We've reviewed Madrid's best
places for
eating and
drinking and included
bars, cafés, cervecerías
(beer halls),
marisquerías
(seafood bars) and
restaurantes
. They have been divided
simply between "
tapas
bars " and "
restaurants
", depending on whether
they concentrate more on bar
food or sit-down meals.
Sometimes this division is
arbitrary, as many places
have a bar area, where you
can get tapas, together with
a more formal
comedor
(canteen) or restaurant out
the back or upstairs. At
almost any of our
recommendations you could
happily eat your fill -
money permitting - though at
bars
madrileños
usually eat just a tapa or
share a
ración of
the house speciality, then
move on to repeat the
procedure down the road.
Restaurant prices in
Madrid
As a rough guide, you'll
be able to get a
three-course meal with
drinks in Madrid for:
Inexpensive
Under ?12 a head
Moderate ?12-24
a head
Expensive ?24
and upwards
But bear in mind that
the lunchtime menú del
día often allows you
to eat for much less than
the price category might
lead you to expect; check
the listings for details.
Most - but by no means all
- of the restaurants
listed as
"moderate" or
"expensive" will
accept credit/charge
cards ( tarjetas
). If in doubt, phone
ahead to check.
Hours
The hours for having
cañas
y tapas (drinks and
tapas) are from around
noon to 2pm, and 8pm to
10pm, though most bars
will do you a snack at any
hour of the day, and they
generally stay open till
midnight or beyond. Summer
hours are generally later
than winter, and Sundays
are early to bed.
Restaurant meals ( comidas
) are taken very late: few
madrileños will
start lunch before 2pm or
dinner much before 10pm,
and if you turn up much
earlier you may find
yourself alone, or the
restaurant (in the
evening) not yet open. On
the other hand, most
people do arrive for
dinner by 10.30pm; Madrid
being Madrid, though,
there are quite a number
of late-night options and
the listings magazines all
have sections for
restaurants open past
midnight ( después de
media noche/de madrugada
). Many restaurants close
on Sundays and/or Mondays
and for all or part of
July and August.
Cuisines
Madrid's restaurants and
bars offer every regional
style of
Spanish
cooking : Castilian
for roasts (
horno de
asar is a wood-burning
oven) and stews (such as
the meat and chickpea
cocido
),
gallego for
seafood,
andaluz
for fried fish, Levantine
(Valencia/Alicante) for
paella and other rice (
arroz
)-based dishes, Asturian
for winter stews like
fabada
and Basque for the
ultimate gastronomy (and
correspondingly high
prices).
Over the last few
years, dozens of foreign
cuisines have
appeared. There are some
good Peruvian, Argentinian,
Middle Eastern and Italian
places and a scattering of
enjoyable Indonesian and
Japanese restaurants. With
a few honourable
exceptions, though, Indian
and Chinese restaurants
are fairly dire, as too,
alas, are most of the
Mexican and Brazilian
ones. There has also been
an unfortunate rise of
franchised restaurant
chains and coffee bars.
Sol, Plaza Mayor and Ópera
The central area is the
most varied in Madrid in
terms of price and choice
of food. Indeed, there can
be few places in the world
which rival the streets
around Puerta del Sol
for sheer number of places
to eat and drink. Around
the smarter Ópera
district, you need to be
more selective, while on Plaza
Mayor itself, stick to
drinks. Unless we indicate
otherwise, all these
places are easily reached
from Metro Sol.
Around Santa Ana and
Huertas
You should spend at least
an evening eating and
drinking at the historic,
tiled bars in this central
area. Restaurants are
good, too, and frequented
as much by locals as
tourists.
Gran Vía and Plaza de
España
On the Gran Vía ,
burger bars fill most of
the gaps between shops and
cinemas. However, head a
few blocks in and there's
plenty on offer, including
a good cluster of ethnic
restaurants on c/San
Bernardino (north of the
Plaza de España).
La Latina and Lavapiés:
the Rastro area
South from Sol and Huertas
are the quarters of La
Latina and Lavapiés whose
tiny streets retain an
appealing neighbourhood
feel, and have a great
selection of bars and
restaurants.
Chueca and Santa Bárbara
Chueca - and Santa
Bárbara to its north
- have some superb
traditional old bars and
bright new restaurants,
and a vast amount of
nightlife. The southern
part of Chueca, however,
around the metro station,
and south to Gran Vía, is
also quite a big drug
area, which can leave you
feeling a little uneasy
after dark.
Malasaña and north to
Bilbao
Malasaña is
another characterful area,
with a big nightlife scene
and dozens of bars.
Further north, the area
around Plaza de Olavide -
a real neighbourhood
square - offers some
good-value places, well
off any tourist trails.
Paseo del Prado,
Recoletos and Retiro
This is a fancier area
with few bars of note but
some extremely good, if
expensive, restaurants,
well worth considering,
even if you're not staying
at the Ritz .
Salamanca
Salamanca is Madrid's
equivalent of Bond Street
or Fifth Avenue, full of
designer shops and
expensive-looking natives.
Our recommendations are
correspondingly pricey but
high quality.
The west
Picnicking in the Casa de
Campo aside, the west
doesn't hold much in the
way of culinary interest.
However, two excellent
restaurants deserve a
mention.
Casa Mingo ,
Paseo de la Florida 2 -
next to the chapel of San
Antonio de la Florida tel
915 477 918; Métro: Príncipe
Pío. Famous Asturian café-restaurant
where you eat roast
chicken - which is
basically all they serve -
washed down with sidra
(cider), and followed up
by yemas (candied
egg yolk) or aged
Roquefort-like cheese ( cabrales
). Good value and great
fun. You can also buy a
take-out (chicken and
cider) for a picnic in the
Casa de Campo, if you
prefer. Moderate.
La Vaca Argentina
, Paseo del Pintor Rosales
52 tel 915 596 605; Métro:
Argüelles. Good views and
great grilled steaks ( churrasco
) at this Argentinian
restaurant overlooking the
Parque del Oeste. Its
terrace is a very pleasant
place to eat in summer.
Other branches at c/Bailén
20 tel 913 656 654; Métro:
La Latina, c/Caños del
Peral tel 915 413 318; Métro:
Ópera, and Ribera del
Manzanares 123 tel 915 593
780; Métro: Princípe Pío
with a fine riverside
terrace. Moderate.
Madrid's vegetarian
restaurants
Madrid can be an
intimidating city for
veggies, given the mass of
ham, fish and seafood on
display in bar and
restaurant windows and on
counters. However, you can
order vegetables
separately at just about
any restaurant in the city
- Argentine steakhouses,
perhaps, excepted - and
there is good pizza and
pasta to be had at a
number of Italian places.
You can even find the odd
vegetarian paella.
More crucially, the
capital now has half a
dozen decent and
inexpensive vegetarian
restaurants ,
scattered about the centre.
These include:
Al Natural , c/Zorilla
11 tel 913 694 709; Métro:
Banco de España. Veggie
and non-veggie food,
including a very good
mushroom and spinach pie.
Excellent wines and a
good-value menú del día
at ?7.50. Closed Sun
night. Inexpensive to
moderate.
Artemisa ,
c/Ventura de la Vega 4 tel
914 295 092; Métro:
Sevilla; c/Tres Cruces 4
tel 915 218 721; Métro:
Gran Vía. A popular place
(you may have to wait for
a table), best for its
veggie pizzas and an
imaginative range of
salads. No smoking - even
more of a novelty than
veggie food in Madrid.
Closed Sun night.
Moderate.
Elqui , c/Buenavista
18 tel 914 680 462; Métro:
Lavapíes/Antón Martín.
Excellent vegetarian venue
in the heart of Lavapíes.
Light and very tasty main
courses, imaginative soups
and some great fruit-based
drinks. There's a
self-service lunch-time menú
for ?6.60. No smoking.
Open Tues-Fri for lunch
and Fri and Sat evenings.
El Estragón ,
Plaza de La Paja 10 tel
913 658 982; Métro: La
Latina. Good vegetarian
tapas, leek pie and
chocolate cake. Economical
menú del día at
?7.20 (dinner menú
is over double the price)
and a fine setting on the
edge of this ancient
plaza. Inexpensive to
moderate.
La Granja ,
c/San Andrés 11 tel 915
328 793; Métro: Bilbao/Tribunal.
Good-value set menu that
changes every day,
offering a choice of soup,
salad, a main dish of
vegetables, rice and
fruits topped with sauce,
dessert and drinks. Open
Mon-Wed 1.30-4.30pm &
9pm-midnight, Thurs-Sun
1.30-4.30pm. Inexpensive.
Vegetariano , c/Marqués
de Santa Ana 34 tel 915
320 927; Métro: Tribunal.
Excellent salads and
Mediterranean vegetables.
No smoking. Closed Sun
night & Mon.
Inexpensive.
Cafe life
Madrid has a number of cafés
that are institutions. They
serve food but are much more
places to drink coffee, have
a copa or caña , or read
the papers. They're also a
meeting place for the
semi-formal tertulia - a
kind...
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