TimeOut

3 restaurants in Madrid

 

I start to have a very thick Madrid address book: I spend there 2 weeks per year so I believe that I know very well the city. Maybe not like a native but without any doubt much better than a tourist...

I would like to share with you 3 restaurant addresses. Don't expect here high end ones, I just want to give you an idea of what I like and that there are always options to escape from the traditional cuisine of Castilla.

I love cuisine from the center of Spain.It is far from being as refined than the Basque country but it is simple and generous... well maybe sometimes a bit too fat.

The day I come back to France, the last thing I do in Madrid is to buy Chorizo... I have to confess that I bought 4 (four) kilos of chorizo... Hoefully, they didn't open my case at the airport.



Let's discover now the 3 restaurants.

"Discover"... is not the correct verb for the first one as it is maybe the most famous restaurant in Madrid!

1) Botin

Botin is supposed to be the oldest restaurant still active in the world... I don't know but I hope they have changed the staff from the 18th century...

You eat there typical cuisine from Castilla with one speciality: the Cochinillo. Cochinillo is suckling pig which is very slowly cooked in a wood fired oven. But you can also enjoy roasted lamb.

The restaurant is located Calle de los Cuchilleros, 17, a few steps from the Plaza Mayor.

Let's browse what I eat:

My table was downstairs, in the caves!

First course was this very classic  "rioja style salad", tomatoes and lettuce salad with tuna. Simple and excellent.

 
But of course, I went to the restaurant to eat this superb Cochinillo. If you go to Botin, please order a Cochinillo or a roasted lamb. They are the specialities and very quickly you will understand why.

What is a perfect Cochinillo? Easy to describe but difficult to get. It has to be crispy outside and melting inside. The only way to achieve this result is patience.

Look at the skin... delicious!

 

A wonderful experience...

I need something sweet after the Cohinillo. So what about the famous rice pudding (arroz con leche)? A perfect rice pudding has to creamy, not too think, not too milky. And this one was really perfect!

Cinnamon is sprinkled on it:

The nice atmosphere of the restaurant:

The bill. Of course, it is a bit on the expensive side for a restaurant in Madrid but when compared with Paris, the quality for the price is excellent. You will notice that I finished my lunch at 3.45 the afternoon which is normal in Spain. I usually start my lunches in Madrid around 2.30 pm.

I was protected during the lunch:

The restaurant windows:

Botin is a famous place in Madrid!

And the front of the restaurant:

2) New York Burger

We totally change the cuisine style now. After one week of castillan cuisine, I felt the need to eat something different. But well, still generous.

I discovered this address totally by chance, wandering around the streets of Madrid.

New York Burger is located calle Recoletos 4, close to the famous Plaza Cibeles. It is, if I may say so, a classic burger restaurants but which gives you the ability to choose the weight of the burger meat.... from 160g to... half kilo!

But the real surprise was for me the long list of hamburgers available: around 20, from the usual tomatoes, lettuce, grilled onions and pickles to the goat cheese, honey and nuts one (if you like sweet and sour style...).

I decided to go to an original one and I chose the "Chrysler Tower" one with blue cheese and blueberry sauce! WOW, it was fantastic!

 

I decided to go back to the hotel on foot to do some exercices. Here is picture of the Plaza de Cibeles by night. The huge building (Palacio de Comunicaciones) was before the main post office, it became the City Hall a few years ago:

3) Lo Scola Pasta

Lo Scola Pasta is an italian restaurant located Calle Amnistia, 6, very close to the Opera and the Royal Palace.

I'm not supposed to eat italian cuisine when I'm in Madrid: I dedicate my summer holidays when I'm in Rome to do so!

But I was attracted by the menu displayed on the door and I was quite curious to discover if the real dishes would meet my expectations. Because I was seduced by the menu contents. I didn't see the perpetual pasta styles on it, each dish had a subtle touch of originality.

I started with Gnocchi with Gorgonzola cream and honey. They were delicious thanks to the dressing. I regretted not having a spoon with me to fully enjoy it. But as you can imagine, I managed to totally clean the plate! Be careful, you have to like the sweet side of this course:

Then I ate a red meat. And again, they decided to do it with something sweet. I was a bit surprised to see apples with beef, I much expect apples with pork. But I have to confess that they combined very well together:

Dessert was a Tiramisu with orange flavour. It was nice but I would have prefered a larger yogurt pot:

Prices are a bit high for Madrid but again, nothing special when you come from Paris.

I would like to finish my report with another famous place.

it is a not a restaurant, it is a chocolate bar. Chocolateria San Gines is another very famous place in Madrid where you can enjoy "chocolate con churros o con porras". Churros are "spanish doughnuts", the pastry-based snacks which are fried. Churro is thin and long... while the Porra is thick... and also long (so its name, porra means cop truncheon).

You have to remember that Spanish chocolate is very thick. It is a very rich drink (there is cornstarch inside) and I highly suggest not to drink it just before going to bed.

3,7 euros... each year more and more expensive but when you know what you get for the same price in other European big cities, you still have a great value (calories?) for the money!

The charming bar:

Preparing the churros and porras is not an easy job due to the high oil temperature:

Chocolate is so thick that the churro can stand in it. It is not magic, there is no trick!

You can buy these powders in order to prepare your chocolate at home. I have never tried them. Maybe next year.

Famous people visited the Chocolateria San Gines:

I like this place!

The main door:

Chocolateria San Gines is located at Pasadizo de San Gines, close to Calle Arenal between Puerto del Sol and the Opera.

Well, with these 3 restaurants and this Chocolate Bar, I think you have some nice places to visit during your next journey in Madrid. And I can't wait to come back.

That was the main difficulty of this post: while writing it, I started to be hungry!

Fx




This message has been edited by DRMW on 2012-05-02 02:46:49 This message has been edited by DRMW on 2012-05-03 20:18:05