48 hours in the Spanish capital are not enough, but you eat and drink very well

Churros with creamy hot chocolate, croquetas, callos a la madrileña (local tripe), garlic soup. These recipes, washed down with lots of vermouth, are everywhere, even late at night. Between clichés and inventions, we list traditions and modernities that are worth trying, discover what to eat and drink in Madrid.

Pan with tomatoes and serrano ham. In this case, homemade bread with grated tomato and 48-month-cured Iberian ham, as well as potato tortilla, are some of the classics available early in the morning. Therefore, staying in a good hotel is the first step to ensuring this joy.

If Único Madrid (www.unicohotelmadrid.com) didn’t guarantee it, the nearby La Paz market would. However, the hotel does one better. Ramón Freixa (@ramonfreixa), a two-star chef, takes great care of the cuisine and, in the evening, the desayuno restaurant is named after him.

In the dining room he is very kind, he welcomes special requests, explains and serves the dishes. One of the unmissable ones is the sweet croissant (orange sweet potato) with caviar, sheep’s milk cream, parsnip cream and calcified papaya that looks like, but is not, puff pastry.

Speaking of sweet potatoes, Diego Guerrero (@diegoguerrero), also a double star, prepares a surprising – and delicious – pre-dessert with the tuber. O fake camembert by DSTAgE (dstageconcept.com) uses the French cheese mushroom. When the cone breaks, it melts. “We use a fermentation technique where we inoculate penicilium candidum into our sweet potato base for 4 days, which allows us to get the cheese flavor and these textures,” explains the chef.

we don’t just want food

With the aim of eating too much, museums end up being left aside. In these, nothing better than restaurants that tell history. The most iconic is Lhardy (lhardy.com). When it opened, 185 years ago, the place welcomed the most illustrious people of Madrid after the bullfights in the Plaza Mayor. But not only that, Queen Elizabeth II passed through its Japanese room and, in it, the Japanese dancer Mata-Hari consumed her last supper before being killed.

Your Madrid stew It is the most expensive in Spain (€65), but it is a memorable ritual that begins with a comforting consommé of angel hair pasta. Then, with a deep breath, the waiter begins to serve with elegance: chickpeas from his farm, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, pork sausage with truffles, morcilla, bacon, Galician beef marrow, Iberian ham from Huelva, ribs…

Some built-ins may have been omitted. It doesn’t matter. At the first bite you feel part of the aristocracy of times gone by. If that wasn’t enough there is the soufflé lhardy, an ice cream cake covered in meringue, flambéed at the table. If it wasn’t in the combo it would be on the list of unmissable delicacies.

Another exceptional class takes place with the langostino sausage a Tasquita de Enfrente (latasquitadeenfrente.com). Don’t even think about Christmas, Madrid’s salpicón contains neither chicken nor celery! It’s a way of marinating pieces, such as shellfish, in vinaigrette and eating them cold. However, chef Juanjo López Bedmar (@tasquita) sublimates the technique and serves a velvety cream prepared with shrimp in a heavenly setting.

Net revenues

The best cocktail bars in Madrid open at 4pm, and this in a city where it’s natural to have dinner at 10pm. So be careful, but be sure to visit 1862 Dry Bar (@1862drybar), much less Salmon Guru (salmonguru.es).

First, of course, grab a dry Martini. Or a version. The vintage-style bar features great takes on classics, like Old Adonis which, instead of settling for sherry and vermouth, uses two types of very high quality fortified wine, vermouth and bitter.

In the second one it’s nice to prepare for the waiting line, but once inside it’s just joy. Whether it’s the atmosphere, the service or the glass. It’s all the fault of the Argentine Diego Cabrera who invented drinks like the reset to “represent the change, starting from the simple to arrive at something incredible” or the Panther Jacksonwhich combines mango water, fish sauce and kefir.

Devouring diversity

There is no other way, a self-respecting foodie wants to visit a popular place with an award-winning chef, discover secrets, feel like an insider and take home food and drinks. That said, there is a place that satisfies all these needs at the same time: Mercado de Vallehermoso (mercadovallehermoso.es). There is a shop that sells spices, cheeses, cured meats and products from the Canary Islands. There is the “frangaria” where the most famous chefs in Spain buy their birds. And there are excellent restaurants, such as Tripea (@tripea_madrid).

Roberto Martínez Foronda trained with Peruvians Micha Tsumura (Maido) Pedro Miguel Schiaffino (in the extinct Malabar) and, in a mesona, serves a crazy menu full of Nikkei and Chifa references. You can eat wonton carbonara, aji chicken croquette (roughly Peruvian chicken stew), assorted tiraditos, hot ceviches…

The revisited ceviche is also a strong point of Na Num (@nanum_madrid), a Korean-Porteño newcomer who has arrived in Madrid and is already a success scallop ceviche with tiger milk kimchi, buckwheat granola, pomegranate, coriander and sesame oil.

If your trip can end with a meal at Madrid’s only three-star restaurant, don’t waste it. DiverXO (diverxo.com) is the playground of Dabiz Muñoz (@dabizdiverxo), three-time world’s best chef.

There, it is possible for a diner to spend 5 hours at the table and eat 25 bites. It is possible for someone else to spend two and eat 30. There are no rules, only bold interpretations of foods from all over the world that satisfy the taste of the hedonistic cook.

You can eat sushi paella, pigeon kebab, pork skin sandwich, mochi croissant and, take note, blue crabThere, the tasty invasive species is marinated alive in sherry, but ends up accompanied by kimchi ice cream.

Oops, there are two certainties in DiverXO. One: all the recipes will be illustrated by Dabiz who, yes, does his job – and that’s the beauty of it! Another: in September the menu goes from 365 to 450 euros (the pairings continue at 300 or 600 euros).

Source: Terra

Ben

Ben Stock is a lifestyle journalist and author at Gossipify. He writes about topics such as health, wellness, travel, food and home decor. He provides practical advice and inspiration to improve well-being, keeps readers up to date with latest lifestyle news and trends, known for his engaging writing style, in-depth analysis and unique perspectives.