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Gastronomy, Madrid

Churros with hot cocoa (photo from Wikipedia) - Madrid
Churros with hot cocoa (photo from Wikipedia)
by marielexoteria
Travel tips and advice posted by real travelers and Madrid locals.
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Madrid Gastronomy Reviews 1 - 10 of 49  
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Gastronomy: Tabernas
  • Tip Rating:
    • ger4444
  • Updated By ger4444 on April 4, 2006
  • Madrid Page by ger4444
    • la bola - Madrid
    la bola
    by ger4444
    The ultimate Madrelian thing is the taberna: the typical pub/bar dating already from the medeaval area. Since the 14 th century the taberna is a phenonemon that is typically connected to the city of Madrid. These old bars are charestically decorated by decorative tiles on the wall depicting different cheesey images, the wooden counter from behind which food and drinks are being served, the grand clock above the bar, and the tables of the places are mostly made out of marble. Madrid has some 100 old tabarnas amongst which the following ones are the best known and the most striking. 1. Viva Madrid (in the near of Plza santa anna, its very popular amongst youth and students) 2. Casa Carmencita (originally a pub for artists, politici and itellectuals, it has a pleasant interior dominated by wooden decorations, tiles and gaslight) 3. La Bola (a red couloured pub, wich is about 200 years old and serves the best cocido in Madrid)

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    Gastronomy: what to eat in Madrid
  • Tip Rating:
    • ger4444
  • By ger4444 on April 4, 2006
  • Madrid Page by ger4444
    • cocido - Madrid
    cocido
    by ger4444
    There is not such thing as the typical Madrelenian food: Madrid possesses restaurants who serve food that comes from all the different corners of the country, food from Andalusia, Valencia, Asturia, Castilia etc. Yet there are some very popular dishes. Normally your meal consist out of: soup or salad, the a fish/meat dish, followed by flan (pudding) or ice. The following dishes are highly recommemndable. 1. Paella (originall y the idea was that it is a dish containing all the leavings from other coocked dishes of the week. it contains therefore a variation of seafood, chicken, rabbit, pork,gamba's, mussels, beans, tomatoes and paprika. the paella always is served with rice) 2. Pisto (just like ratatouille, a mixture of paprika, tomatoes, onions, courgette) 3. Fabada (beans, bacon, sausage, ham) 4. Pollo Ajillo (baked chicken in white wine juice) 5. Sopa de Ajo (soup which is filled with bread, eggs and paprika) 6. Cocido (leek, cabbage, potatoes, turnip, carrot, sausage, chicken, ham) its very popular in Spain, yet the madrilean variant seems to be the best one. 7. Gazpacho (its a cold soup, a mixture of bread and cumcumber and tomatoes and olive oil.vedgetables and croutons) 8. Pimientos rellenos (hot red paprikas filled up with fish or meat)

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    Gastronomy: Pinchos and tapas everywhere!
  • Tip Rating:
    • zumodemango
  • By zumodemango on May 29, 2005
  • Madrid Page by zumodemango
    • Pincho de tortilla - Madrid
    Pincho de tortilla
    by zumodemango
    One of the things that can be enjoyed in Madrid is pinchos and tapas. PINCHOS are normally a slice of bread with something(in the picture tortilla de patata with confited onion,mmmmmmmmmm), salmon and salad, gulas, foie with strawberry jam, iberian ham , duck with avocado........
    ... and TAPAS is a dish with, for instance, potatoes, octopus, cheese, scamble eggs with asparrags(esparragos trigueros), sepia, stuffed peppers, pimientos de padrón, albondigas(meat balls), croquetas....

    Spectacular pinchos in:
    Juana la Loca
    Pl. Puerta de Moros 4
    91 364 05 25
    La Latina

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    Gastronomy: Dinner like the locals do
  • Tip Rating:
    • ger4444
  • Updated By ger4444 on April 4, 2006
  • Madrid Page by ger4444
    • tapas bar - Madrid
    tapas bar
    by ger4444
    As said before: comida (the meal) in Madrid has different rules. In case you want to join the habits of the locals be aware of the following. When you want to have a warm meal, go to the restaurant around 3 pm, and expect it to be open till max 4.30 pm. So if you arrive at 6 pm at a bar or restaurant dont be surprised that they are either closed or dont serve food. If you want dinner around 6 pm you have to go to the moore touristic restaurants which is of cuz less fun. At around 10 pm its dinner time again, either you make a reservation for the restaurants (the neighboarhood of Chuecca has many trendy and cheap restaurants) or visit some tapa's bars (La Latina is exactly the right place to find them ; near the Plaza de la Paja there is a street with some 20 tapa's bars which are every night overcrowded by locals and have an excellent atmosphere)

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    Gastronomy: Tapas
  • Tip Rating:
    • ger4444
  • By ger4444 on April 4, 2006
  • Madrid Page by ger4444
    • calamares, shrimps, gambas a la plancha...yummie! - Madrid
    calamares, shrimps, gambas a
    la plancha...yummie!
    by ger4444
    Mostly it is like this: if you order a glas of wine or beer (or a delicious glas of Mosto) you get tapas along with it. After these first appetizers you continue on having more tapas either being raciones (bigger tapas) or small portions. Eating tapas is not only having a bite going together with your drink, its more: its a way of life. Its a sort of cult that combines drinking, eating with a good conversation, cosy atmothshere and meeting new people. There are many sorts of tapas of which the following are the most popular and best known. 1. Patatas Bravas (baked potatoes in tomatoe juice with unions and spanish pepper) 2. Banderillas (little snacks sticked on a cocktailstick, like fish, shrimps, eggs or vetgetables) 3. Albondigas (meatballs in tomatoe sause) 4. Tortilla a la espnola (the thick omelet made by onions, potatoes, eggs and spices) 5. Jamon serrano (ham with bead) 6. Chorizo (a sausage whith paprika taste eaten cold) 7. Salpicon (a salade containing sea fruits like shrimps, lobster and tomatoes and paprika's very hot spices over it) 8. Calamares fritos (fried cuttle fish with lemon dressing) 9. Fritura de pescado (baked seafruits with lemon dressing: its mostly fresh fish or cod) 10. almendras fritas (pistachos, peanuts or sunflower pitts, all of them very very salty!)

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    Gastronomy: What to drink in Madrid?
  • Tip Rating:
    • ger4444
  • By ger4444 on April 4, 2006
  • Madrid Page by ger4444
    • sangria - Madrid
    sangria
    by ger4444
    Of course everyone knows the famous spain Sherry but there is so much more to order. Spain produces a great deal of whines, actually, its next to France one of the worlds most productive wine-countries. There is also Spanish beer, yet i am not that much of a fan of the spanish beer. (except for damn cerveza) You have of course the famous Sangria but there is also a good deal for non-alcaholicdrinks. All the pubs and bars have at least mosto, some of them have non-alcaholiccocktails, and naturally there is the variation of coffee, which is normally espresso, called cafe solo. very strong by the way. So what are popular drinks? 1. Cava (sparkling wine) 2. Rioja/tinto (red whine) 3. Sherry (fino is dry and a good aperatif, amontilado is a very strong sherry) 4. cerveza (beer: in Madrid you mostly will find the Mahou branch. beer is served from the tap, in a small glass (cana) or in a big glas (jarra) 5. Sangria (a mixture of red wine and limonade, with fresh fruits in it, vey cold served. 6. Cubalibre (rum-cola) 7. chupitos (all sorts of strong liquors served in tiny glasses meant to drink ad-fundum) 8. warm chocolde (very popular amongst party people before going to bed: they drink the chocolate together with Churros, a sort of paste in the form of a stem and dip the churro in the chocolade..yummiie!) 9. mosto (very popular drink, non-alcahol yet it tastes a bit like vermouth) 10. cafe solo (espresso, very strong served in tiny cups)

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    Gastronomy: Roscon de Reyes
  • Tip Rating:
    • zumodemango
  • Updated By zumodemango on January 12, 2004
  • Madrid Page by zumodemango
    • home Roscon REYES 04 - Madrid
    home Roscon REYES 04
    by zumodemango
    In Spain children get their Christmas present on the 6th of January. These are given by the Reyes Magos(the three kings who gave presents to the baby Christ). Children leave turron and cava for the Reyes and the camels!!!!!All that day we eat Roscon de Reyes, a cake (see the picture) which has a surprise inside. The typical are withouth cream, but lately there are different styles of the traditional.

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    Gastronomy: chocolate with churros
  • Tip Rating:
    • zumodemango
  • By zumodemango on January 3, 2004
  • Madrid Page by zumodemango
    • Gastronomy - Madrid
    by zumodemango
    It's is typical from Madrid to have chocolate with churros(this is a thing made with flour and fried in olive oil), you can try in every cafe and bar in madrid. in this wonderful shop and cafe: cacao sampaka(C/ Orellana 4), the best chocalete but they don't have churros so you can eat other sweets or salted things with your chocalate!

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    Gastronomy: They do it their own way
  • Tip Rating:
    • ger4444
  • By ger4444 on April 3, 2006
  • Madrid Page by ger4444
    • tapa's! - Madrid
    tapa's!
    by ger4444
    As if the Madrilenes make a game out of it, they really are eager to set themselves apart from the rest of West- and Central Europe as it comes to eating-bussiness. As for the morning, the Europeans have a normal breakfast like bread or porridge, yet, the Madrilenes only have a cup of coffee eventually going to gether by eating a coockey, buiscuit or little peace of cake. At 3 pm its dinner time: they then eat their hot meal whereas other European countries have that dinner at 6 pm. Then, at around 10 or 11 pm the madrilenes are hungry again so then they start having their tapas, t.i. a variation of small portions of delicatesses like anjovis, olives, cheese, salads, suasages etc. This goes on till early night as the tapa-bars cloose at 2 am. Therefor its easy to guess why the next day at morning they only have coffee in stead of a full breakfast

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    Gastronomy: Eating Tapas
  • Tip Rating:
    • roamer61
  • By roamer61 on October 14, 2003
  • Madrid Page by roamer61
    • Tapas are the famous Spanish Hor'deuvres that everyone eats. Madrid has them all over the place. They come in small portions or larger portions. So you can order half or fill Racions. The larger order can make a light meal. Many people go to different Tapas Bars trying different Tapas. Examples can be olives, Calamare Frtos (Squid) or Albondingas (Meatballs). One cannot go to Madrid or Spain for that matter without trying Tapas.

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