Together with our huge passion for visiting new places, the curiosity of trying new food is the reason that pushes us to travel the world, you already know that…but if you still need motivation to be part of the Culinary Traveller Club, we propose you a delicious guide to “eatable&drinkable” Madrid!
We want to start our report with one of the most beautiful Spanish verbs (according to us, of course): TAPEAR! Tapear is not just “eating some tapas“; it’s the soul of Spanish culture; it’s their conviviality, their getting together with a glass of wine and some good food. Walking around Madrid during tapas hours was a total pleasure for two foodies like us! Packed restaurants and bars, people getting together, laughing and chatting…a real dream! We took a lot of photos with our cellphone, which broke just after the trip! Anyway, we still have some yummy images (taken with the camera) to show you!
So…here’s where we were and what we ate in beautiful Madrid!
Garlic shrimps still sizzling are waiting for you, with a glass of white wine, in this super characteristic place! Specialized in gambas (shrimps), we also ate shrimp croquettes (soooo good!) and a crouton with Cantabrico anchovy…YUM!
Prosciutto, prosciutto, prosciutto…bellota, of course! You will find any type of Spanish prosciutto you want to taste here. We also ordered a salty croissant with prosciutto and two croutons with Morcilla (a traditional “black-pudding-like” sausage with rice) and aioli sauce!
The name of this place speaks for itself: this is octopus reign, to be tasted in many different ways, one yummier than the other!
4. La Gastro croqueterìa de Chema
The right place to taste Spaniards’ favourite specialty: la croqueta! You can totally go mad in here, there’s croquetas for all tastes! You MUST try the chorizo and shimp one and the dessert ones (we had tiramisu and lemon pie flavours)!
The realm of Madrid tapas! This market is a food heaven: cheese, fish, prosciutto, desserts…it’s up to you!
[Little treat: we ate percebes, weird hard-to-find shellfish that were on our “I-want-to-try-it-once-in-my-life” bucket list! They are very expensive (we paid €22 for 100 gr!), but it was totally worth it!]
This market is fantastic: two floors of gastronomic choice (we suggest you visiting on Sunday)! We had fish tapas here and…DO NOT miss some fabulous mini tartelettes at Mamà Framboise: we had a caramel and a passion fruit/mango one…sooo good!
This place has been making hot chocolate and churros since 1894…is it enough to make you stop?
8. Vicens
You totally have to visit this place: incredible flavours of artisanal nougat and other delicacies are waiting for you to taste and buy!
Right in front of San Miguel Market, this is the right place to taste the best fish and shellfish preserves!
10. Botin
While you’re in Madrid, why not eating in the world’s oldest restaurant (according to Guinness World Record)? We’ve been there: click on the name and read our experience!
11. Que si quieres arroz Catalina
This restaurant was on our bucket list before we arrived. Rafa Morales, the chef, worked with Ferran Adrià and we were very curious. The story of the restaurant name is really cute: it’s a Spanish expression (“Que si quieres arroz Catalina“) used when someone is not paying attention to what you say or do. The owners took it to emphasize their fabulous arroz (“rice” in Spanish). We ordered a “Señorito madrileño”, with octopus, shrimps and calamari (the pan you see in the photos is for two people!); the entrées were superb (the croquetas de jamon: memorable!) and a homemade aioli sauce to eat with bread…sooo good! The desserts were delicious too. The restaurant is not downtown and you need the subway to reach it, but it’s totally worth the “trip”!
If you go to the top floor of El Corte Inglés, along the Gran Vìa, you’ll find a huge gourmet market, where you can buy any type of food you can think of. If you go during “tapas hours” the restaurants are packed with people! Don’t miss the beautiful view of the city at sunset!
13. El Envernadero
Imagine the most beautiful greenhouse you can think about; now erase that image and visit El Envernadero, because it is far more incredible than any mental image you created! A maze of rooms and little corners, full of plants and flowers; vintage and outdoor furnishings, this bar seems to have just come out of a Lewis Carroll’s book! And the cocktails are as cool as the place: we drank from a mini bathtub (rubber duck included) and a cage! You find it inside Salvador Bachiller store.
The most “authentic” market we visited, the “neighborhood” one, where you go to buy food rather than eat tapas. It deserves a visit!
15. Origen
With all this food, a bit of fruit is good! You find a big choice of juices here, some are really peculiar! We had two exotic ones, with Chirimoya and Guanabana!
Have you ever visited Madrid? Do you have culinary adventures to share? Leave a comment, we’d love to hear from you!
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