Every Madrid-centric website has one of these kinds of posts - so now it’s my turn.
When I am in Madrid I only want Spanish food. I don’t want to try some weird pizza with tuna or anchovies on it. Likewise, I would never go to a Chinese restaurant unless Spanish friends insist. I know that the food is terrible, drowned in starchy sauce, and the Chinese people are laughing at what they are giving us white ghosts. Besides, Los Angeles (Monterey Park) has some great Chinese food - maybe even better than Hong Kong.
Continuing with the rant. I also don’t want other kinds of Italian. Why waste my time on pasta that I could get anywhere? And there is no way I’m trying Mexican food again. Maybe someday Madrid will catch up with Los Angeles in the Mexican food department, but I haven’t seen it yet. I also don’t really understand – and therefore don’t appreciate - French food, so that’s out. It’s possible that Sushi might be OK because the Spanish do know fresh fish, but I can’t chance it unless I see real Japanese people behind the bar (and eating in there too). The Indian food (called Hindu here) might be OK except that it’s usually made by Pakistanis. I don’t know anything about Pakistani food or if it is even different than Indian – but I should know this. The Arabic food has got to be good. Must get up the nerve to go into some of those places with the water pipes.
Ok, so I think it’s pretty clear that it’s going to be Spanish. One more thing, I’m not a fan of fancy and expensive restaurants. I may try to fly business class whenever I can, but I am just not impressed with expensive places when you can get great eats in Madrid at normal, not big money, restaurants. The truth is I’m not a gourmet kind of a guy (which may mean everyone should stop reading this post right now).
If you are still there, here are my picks for regular, good Spanish food, in restaurants filled with Spanish people:
La Sanabresa – c/ Amor de Dios, 12
Mano a Mano – c/ Lavapies, 16
Finca de Susana – c/ Arlaban, 4 (This one looks fancy but the prices are great. For some reason the waiters are all Filipinos and very surly.)
La Puebla – c/ Ventura de la Vega, 12
4 comments:
I'm definitely in agreement with you here -- whenever I'm traveling, I'll only go to restaurants that offer authentic cuisine of that country. In fact, I even find that the expensive restaurants tend to have much smaller portions, making the dish prettier than it is abundant in food. So I never opt for the fancy places to eat because in other places I can probably save money and eat more!
I had my first Chinese meal in Madrid a few days ago. We were taken to this place by a Chinese/British friend, and it really was excellent. It's called The King of Noodles, and it's somewhere round the back of Plaza de Espana.
I'm exaggerating of course for dramatic effect. Madrid has it all now. It's not like the old days. I know there is great food of all types out there if you look for it.
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