Madrid restaurants

Ainhoa

Bárbara de Braganza 12. Phone: 308 6698. Hours: Closed Sunday. Price: Pts.11000 ($88) for two. All major cards. (C1).

One of many Basque places, a modern and simple restaurant with classic cooking, situated in the north-eastern part of the center, near Paseo de Recoletos.

The dining room is partioned in two by a wooden grill and covered with mirrors on one side.

- Marmitako = pea soup with turnip, potato and tuna.

- Revuelto de pisto = scrambled eggs with chopped olives.

- Merluza a la parilla = grilled hake.

- Rape a la koskera = turbot with green bean sauce.

- Tarta et truffa almondes = almond cake.

- Idiázabal = Basque cheese.

Al Mounia

Recoletos 5. Phone: 435 0828. Hours: Closed Sunday & Monday. Price: Pts.9700 ($78) for two. All major cards. (C2).

The best Moorish restaurant in Spain is in central Madrid, near Paseo de Recoletos, combining cooking and atmosphere.

It is divided into a few rooms decorated from top to bottom in Moorish style, evoking memories from Alhambra in Granada and Mezquita in Córdoba. Guests sit in sofas at low sofa-tables and enjoy especially good service.

- Al Mounia panache = pancakes of the house.

- Brochette khefta = skewered meat balls.

- Chicken with almonds and meat fumé.

- Grilled lamb.

- Cordero mechoui = oven-braised lamb.

- Taginé = minced chicken.

- Alcuzcuz = Maghreb hash.

- Almond sweets.

- Mint tea.

Asador de Aranda

Preciados 44. Phone: 547 2156. Hours: Closed Monday dinner. Price: Pts.7600 ($61) for two. All major cards. (A2).

Castilian restaurant in a pedestrian area around the main department stores in the center. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Bajamar

Gran Vía 78. Phone: 548 4818. Fax: 559 1326. Price: Pts.15000 ($120) for two. All major cards. (A1).

The best-known seafood restaurant in town, receiving airborne fish every day, popular with tourists and businessmen, in a basement on the corner of Plaza de España and Gran Vía.

An aquarium with lobsters awaits customers when the have descended the staircase. The dining room is rather cool, sheathed in bright wood Scandinavian style, like a Norwegian hotel from 1965.

- Steamed lobster.

- Dublin Bay prawns in garlic oil.

- Baked apple.

- Torrija de la casa = rice pudding with cinnamon.

Botín

Cuchilleros 17. Phone: 366 4217. Fax: 366 8494. Price: Pts.9800 ($78) for two. All major cards. (A2).

Down the steps from the southwestern corner of Plaza Mayor, 100 meters down the street on the left side, Antigua Casa Sobrino de Botín, founded in 1725, one of the very oldest restaurants in the world. This was the venue of the final chapter of Hemingways rising sun, not surprisingly since he was a regular here. The place is also mentioned in his story on an afternoon death.

It was originally only on the ground floor but has been expanded into two upper floors. It is not only popular with tourists but also with locals. The tavern has old and quaint furnishings, including porcelain tiles on the walls and marble in the floors. The kitchen oven has been in use since the start of the restaurant.

- Black sausages Burgos.

- Ham on melon.

- Cordero asado = braised lamb.

- Cochinillo asado = braised baby pork.

- Cheese cake with raspberries.

Buey II

Plaza de la Marina Española 1. Phone: 541 3041. Price: Pts.7000 ($56) for two. All major cards. (A2).

Near the royal palace and the Sabatine gardens. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Café de Oriente

Plaza de Oriente 2. Phone: 541 3974. Fax: 547 7707. Price: Pts.13000 ($104) for two. All major cards. (A2).

One of the very best restaurants in central Madrid, a Basque one, run by Chef Bernardo Santos, influenced by Nouvelle Cuisine. It is opposite the Royal Palace, really two places in one as you have to enter an alley to get into the better one on the left side.

The solemn dining room is wealthy and homey at the same time. Service is excellent.

- Lobster salad.

- Asparagus mousse with sea lamprey and seaweed.

- Pigeon breast.

- Sliced beef fillet.

- Nougat ice-cream flambé with timbale.

- Black-currant sorbet with blackberry sauce.

Casa Gallega

Plaza San Miguel 8. Phone: 547 3055. Price: Pts.8000 ($64) for two. All major cards. (A2).

Galician cooking a few steps from Plaza Major and Plaza de la Villa. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Casa Lucio

Cava Baja 35. Phone: 365 3252. Fax: 366 4866. Hours: Closed Saturday lunch. Price: Pts.10200 ($82) for two. All major cards. (A3).

Near the far end of the restaurant mile leading off Plaza Mayor into Cuchilleros and Cava Baja, frequented by politicians and artists, bullfighters and television people.

Its two storeys are always full to the brim. Service is good for the regulars, less so for the others.

- Melón con jamón = ham on melon.

- Jamón de Jabugó = Jabugó ham.

- Shells.

- Revuelto de patatas con huevo = omelet with chips.

- Lenguado de la casa = sole.

- Solemillo = beef steak.

- Perdices = partridge marinated in vinaigrette.

- Arroz con leche = Milky rice pudding with caramel crust.

Casa Marta

Santa Clara 10. Phone: 548 2825. Hours: Closed Sunday. Price: Pts.6000 ($48) for two. All major cards. (A2).

A few steps from the opera and Plaza de Orientes. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Casa Paco

Puerta Cerrada 11. Phone: 366 3166. Hours: Closed Sunday. Price: Pts.9200 ($74) for two. No cards. (A2).

On the restaurant mile leading off Plaza Mayor along Cuchilleros and Cava Baja, a celebrity eatery with extremely simple furnishings.

The main decoration are the endless pictures covering a good part of the walls of many small dining rooms. Theater personalities frequent this place for beef and salad. Coffee is not served.

- Jamón serrano = ham.

- Cochinillo asado = braised pork.

- Solomillo de buey = beef filet.

- Flan = fruit flan.

- Tarta Santiago = tart of the house.

Club 31

Alcalá 58. Phone: 531 0092. Price: Pts.14000 ($112) for two. All major cards. (C2).

One of the best restaurants in Madrid, a kind of a ladies club at dinner and a gentlemens club at lunch, is near the corner of Alcalá and Plaza de la Independencia. Ángel Paracuellos practices classic cuisine.

It is a large, dark brown room that would be bare if it were not full of noisy people all the time. The furnishings are unusual. A large carpet is on one wall, another is of cork and the third of wood. Lots of waiters keep milling around.

- Souffle de rodaballo con bacon a las finas herbas = turbot mousse.

- Cacaroles de borgona con foie en nido de patata asado = snails with goose liver on a baked potato.

- Rodaballo al horno con setas = turbot with mushroom.

- Pata azulón a la naranja y compota de membrillo = duck in orange.

- Perdiz asada en hoja de vid = partridge with baked potato.

- Venado estilo australio, ciruelas, parsas y pinones = venison Australian style, with prunes and raisins.

- Crepes de manzana al calvados con sorbete al cava = flambéed pancakes with apple filling.

- Nuestra tarta milhojas = puff pastry.

Comedor

Montalbán 9. Phone: 531 6968. Fax: 531 6191. Hours: Closed Saturday lunch & Sunday. Price: Pts.9600 ($77) for two. All major cards. (C2).

BetweenPlaza de Cibeles and Parque del Buen Retiro. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Cuevas de Luis Candelas

Cuchilleros 1. Phone: 366 5428. Fax: 366 1880. Price: Pts.9500 ($76) for two. All major cards. (A2).

Restaurant in old Madrid style with musicians, on the steps leading down from Plaza Mayor. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Don Pelayo

Alcalá 33. Phone: 531 0031. Hours: Closed Sunday. Price: Pts.9000 ($72) for two. All major cards. (B2).

On the main street leading to Plaza Puerta del Sol. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Errota Zar

Jovellanos 3. Phone: 531 2564. Fax: 531 2564. Hours: Closed Sunday. Price: Pts.9500 ($76) for two. All major cards. (B2).

One of the best of many good Basque restaurants in Madrid is on the short walk between the parliament building and hotel Suecia. The cooking is in traditional Basque style.

It is in a long, green room where guests sit in noble chairs at tables clothed in green linen.

- Gratinado de ostras sobre roseta de tomate a la muselina de aromáticos = gratinated oysters with tomato.

- Milhofas de paloma y foie a la gelatina de frambuesa = warm pigeon liver and duck liver in gelatine.

- Solomillo con foie-gras a las uvas = beef filet with goose liver.

- Ragout de cievres = venison in thick prune sauce.

- Bacalao al pil-pil = salt-cod.

- Suprema de perdiz en lecho de col fresada = partridge breast.

- Pudding de arroz con leche a la crema de cirulas farsas = rice pudding with plum puré.

- Charlota de peras con caramelo al Williams = pear tart with caramel sauce.

- Idiázabal = Basque cheese.

Espejo

Paseo de Recoletos 31. Phone: 308 2347. Fax: 593 2223. Price: Pts.9000 ($72) for two. All major cards. (C1).

Directly on Paseo de Recoletos, one of the most beautiful restaurants in Madrid, a lively place in turn-of-the-century Art Nouveau style.

Lots of mirrors, porcelain tiles and leaded lampshades are the main attraction. The service is also very good. The cooking hails from Navarra and the Basque country.

- Espárragos Navarra = asparagus marinated in oil.

- Ensalade de langosta, melón y salmón ahumado = a salad of shrimp, melon, smoked salmon and small tomatoes.

- Escalopines de cordero = slices of leg of lamb.

- Pato e la laranja = duck in orange.

- Profiteroles de nata con chocolate = puff pastry with cream and hot chocolate.

- Flan al caramelo = caramel pudding.

Esteban

Cava Baja 36. Phone: 365 9091. Fax: 366 9391. Hours: Closed Sunday. Price: Pts.9000 ($72) for two. All major cards. (A3).

Near the far end of the restaurant mile leading off Plaza Mayor into Cuchilleros and Cava Baja, frequented by journalists, media people and theater people.

Everybody seems to know each other. People amble between tables exchanging greetings just as at a party. The furnishings are old and dark and amusingly accidental. Old beams are much in evidence. The cooking is very old-fashioned.

- Alcachofas con almejas = artichokes with shells in a soup.

- Pimientos rellenos de bacalao = salt cod in paprika.

- Solomillo de corzo = venison filet.

- Rabo de toro estofado = ox tail dressing.

- Cordero asada = braised lamb.

- Torrijas de leche frita = rice pudding.

Grillade

Jardines 3. Phone: 521 2217. Fax: 531 3127. Price: Pts.8000 ($64) for two. All major cards. (B2).

In a short street between Gran Vía and Plaza Puerta del Sol. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Gure-Etxea

Plaza de la Paja 12. Phone: 365 6149. Hours: Closed Sunday. Price: Pts.10000 ($80) for two. All major cards. (A3).

A Basque dining room situated in a half-timbered house on a small church square just west off the Cava Baja restaurant street.

The quality furnishings fit the excellent service and the premium cooking.

- Piperrada vaxca = omelet, green peppers and ham.

- Shrimp in crab soup.

- Besugo al estilo de Beneo = whole sea bream in oil.

- Merluza al horno = baked hake.

- Leche frita = pan-fried milk pudding.

- Flan de la casa = caramel pudding.

Ingenio

Leganitos 10. Phone: 541 9133. Fax: 547 3534. Hours: Closed Sunday dinner. Price: Pts.6100 ($49) for two. All major cards. (A2).

Between Gran Vía and the royal palace. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Julián de Tolosa

Cava Baja 18. Phone: 365 8210. Hours: Closed Sunday. Price: Pts.13000 ($104) for two. All major cards. (A3).

On the main restaurant street in the old center. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Mentidero de la Villa

Santo Tomé 6. Phone: 308 1285. Hours: Closed Saturday lunch & Sunday. Price: Pts.9000 ($72) for two. All major cards. (C1).

Restaurant with old furnishings near Museo Arquelógico Nacional and Paseo de Recoletos. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Mesón Gregorio III

Bordadores 5. Phone: 542 5956. Hours: Closed Wednesday. Price: Pts.8200 ($66) for two. All major cards. (A2).

Between the opera and Plaza Puerta del Sol. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Mi Pueblo

Costanilla de Santiago 2. Phone: 548 2073. Hours: Closed Sunday dinner & Monday. Price: Pts.6300 ($50) for two. All major cards. (A2).

Near Plaza Mayor. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Ópera de Madrid

Amnistía 5. Phone: 559 5092. Hours: Closed Sunday. Price: Pts.7600 ($61) for two. All major cards. (A2).

Near the opera and Plaza de Orientes. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Paradis Madrid

Marqués de Cubas 14. Phone: 429 7303. Fax: 429 3295. Hours: Closed Saturday lunch & Sunday. Price: Pts.10000 ($80) for two. All major cards. (B2).

A few steps from Plaza Canovás del Castillo and Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Platerías

Plaza Santa Ana 11. Phone: 429 7048. Hours: Closed Saturday lunch & Sunday. Price: Pts.9000 ($72) for two. All major cards. (B2).

On a main square in old Madrid. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Posada de la Villa

Cava Baja 9. Phone: 366 1880. Fax: 366 1880. Price: Pts.9800 ($78) for two. All major cards. (A3).

Antique restaurant in Castilian style on the main restaurant street in the old center. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Rasputín

Yeseros 2. Phone: 366 3962. Hours: Closed Tuesday. Price: Pts.6400 ($51) for two. All major cards. (A3).

Russian restaurant near the royal palace. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Robata

Reina 31. Phone: 521 8528. Fax: 531 3063. Hours: Closed Tuesday. Price: Pts.7000 ($56) for two. All major cards. (B2).

A Japanese restaurant near Gran Vía. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Schotis

Cava Baja 11. Phone: 365 3230. Hours: Closed Sunday evening. Price: Pts.7800 ($62) for two. All major cards. (A3).

On the restaurant mile leading off Plaza Mayor into Cuchilleros and Cava Baja, specializing in beef steaks served on sizzling bricks.

It is long and narrow, with large paintings covering the walls, filled with local customers.

- Revuelto de trigueros = scrambled egg with green peas.

- Tomato salad.

- Merluza = hake.

- Solomillo = beef steak on brick.

- Flan de huevo = egg pudding.

- Two ice-creams with pineapple and whipped cream.

Sixto Gran Mesón

Cervantes 28. Phone: 429 2255. Fax: 523 3174. Hours: Closed Sunday dinner. Price: Pts.9000 ($72) for two. All major cards. (B2).

Castilian restaurant near Plaza Canovás del Castillo. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Taberna del Alabardero

Felipe V 6. Phone: 547 2577. Fax: 547 7707. Price: Pts.10300 ($82) for two. All major cards. (A2).

Opposite the royal palace, a restaurant in 19th C. style, probably too elegant to be called a tavern. It has spawned descendants abroad.

The best atmosphere is in the innermost room, furnished with antiques. The cooking is a combination of Modern French and Basque, offering some imaginative courses.

- Tomatoes with crab filling and egg sauce.

- Paprika with wild mushroom and spinach filling and tomato sauce.

- Bacalao “Club Ranero” = salt-cod.

- Corazón de solomillo de toro = beef filet.

- Grouse with potato chips.

- Duck slices in orange sauce.

- Rice pudding.

- Melone and cream soup with raspberries.

Toja

Siete de Julio 3. Phone: 366 4664. Fax: 366 5230. Price: Pts.10000 ($80) for two. All major cards. (A2).

On the northwestern corner of Plaza Mayor, a popular and lively tavern offering Galician food.

The simple and large dining place is equally popular with locals and foreigners.

- King prawns in egg sauce.

- Crab.

- Shellfish.

- Merluza gallega = grilled hake with white potatoes.

- Grilled lamb shoulder.

- Tarta Toya = Napoleon pastry.

- Strawberries with cream.

Valle

Humilladero 4. Phone: 366 9025. Hours: Closed Monday dinner & Sunday. Price: Pts.7000 ($56) for two. All major cards. (A3).

A few steps from Descalzas Reales. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Viridiana

Juan de Mena 14. Phone: 523 4478. Fax: 532 4274. Hours: Closed Sunday. Price: Pts.13000 ($104) for two. All major cards. (C2).

Exceptional cooking at a relatively economical restaurant between Plaza de la Lealtad and Parque del Buen Retiro. (Shortlisted for evaluation and inclusion)

Zalachaín

Álvarez de Baena 4. Phone: 561 4840. Fax: 561 4732. Hours: Closed Saturday lunch, Sunday. Price: Pts.19000 ($152) for two. All major cards

We include Zalachaín even if it is not in the city center, near the corner of Paseo de la Castellana and Maria de Molina. It is the best restaurant in Madrid and one of the top three in Spain, a Basque restaurant as the other two. It combines content with form, cuisine with ambience and service. A tie for gentlemen is obligatory.

The dining area is in a few venerable rooms of hardwood, a few tables in each, loaded with exquisite crystal and porcelain. The service matches the dignified atmosphere. The cooking of Chef Benjamín Urdáin is in a Basque version of French Nouvelle Cuisine.

- Ensalada de gambas con maíz dulce al sorbete de tomates = shrimp salad with sweet maize on tomato sorbet.

- Raviolis rellenos de setas, rufas y foie gras = mushrooms and goose liver in ravioli.

- Bacalao Tellagorri = salted cod.

- Pato azulón al chartreuse verde = duck in liqueur.

- Ragoût de bogavante con alcachofas = lobster ragout with artichokes.

- Escalopes de lubina con salsa de almejas = sea bass fillets with shellfish sauce.

- Biscuit glacé con chocolate fundido = coffee ice with chocolate sauce.

- Frutas del tiempo con sorbete = seasons berries with sorbet.

1996

© Jónas Kristjánsson