Top Madrid Restaurants
Madrid Articles by Allison Green for Travel International
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- El Invernadero by Salvador Bachiller
A new gastrobar located in the basement of the chic Salvador Bachiller shop on Gran Via, El Invernadero (the Greenhouse) is the perfect hidden place to grab a bite to eat and enjoy friendly service while shopping along Madrid’s most famous street. The restaurant is known for its special cocktails and innovative brunch trend, which first serves a cold drink and hot meal followed by a second course featuring a sweet drink and savory dish. Highly recommended are the Tacos de pollo and Mimosa followed by tea or coffee with either the dulce de leche and banana waffles or chocolate-coated tortillas. The menu is available in both English and Spanish, and while the Wi-Fi is not the best, the food is absolutely delicious! Dripping with fairy lights and tropical plants, the atmosphere of El Invernadero is truly magical and provides the perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of Gran Via.
- Amazónico Restaurant
Newly opened, Amazónico is currently one of the trendiest restaurants in Madrid. Inspired by the jungles of the Amazon, with lush vegetation and unique light fixtures hanging from very corner, the exotic, art-deco decor is as visually stunning as the food. The unique menu offers an assortment of innovative appetizers, palate-pleasing salads, tender red meats, and interesting desserts, all influenced by cultures around the world including Brazilian, Thai, Mexican, Spanish, and French. The restaurant also features an open kitchen, where the high-quality Spanish, Creole, Argentinian, Brazilian, Japanese, and Chilean meats, as well as the beautiful braised pineapples are delicately cooked and elegantly featured right before your eyes. The intimate yet chic atmosphere of the restaurant continues down stairs to the Jazz club, where guests can enjoy live music as well as a great selection of wines and cocktails. With its high-quality foods, exotic flavors, and friendly service, Amazónico offers a unique and amazing gastronomic experience unlike any other restaurant in Madrid, making the advanced reservations needed to secure a table at this trendy hot-spot well worth the wait!
- Gourmet Experience El Corte Inglés
Located at Serrano 52, Gourmet Experience occupies the seventh floor of El Corte Inglés and offers a 7-star gastronomic experience featuring the latest and best culinary trends. The space includes three exquisite restaurants — StreetXo, Cascabel and Rocambolesc — each run by renowned Michelin star Chefs.
StreetXo by David Muñoz offers a new philosophy on street food by combining the best Asian food with international references. Muñoz, a 3 Michelin star Spanish chef, succeeds in consistently creating innovative and avant-garde cuisine thanks to a strong commitment to excellence, quality, and innovation. Each one of his exquisite dishes is based on flavor, unique textures, and high-quality produce.
On the other hand, Cascabel by Roberto Ruiz, is an evolved version of the typical Mexican restaurant that adds a unique touch to traditional Mexican cuisine. The menu features an assortment of innovative dishes, including scallop aguachile, pollo zarandeado (marinated chicken) and fish n’taco. Each delicious dish is based on tasty Mexican flavors and contains only high-quality, local produce. Recently awarded a Michelin Star, Ruiz offers a different way of enjoying Mexican cuisine that you can’t find anywhere else in the world.
Finally, Rocambolesc is an excellent artisan ice cream parlor by Jordi Roca, a 3 Michelin star chef. The ice cream is handmade with only the most organic and natural ingredients. There are many exquisite flavors to choose from including 72% organic Mexican chocolate, Madagascar Vanilla, and carota sorbet (a combination of carrot, mandarin, and apricot). While the main offering is ice cream, Rocambolesc also offers a wide variety of pastries, coffee, chocolates, and sweets.
Open all day for 362 days a year, Gourmet Experience offers tables on a first come, first serve basis. So no matter who you are, it’s possible for anybody to enjoy the 7-star dining experience with fast and friendly service and unbeatable views of Madrid’s golden mile that only Gourmet Experience El Corte Inglés can offer!
- El Corral de la Moreira
A trip to Spain wouldn’t be complete without seeing a flamenco show, and El Corral de la Moreira is known for offering the best. El Corral de la Moreira is famous for their impeccable fusion of gastronomy and culture. The restaurant not only offers delicious Spanish dishes, an excellent selection of wine and beer, and efficient yet kind service, but, as home to the most famous flamenco stage in the world, it is also known for their exquisite flamenco shows featuring the best artists in the business. A live art that is continuously developing, flamenco is about rhythm, passion, technique, confidence and conviction. Within the first few minutes of the show, it’s evident that this exotic art form is a mating call to the culture of Spain, in which the ancestors and traditions of past speak through the bodies, voices, and instruments of the present. There’s a palpable vulnerability in the performers that’s inviting and a graceful technicality that’s intoxicating. In an intimate space complete with lights only directed toward the stage, it’s impossible not be captivated by the rhythmic movements of the dancers, passionate voices of the singers, and lyrical prowess of the guitarists. A highly recommended experience, the delicious cuisine and famous flamenco show that can only be found at El Corral de la Moreira is guaranteed to not only satisfy your palate, but also enchant your soul.
- La Cocina de San Antón
La Cocina de San Antón is a terrace-restaurant situated on the rooftop of the San Antón Market that has quickly become one of the trendiest places in cosmopolitan Madrid. Built in 1940 and recently refurbished, La Cocina de San Antón offers three different spaces to dine — an indoor restaurant lounge, a relaxing area under the sky, and a glass-roof restaurant. In addition to a wide variety of wines and carefully crafted cocktails, the menu offers traditional Spanish market cuisine with special attention to quality. The restaurant’s Jamón Ibérico (Iberian ham) is a must-have item on the menu! In Spanish culture, there are two types of ham in the world, Iberian and the rest. Iberian ham comes from acorn-fed, free-range pigs that are neither deformed nor sick. When served, it is sliced very thinly, a little at a time. The white dots on the meat represent amino acids and serve as a visual indication of the ham’s high quality. A staple within Spanish gastronomy, cutting Iberian ham is an art that La Cocina de San Antón has mastered. La Cocina de San Antón delicately serves Iberian ham from the distinguished brand “Ibérico Cinco Jotas.” The restaurant also features a unique premium experience in which guests can buy freshly purchased products from the first floor of the Market and then have it prepared by the chef in only 20 minutes. La Cocina de San Antón is open daily from 10am to 12:30am and, with beautiful views of the Chueca neighborhood, it serves as the perfect place to eat and drink, and enjoy a great lunch or dinner in Madrid.
- Lhardy Restaurant
First opened in 1839, Lhardy Restaurant allows you to experience the aristocratic ambiance of 19th century Madrid complemented by exceptional service in the 21st century. The intimate yet modern space exudes romance and elegance. The menu features an assortment of delicious soups, salads, fish, meats, and desserts, including a delicious soufflé. However, Lhardy is best known for its exquisite cocido madrilleño, a hallmark of Spanish cuisine. Without question, Lhardy holds probably the best recipe in the city. Extreme care and only the highest-quality and freshest ingredients are used to make this iconic dish. While it can be eaten in one course as a stew, cocido madrilleño is usually divided up into three substantial dishes – the first being a delicious bone-broth, the second being a plate filled with all the ingredients that gave the broth its flavor including cabbage, garbanzo beans, chorizo, potatoes, pork belly, beef shank, and chicken, and the third being croquettes filled with any left-overs from the second course. Although it is most popularly served during the winter, cocido madrilleño can be enjoyed all year-round at Lhardy. What once was a poor person’s meal is now a nostalgic staple in the Spanish diet, and Lhardy Restaurant offers the best in Madrid.
- Chocolatería San Ginés
The Chocolatería San Ginés is a cafe that was first founded in 1894, but has been providing 24-hour service since 1961. This popular establishment is famous for its excellent service and delicious churros and porras. A very typical breakfast in Spanish culture, especially after a night of tapas, churros and porras, the latter being thicker, are best described as deep fried dough containing sugar and cinnamon. The simple ingredients used to make the dough produce a neutral taste, making these delicious treats into the perfect conveyor for the rich cup of hot chocolate or coffee it’s served with. Offering the best churros con chocolate in the Spanish capital, Chocolatería San Ginés is an essential place to visit on any trip to Madrid.
- El Restaurante Botin
Welcome to el Restaurante Botin, the oldest functioning restaurant in the world! Since 1725, Botin has been pleasing customers with its evocative atmosphere, excellent service, and exquisite traditional Spanish cuisine including Avila suckling pig, well-seasoned Segovia suckling pig, and perfectly roasted Aranda lamb joint. El Restaurant Botin has an experience and 300 year restaurant history you can’t find anywhere else in the world. Only to be found in Madrid, don’t miss out on the unique chance to dine at the oldest restaurant in the world!
