if they do not accept BYO, I can not find what I consider a high quality(90+) wine for under $200. My simple solution is that I am boycotting the place if they do not have corkage and I would have done this even if I were very wealthy as it bothers me that the wine loving public is subsidizing the teetotallers.

[Bux]

it bothers me that the wine loving public is subsidizing the teetotallers.

This is an excellent point. Way offtopic in this thread as it's not so much the case in Spain as in the states, so I won't pursue it here and trust others won't either.

The more international aspect of your post is very relevent in Spain, perhaps even moreso there than in most countries and particularly the US. Value is an important part of most of our considerations when dining out and value cannot be measured as price divided by the number of stars. The problem with Michelin is that one has no other way to compare restaurants, so, not unreasonably, many of us do seem to find that a two star restaurant at the price of a one star nearby, seems to be the better buy. That's what makes good thoughtful reviews more meaningful than ratings and what makes a site such as eGullet useful. Diners also need to understand that even in a guide that claims to pay most attention to the food, the decor, service, elegance and comfort of a restaurant are going to affect the stars it earns. They will also affect the pleasure of dining in a restaurant. Sophisticated diners need to process all this in their minds.

[CFW]

"Paulino (Both locations), El quinto vino, Entrevinos, El ventorrillo Murciano (Great rices), Montepríncipe, Viuda de vacas, La tasca suprema..."

Do you have addresses for any of these restaurants? Coudn't find them.

Vmillor, Your description of the tapas you've had has my mouth watering. Can you give me some names of tapas bars that you would particularly recommend in Madrid, or in Granada, where I understand the regular restaurant scene is pretty bleak?

Also, Have any of you been to La Olma in Pedraza de la Sierra?

Thanks!

[pedro]

"Paulino (Both locations), El quinto vino, Entrevinos, El ventorrillo Murciano (Great rices), Montepríncipe, Viuda de vacas, La tasca suprema..."

Do you have addresses for any of these restaurants? Coudn't find them.

Paulino: C/ Alonso Cano, 34; +34 91 441 87 37

Paulino de Quevedo: C/ Jordán, 7; +34 91 591 39 29

El quinto Vino: C/ Hernani, 48; +34 91 553 66 00

El Ventorrillo Murciano: C/ Tres Peces, 20; +34 91 528 83 09

Montepríncipe: C/ San Andrés, 31; +34 91 448 83 10

Viuda de Vacas: Cava Alta, 23; +34 91 366 58 47

La tasca suprema: C/ Argensola, 7; +34 91 308 03 47

The C/ is the abbreviation of Calle (street). The +34 is only needed in case you call from other country.

A good resource to find addresses and phone numbers is Metropoli, where I located all the addresses and phones above. There's a box on the top with the label Comer - restaurante where you can type the name of the restaurant and it'll give you the result. It could be tricky sometimes with restaurant names of more than one word, but it's a matter of trial and error. Also, is missing the details for the restaurants recently reviewed or opened. If you don't get results with the search, take a look to

All Fernando Point's reviews in Metropoli

and see if you find the restaurant listed there.

Another good resource to find addresses and phone numbers all over Spain is La Netro.

[Paco]

Bux and Vmilor, I agree 100% with both of you.

I have been buying the campsa guide for the past 4 years; It is good to get an idea, but I´ve had some disspaointments. I have found they do mention periodically the new restaurants that become "fashionable": many upscale and trendy people go there (in Madrid the snobish crowd moves like a current from one place to the other so you always see the same people at the sames places at the same hour). But many times the food is not that great, and regarding ethnic restaurants they also fail.

It would be nice to have a professional, independent guide to measure everything related to a restaurant (not just 3 or 4 lines), but then of course many restaurants seek recognition with these guides and up the prices so in the end the guide is not helping us consumers after all.

And the good wines in Spain are very reasonably priced in the wine stores.

So it is good to have egullet in our hands and enjoy it.

Paco.

PS: I have a dinner this saturday night and was thinking to try NODO. Has anyone tried it? (I think I would probably choose another place, but so many people told me about it, and I don´t want to spend more than 30 euros per person).

Pedro, within this price range or maybe a bit more, which one of the tapas places would be the best? Maybe I can go there instead. It is a meeting of korean / spanish couples and I only know one of the 3 couples coming.

Thanks

[vserna]

I have a dinner this saturday night and was thinking to try NODO. Has anyone tried it? (I think I would probably choose another place, but so many people told me about it, and I don´t want to spend more than 30 euros per person).

We forewarned. Small, cramped tables, high noise level, and the service tends to collapse on weekend nights when the place is packed. OTOH, Alberto Chicote is a pioneer of fusion cuisine - in his case, essentially Japanese-Andalusian - in Spain, and he cooks quite a few interesting things, like his red tuna tataki with 'ajo blanco' (garlic-and-almond gazpacho). But on a Saturday... watch out!

The new Mosaiq (exceptionally fresh and fragrant Eastern Mediterranean-Arab cuisine in high-fashion surroundings) is an option if you're looking for something exotic. And if you don't mind the utterly minimalistic - i.e., penniless - decoration, a very funky and endearing place is Gumbo, where New Orleans-born Matthew Scott, his head covered with a pirate-style bandanna, makes the best fried green tomatoes in continental Europe. Plus the rest, of course - as Hank Williams used to sing, "jambalaya and a crawfish pie and filé gumbo"... (Mean cocktails to boot.)

Edited March 2, 2004 by vserna (log)

[vmilor]

Vmillor,  Your description of the tapas you've had has my mouth watering.  Can you give me some names of tapas bars that you would particularly recommend in Madrid, or in Granada, where I understand the regular restaurant scene is pretty bleak?

Thanks!

Oops. I am the least qualified here when there are names like vserna and pedro in this thread.

I was alluding to Donostian tapas scene. I also had very good tapas in Sevilla. Never been in Granada. In Madrid, I tried 2 tapa bars, liked them very much so did not investigate further. For seafood, Jose Luis, Serrano 89. Very chic place in an expensive neighorhood but they had some rare to find items(such as angulas) and everything was exquisite. For charcuterie we tried Taberno Almendro, Almendro 13, not far from Julian de Tolosa. High quality jamon iberico. lomo, rosco sopresada, los huevas rotas and anchovy-tomato salad + a few manzanillas to wash down. 25 Euros for two and I recall some very friendly young clientele who went out of their way to help us order. Intimate and very satisfactory. I am sure there are dozens of places at this level and price range in Madrid. Enjoy.

[pedro]

Let's return to seafood for a moment. As I've said before, in Madrid there's a large number of people who are seafood fanatics. I wouldn't include me in that group, though I enjoy seafood as much as the next guy.

Well, here goes the story. The seafood gets to Madrid's central market, MercaMadrid, in the wee small hours. Seafood has a dynamic price, meaning that the price of the same product or piece of product changes over time. Not from day to day, but during the same day.

The top restaurants, or at least the top restaurants which don't get their product directly from the coast, can't let down their customers not having the widest selection of seafood in terms of variety and quantity. Therefore they have to buy as soon as the market opens, thus paying the highest prices.

Now, they come the non top restaurants, which have to have a reasonable broad variety, but where no customer would feel aggrieved or defrauded if a given item, let's say king crab from Galicia, is not available on a certain day. The theory (myth?), states that the product has the same quality than the product bought by restaurants in the first tier. They all buy from the same providers, and when these ran out of stock it's one of the restaurants down in the chain which doesn't get that product.

As you'd imagine, the process is suppose to continue until reaching a level where you find a restaurant where they have a very small variety of seafood, perhaps two or three types, but of excellent quality at more than reasonable prices (the price reduction in the source, i.e., Mercamadrid, is passed on to the end customer). Of course, don't expect fancy settings here. The primitive and zero atmosphere qualifiers that have appeared in other thread apply here.

According to one of the seafood talibans I know, these are the restaurants that always have excellent seafood, varying prices and diversity but not quality of their offering. Apart from Rianxo at the top of the pyramid, which I believe is quite good, though is not Combarro, I've never been to the other restaurants. Take your own risks:

- Rianxo

- Casa Adriana

- Naveira do Mar

- Reyes

If anyone has been to any of these, his/her feedback would be more than appreciated.

Good luck.

[CFW]

Speaking of seafood, Am still waiting to hear about La Trainera or Pescador. Anyone?

[Paco]

About La Trainera:

I have been there maybe 3 times. I tried salpicon de marisco, which was very good, and grilled gambas and boiled langostinos, of amazing quality and very fresh.

I have also tried grilled fish at was also outstanding.

The thing with the place, and many people complain, is that prices are high, but the tables are wooden, no tablecloths (as I recall), and it has many hidden areas in the restaurant, the place is huge, many businessmen with clients (it is in the heart of the upscale barrio de salamanca).

There is a brother-restaurant called "Los Remos", on the N-VI dir. Villalba on the right hand side of the highway about 10 km from Madrid, more elegant, with table cloths and much smaller. Nice terrace in the summer. Haven´t been there in a long time though.

The thing with La Trainera is that the 3 times I ate there, the seafood was of the same excellent quality.

I like Rianxo, although the one in c/ Raimundo Fernandez Villaverde does get noisy.

Just for curiosity, has anyone been to a cheap seafood place called Ribeira do Miño? It is in chueca neighbourhood, and gets crowded. I was there once, noisy, kind of dirty looking place, but amazing prices for a reasonable quality. Do not expect service or an great quality, but maybe someone has tried it and can share it too. Warning: This is in a completely different league from Combarro, Trainera, etc, but maybe worth a visit for a cheap seafood feast.

[Steve Martin]

Left Madrid just before the cluster bomb. It was strange to watch it on the telly, knowing we had been there the day before.

We were there for two weeks and didn't find the food to be great. Plenty of tapas around Plaza Major that were very enjoyable.

We can heartily recommend La Botin, the world's oldest restaurant. Full of tourists, but still very, very good.

Do not go to La Bola, another guidebook favourite. This was perhaps the worst meal we have had anywhere. I can't believe it still has a Bib in the Michelin. God only knows what the mostly Oriental clientele make of it.

[Bux]

I've made a trips to Madrid over the years and didn't always find the food to be great or even enjoyable. I don't know if it's been a matter of educating my palate, just a greater appreciation of a wider variety of foods, a change in Spain, or learning where to go and how to order, but I've found a lot of food to enjoy in Madrid and look forward to returning. I do think it's easy to find mediocre food and may be even easier in Madrid than in Paris, which these days is all too easy to do. Eating well in any major city seems to require a great deal of research and some luck, these days.

[painemilla]

Heading to Madrid November 23-28 and my husband and I are looking for tips on good places to stay (at a good prices), where and what to eat and any other insider tips off the beaten tourist route. We are also up for some day trip fom Madrid.

Suggestions?

[Cellar Tours]

Hotel Tips-

A great value 4 star is the Palacio San Martin, located right next to the Monastery downtown in a quiet square. Bauza is very trendy and good value for money, too, in the Goya neighborhood. The Habitat Hotel group have just opened up a new hotel here in Madrid (same group as the Neri in Barcelona), called Hotel de las Letras, I think, haven't been there yet, but love the Neri. I particularly dislike the Tryp Victoria in the Plaza Santa Ana, very gloomy bedrooms, beware. If you want to splash out one night, our favorite 5* is the pretty Santo Mauro, with a great restaurant and excellent sommelier. I prefer Santo Mauro to the Palace and the Ritz personally. The Orfila is pretty, although on the expensive side. Be careful if you stay at a hotel on or around the Gran Via to specifically ask for a quiet room as traffic is VERY loud, lots of honkers here.

Restaurant Tips-

Cheap- a boistrous, lively Galician well worth a visit is "Maceira" on the Calle Huertas. (There is also aa sister restaurant on the Calle Jesus, around the corner). The octopus (pulpo), spicy peppers (Piminetos de Padron) and Calamares are divine. They also have very well-price Albarinos on the menu. Hard to spend 25 euros per head here, with plenty of wine. Also great are many of the trad, local restaurants in the Chueca neighborhood, like Bocaito. In La Latina, you have many trendy, cheapish tapas bars and restaurants like the Musa Latina (although it was closed a few weeks ago when we treid to go), Juan la Loca, and all the hip places around the Plaza de la Paja.

Tapas- Casa Lucas on the Cava Baja is our favorite tapas bar, making creative, "muy elaborado" tapas, and they have a great wine list. They have the Roda II on the list at a killer price.

Mid-range- Tete on c/ Andres Borrego, and Genoveva de Barri in the Opera quarter are 2 of our favorite places at the moment, with talented creative young chefs at accessable prices.

Top Class dining- you have plenty of suggestions on this forum of all the most exclusive restaurants in Madrid.

Wine Shops- the best of the lot in our book are Reserva Y Cata and Lavinia, although the Club de Gourmets in Corte Ingles is not bad either.

Day trips- Aranjuez is one of our favorite day trips, it's an hour from Madrid and full of marvellous gardens. There's a great restaurant called the "Castillo", reservations essential. Toledo and Segovia are both beautiful, but chocker blocked with tourists. Avila is a lovely walled city, even nicer to stay a night there. Salamanca is not a day trip, (3 hour commute each way), but it's just gorgeous, worth an overnight visit if you can sneak it in.

Enjoy your time in Madrid!

[akur23]

A little old, but most of the Tapas places should still be there:

My trip to Madrid

[Bux]

Heading to Madrid November 23-28 and my husband and I are looking for tips on good places to stay (at a good prices), where and what to eat and any other insider tips off the beaten tourist route. We are also up for some day trip fom Madrid.

Suggestions?

←

One of the things you should realize is that members often write about their trips when they return, or with the appearance of Internet connections in hotel rooms, sometimes they post while still on the trip. Having already posted on the topic, most people are reluctant to post again because they're not going to give better answers than when the info was fresh in their minds. The forum serves those who help themselves best. I'd suggest you do some poking around and you'll find excellent material. Madrid has had a few threads lately, but there are more if you do a search.

Castilian-style roast lamb in Madrid

Two local suggestions

Good rice dishes in Madrid

An excellent dinner at an excellent restaurant

There are many side trips from Madrid. Toledo and Segovia are the two obvious ones. If you want a side trip to an exceptional modern restaurant, Coque in Humanes de Madrid is well worth the short trip, perhaps on the way to, or from Toledo, but for us, lunch in Coque is enough.

Last, but not least, there are Rogelio's wonderful Digests which will lead you to all the recent restaurant reviews online.

[syzygy8]

We've had good luck at Hotel Opera and Hotel Plaza Mayor. Take a walking tour with "The Chairman" of the Wellington Society and he'll take you to a number of quality places that are not in the guidebooks. We had such a quality time with him we hired him to take us on a day trip to Salamanca, and a day trip to Chinchon twice over two visits to Madrid. Chinchon is a great day trip.

[SBonner]

We ate at Entretapas on two occasions. Great value food and wine. They open for dinner at 8:30 and fill up fast. They are located just a short walk from the Opera metro station.

Stephen Bonner

Vancouver

[butterfly]

To the La Latina/Cava Baja/Rastro area recommendations, I would add a smattering among the dozens (hundreds?) of spots in this neighborhood... Six months straight of tapeando and we still haven't made a dent... Some of our favorites at the moment (all extremely informal/downscale):

Delic (Plaza de la Paja) for dessert--pistachio tart, dulce de leche pastel--and interesting teas and coffees. They also have tapas. Nice terraza when the weather is nice.

Cafeteria Onís (Calle de Toledo)

At the moment, my favorite downscale "menu del dia." Best at lunch. Love the revuelta de setas, besugo (sea bream, I believe), fabada, acelgas (swiss chard), etc. Usually a 9 Euro and 12 Euro option.

Malacatín (Calle Ruda)

Castizo (typical Madrid) dishes. Cocido, pisto, picadillo, etc. Stick-to-your-ribs food. Reservations a must.

Taberna Almendro (Calle Almendro)

For roscas--pressed bagel shaped sandwiches. Also, tortillas, (omelettes), huevos rotos, etc.

Caramelos Paco (Calle de Toledo)

For hard candy--romero (rosemary), sidra (cider), violet, and dozens of other flavors. I like all of the herbal combinations that are in a little display on the right side of the counter. Good to take home as gifts. Open during normal business hours and Sundays. Be sure to ask "quien es el ultimo" as soon as you step through the door to find out who is last, so you know when your turn comes.

Plaza Mayor cheap eats

Avoid the spots in the plaza, if you can, because they are extremely overpriced. Go south out the exit in the southeast corner. On the right side, there are two tiny lunch counter/hole-in-the-wall spots. When one is open, they other usually isn't. Here you can get a generous bocadillo de calamares for 2 Euros and go eat it in the Plaza.

La Exquisita (Mercado de la Cebada)

A gourmet shop with a small selection of interesting canned goods, wines, etc.

El Diamante (Calle de Toledo)

Chocolate con Churros and coffee in the morning and for merienda (afternoon snack). Cervecería at other times. Not as good as San Gines and no tables, but a good quck option if you are in the the neighborhood and need a pick me up.

Bar Cruz (Plaza de Cascorro)

Generous free tapas with your caña/ draft beer. (Friendly tip: in most cases, you will only get free tapas when you don't order food, so order your beer first and see what you get before ordering...) Also, navajas a la plancha (razor clams), boquerones (anchovies), mollejas (fried chicken gizzards), chopitos (tiny fried squid), pimientos de padron (small roasted/fried peppers).

Also, in this neighborhood there is probably the highest concentration of wine bars where you can get an impressive selection of wine by the glass.

edited because I still have problems distinguishing my left from my right...

Edited November 22, 2004 by butterfly (log)

[Cellar Tours]

I have to share with you all of you gourmet gulleteers a really great place a friend of ours took us to last week: Taberneros on the Calle Santiago n. 9 in the Opera neighborhood (kind of hard to find). The wine list is out of this world, our waiter (not even an "official" sommelier) was highly knowledgable about both Spanish wine and Californian wine, and very friendly. The head chef at this stylish place is Japanese and the tapas, while quite Spanish and Mediterranean, are much more creative and imaginative than your average tapas joint. The ingredients and presentation are exquisite.

The only negative point is that the seats are uncomfortable (with no back), but for a night out for fantastic food and wine, competitively priced and in a pretty venue (lots of candlelight and exotic flowers), I highly highly recommend Taberneros. Tel: 91 542 2160

[Rogelio]

I have to share with you all of you gourmet gulleteers a really great place a friend of ours took us to last week: Taberneros on the Calle Santiago n. 9 in the Opera neighborhood (kind of hard to find). The wine list is out of this world, our waiter (not even an "official" sommelier) was highly knowledgable about both Spanish wine and Californian wine, and very friendly. The head chef at this stylish place is Japanese and the tapas, while quite Spanish and Mediterranean, are much more creative and imaginative than your average tapas joint. The ingredients and presentation are exquisite.

The only negative point is that the seats are uncomfortable (with no back), but for a night out for fantastic food and wine, competitively priced and in a pretty venue (lots of candlelight and exotic flowers), I highly highly recommend Taberneros. Tel: 91 542 2160

←

I agree with you, Taberneros is a great wine and food bar at very competitive prices, Pedro, the somelier, is very knowledgable and friendly.

And indeed the chairs are very uncomfortable but I have heard that they are going to change them soon.

[ginger chef]

i am looking for another top class restaurant in madrid to dine in for lunch on a wednesday in january. i have already booked sant celoni and la broche and i would be looking for something along the same lines in inventiveness and modern style. any help would be grateful.

simon

[Rogelio]

Try Coque it's in the outskirts of Madrid but probably what you're looking for.