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Madrid serves up some of the best food in
Europe and the prices, for a capital city, are remarkably
low. Unlike London, Paris, Amsterdam and some other capital
cities in Europe, trust your own judgement in Madrid and you
are unlikely to be served a bad meal or charged silly high
prices.
The best of Madrid's traditional food is
to be found in the Los Austrias and La Latina areas, but
don't be afraid to venture further afield. For international
cuisine, and Madrid has it in bucket loads, the best area is
definitely Chueca. The food served here is
definitely cosmopolitan and modern. Although families in
Madrid normally have their evening meal around 10 in the
evening, the restaurants are serving food from 7 onwards. |
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Many of the restaurants and cafes in Madrid are
decorated in extravagant style. Typically they are
clad with decorative and colourful tiles. The best
look superb and even the not-so-good look
impressive. The restaurant most famous for its tiles
in Madrid is Viva Madrid, click the picture on the
right to enlarge it. It's well worth a visit to see
this restaurant, but we strongly suggest you eat at one of the
adjoining restaurants. In our opinion they are
cheaper and better.
Good food in Madrid cannot be mentioned without
tapas being top of the bill. See below for lots
more information. Fish is also top of the list, with
any of the smoked fish a delight. Salt cod and hake
should also come high on your list of dishes to
taste. |
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Meat is not something you might associate with
Madrid but consider this. The Spaniards haven't yet
quite accepted the notion that a good piece of meat
should have come from an animal intensively farmed
and fed on a diet of steroids and antibiotics.
Rather they let their animals graze on grass and the
like. This makes for excellent, superbly tasty beef.
Order a steak in Madrid and you will likely be
very surprised at how much better it is compared to
home reared beef. Try the lamb as well, either plain
roast lamb (cordero asado) or milk-fed baby
lamb (cordero lechal). Paella is another not
to be missed dish (see left). |
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The Madrilenos (Madrid
locals) are fascinated by ham and the best in the
world is produced in Spain. The shops are packed out
with massive whole hams hanging from the ceilings,
click the left and right pictures for a clearer
view. The king of hams is Iberian Ham (jamon
iberico) and you must have a dish with this as
one of the main ingredients. It is the best ham you
will ever have tasted. The subject
of Iberian Ham is too complicated to cover here (click
here for a site that does explain), but
suffice it to say that the pigs are fed on acorns
and there are three recognised grades. |
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Fried Chorizo |
If you go to Madrid then you must
sample the tapas dishes. Tapas are small portions of
the food you love best! Mid-morning snack,
mid-afternoon snack, combine several for a hearty
lunch or diner. For a detailed explanation of tapas
and some recipes for home
click here.
Below are a few pictures of tapas
dishes which are easily available in the cafes
throughout Madrid. Chorizo sausage is a speciality
of Madrid and the simple tapa of fried chorizo
(click left picture to enlarge) is Madrid cuisine at
its best. |
Hake in Tempura Batter |
Ham & Potato Croquettes |
Another equally famous, simple
and delicious tapa dish is croquettes. They are
filled with potato and other ingredients.
Cheese plays a great part in the cuisine of Madrid
and Manchego cheese is the most popular. It is made
from the milk of only Manchega sheep which are found
in the "La Mancha" area of Spain. For lots of
information on Manchega cheese,
click here. When looking
for tapas bars and cafes, forget your guide book.
Simply go in, take a look at the dishes displayed
and if you like them, stop there! |
Manchego Cheese |
Tortilla / Spanish Omelette |
These final two tapas dishes are
famous throughout the world. On the left is the
Tortilla or Spanish Omelette. With only eggs, potato
and onion this is a classic dish.
On the right is probably the best known tapa
of all time, Patatas Bravas. Again, very
simple ingredients of fried potato cubes smothered
with a hot (bravas) tomato based sauce.
There are literally hundreds of
other tapas available in Madrid, empanadas, rice
omelettes, fried quid and meatballs in tomato sauce
to name but a few. |
Patatas Bravas |
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