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RESTAURANTS AND TAPAS BARS |
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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.
Café 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 of discussion/drinking group, popular among Madrid intellectuals of
the past and revived in the 1980s. Many cafés also have summer - or all-year
- terrazas (outside terraces), though be aware that sitting outside puts
up the prices. Other cafés and pastelerias are simpler affairs, good
places to grab a breakfast croissant or a teatime snack. Good choices
include:
Café los Austrias , Plaza de Ramales Métro: Opera. Relaxing café with
marble table-tops and dark-wood interior; a good stop after a visit to
the Palacio Real.
Café Barbieri , c/Ave María 45 Métro: Lavapiés. Well-known café with a
vaguely intellectual reputation. It's a relaxed place with unobtrusive
music, lots of wooden tables, old-style decor, newspapers, and a wide
selection of coffees.
Café El Botánico , c/Espalter/Plaza Murillo Métro: Atocha. A quiet place
to sit with a drink, opposite the south entrance of the Prado.
Café Central , Plaza del Ángel 10 Métro: Sol. A jazz club by night but a
regular café by day, again with newspapers supplied.
Café Comercial , Glorieta de Bilbao Métro: Bilbao. One of the city's
most popular meeting points - a lovely traditional café, well poised for
the Chueca/Santa Bárbara area.
Café del Espejo , Paseo de Recoletos 31 Métro: Colón. Opened in 1991 but
you wouldn't guess it - mirrors, gilt, and a wonderful glass pavilion,
plus a leafy outside terraza.
Café Gijón , Paseo de Recoletos 21 Métro: Banco de España. Famous
literary café - and a centre of the intellectual/arty movida in the
1980s - decked out in Cuban mahogany and mirrors. Has a summer terraza.
Café Manuela Malasaña , c/San Vicente Ferrer 29 Métro: Tribunal.
Wonderful mirrors and fittings and a very civilized atmosphere, with
live piano music and tertulias , in different languages, most nights.
Café de Oriente , Plaza de Oriente 2 Métro: Ópera. Elegant,
traditional-style café founded a decade or so ago by a priest, as part
of a charity rehab programme for ex-convicts. Has a popular terraza.
Círculo de Bellas Artes , c/Alcalá 42 Métro: Banco de España. Day
membership to the Círculo is ¬0.60, which gives you access to
exhibitions, and to a most luxurious bar, where you can loll on sofas
and have drinks at normal prices. Outside, in summer, there's a
comfortable terraza.
Croissantería , c/Corredera Alta de San Pablo - just off Plaza San
Ildefonso Métro: Tribunal. Some of the best stuffed croissants in the
city, plus ice cream and coffee.
La Mallorquina , Puerta del Sol 2 Métro: Sol. Good for breakfast or
snacks - try one of their napolitanas (cream slices) in the sunny
upstairs salon.
Yenes , c/Mayor 1 Métro: Sol. Wedge yourself on to a bar stool and enjoy
a fine array of cakes and croissants; less bustling than La Mallorquina
opposite.
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