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by N. A. Ross
The restaurants in Madrid almost always serve exceptional food, as the Madrileños are very fond of good eating and drinking, and the variety of establishments serving food -- from lowly tascas to high priced hotel restaurants -- is so vast that the fierce competition quickly weeds out the ones that don’t make the grade.
Many places have withstood the test of time. Café de Oriente, in Plaza de Oriente, across the street from the Royal Palace and near the Opera House, for example, is a classic belle époque charmer in what used to be the cellar of a convent. One can find royalty as well as tourists rubbing shoulders in its casual cafe sampling tapas and copitas of fino, while the main dinning room serves French fare with a decidedly Spanish twist.
For impeccable, old fashioned service in grand surroundings and an outstanding kitchen you can’t do better than Goya, in the Hôtel Ritz, Madrid. This is a romantic setting in a sybaritic environment. The pricing is not for the faint of heart, but the cuisine is still worthy of Escoffier’s fame.
For something completely different, head to the Salamanca district where a converted coach-house is the setting for El Amparo, a bastion of Basque cuisine. El Amparo is a chic, tri-level restaurant hidden in an alley. The best steaks in Madrid can be found here, as well as a soufflé that should excite even the most jaded palates.
For probably the best Galician seafood in the city, Combarro -- named after a fishing village -- serves superb traditional dishes like salt encrusted bass. An additional advantage is that wine from the restaurant’s own winery is served here.
If paella is what you crave, Valencia is the region that creates the most tasty version. L’ Albufera, in the Meliá Castilla Hotel, serves lots of seafood and rice specialties and Paella Valenciana is the star of these dishes, though the rest are not too shabby either.
Just off Plaza Mayor is a classic 1725 Castilian landmark, one of the oldest continuously operating restaurants in the world. Casa Botin was featured in Hemingway’s “The Sun also Rises” and their specialties: roasted suckling pig, baby lamb and baby eels in garlic sauce have not changed for the last 100 years; why meddle with success?
Finally, one can”t talk about food in Madrid without mentioning at least one or two tapas-serving establishments. José Luis, in Chamartin, is a lively room where delicious tapas are served all day long at the bar; have a copita of fino, a manzanilla or a glass of cava and you can have a tasty and satisfying meal. The same can be also said about Alkalde, another traditional Basque restaurant in the Salamanca district, where seafood-based tapas are served at the bar. Discriminating Madrileños recommend these two establishments to out-of-town guests, as typical examples of Spanish home cooking.
Editor’s Note: For a recent more extensive article on Madrid click here.
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