There is an unsung hero in Madrid, a hero taken for granted and not given the proper credit. That hero is the Menu del Dia.
I don’t think Madrilenos really appreciate what an institution this is. The Menu del Dia should exist on every continent on earth. Fresh, almost home-cooked food, (dos platos!) offered daily with pan, vino , y postre! The best part is not so many confusing choices. This just does not happen in other places. If you eat from the Menu del Dia you very rarely can go wrong (unless you are super picky) and if you are super picky just drink the cheap wine with some Casera in it and all will be well.
Of course I could go into the ‘I remember when’ stories. Alright I will… I remember when I ate the Menu del Dia con un companero de pension, Don Luis Carpintero. We would walk around looking for just the right place – cheap but ‘con buena pinta’. We would find places where we would eat – well, (i.e., comer bien) for I think like 350 Pesetas… maybe $3.00, U.S. Don Luis was seventy-four years old and I was twenty-five trying to find work in Madrid. On Sundays the owners of the pension where we lived did not cook so we had to fend for ourselves - so we did, and had a lot of fun in the process.
Today it is a little different (more money of course - about 10 Euros now) but there still is the Menu. I love the freaking Menu del Dia! Sometimes I don’t even know what the Hell I’m eating. I just act like I know, and it’s still good.
So, Madrilenos and all visitors, be proud! You are lucky in Spain. All you have to do is find a place that has a lot of people in it, that has a Menu del Dia, and you are in business. You don’t even need a mother. This comes in handy for those of us who don’t have mothers anymore. And everyone knows that chicks can’t cook now days because their mother’s did everything for them – but that's another story.
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