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One of the most exciting days for all madridistas has arrived. The expected presentation of Kylian Mbappé as Real Madrid‘s new player will be today at 12 noon in what will be his new temple: the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. And, so that, after this memorable event, the legend can continue celebrating this milestone in his soccer career, we recommend a list of reference restaurants in the capital in which to delight yourself through haute avant-garde cuisine.
Bascoat
After establishing Arima Taberna as one of the most enjoyable places in Madrid, Nagore Irazuegi and Rodrigo García were clear that they wanted to go “one step further”, to grow in space, but also in proposal and sophistication. To do so, they have opened their own temple, one that speaks of Basque farmhouses, but also of the cuisine of the French Basque Country. The menu ranges from appetizers from San Sebastian to the most elaborate dishes, including large pieces of fish and grilled meats. The best thing to do is to put yourself in their hands when ordering. Álex Fernández is a great addition as head waiter and sommelier, who manages 450 references and a menu with references that are hard to find.
Can Can Chán
Mestizaje, properly understood, can take a restaurant to the top. Just tell that to Roberto Ruiz and María Fernández, who run Punto MX, the first Mexican restaurant to have a star in Europe. Those times are gone and now they make enjoy those who sit at their table, with many other projects and their latest novelty, located at the top of El Corte Inglés de Serrano. They do it with a proposal that mixes Mexican recipes with the Spanish and its pantry, to give a delicious cuisine of craving, in which dishes like guacamole with shrimp tortilla, are a pilgrimage.
Estimar
Estimar is the obvious proof that Madrid is the best sea port; marine jewels selected by the family of Ana Gotanegra, wife of the chef of the house, Rafa Zafra, and proud heiress of a long family tradition of fishmongers, arrive every day to its kitchens from the boats of Cabo de Creus. Ferran Adrià defined this house as “the seafood restaurant of the 21st century”, and he hit the nail on the head. Zafra’s technical mastery is overwhelming, he dominates the avant-garde, but he knows how to fry, cook or handle the grill, and in a waste of sensitivity and common sense each product receives what it needs to express itself to the fullest.
Dani Brasserie
La Brasserie from Dani García is presented as an idyllic place where gastronomy and design merge at the top of the Four Seasons Hotel. It is an elegant, informal and dynamic brasserie that combines the best Michelin-starred dishes of the chef from Marbella with specialties of Mediterranean cuisine, which have positioned it as one of the authentic restaurants of reference in the capital, where stars of the caliber of Bizarrap, Palomo Spain or Penélope Cruz have passed through.
In its menu, you can find outstanding dishes such as its nitro tomato and green gazpacho, ham croquettes, smoked salmon and langoustine tartar, seasonal mushroom risotto, handmade tortellini, steak tartari, glazed free-range chicken or its beef tenderloin. To put the cherry on top of the experience, Dani offers succulent options such as the Dani Tipsy Cake or the tout chocolat.
El Club Allard
Club Allard proves that gastronomy goes beyond a simple culinary experience. It only took eight months for the red guide to recognize the restaurant with its first star. Juan Rodero stands as the new chef of the restaurant, who praises in each dish the most sublime national product, accompanied by a classic and avant-garde touch.
In the kitchen, Rodero plays between yesterday and today of the highest gastronomy, with nods to the cuisines of North America, Japan, Southeast Asia and Latin America. With the maxim ‘less is more’, he puts the product above all else and makes the most of all its possibilities. Now, in his new menu called ‘Discovery’, he seeks to bring the experience of El Club Allard to the Madrid public and make his talent known in a menu that includes recipes such as ‘Corn quail, foie gras, ravioli in brodo, chantarella and its broth’.
OSA
Jorge Muñoz and Sara Peral from Madrid had long fantasized about having a place where they could develop their particular concept of gastronomy. A very particular cuisine that goes beyond the stove and the plate to reach an atmosphere in itself. All this is reflected in OSA, our Tapas Best New Restaurant of 2023, which, located in a house on the banks of the Manzanares River, is presented as an oasis of tranquility in the bustle of Madrid where only 20 diners can enjoy their dishes per service.
In its menu, which has daily variations, you can taste dishes such as Rilletes-Conejo-Le Mans, Trucha-Bedón-Manzano, Salmonete Amasake; Salsifi-Cabra, Chocolate-Faeroerne, Civet-Lombarda; Tuétano – Maresme, Anguila – Anago; Lengua – Wagyo, Jabalina – Costilla-Adobo / Inoshisni-Sando; Zampone-Daganzo…. All this, of course, paired with the spectacular wines from its cellar.
El Huerto de Floren Domezain
Second parts were good. If not, just ask the charismatic Floren Domezain, known as the ‘king of vegetables’ who, after closing his restaurant during the pandemic, returned to Madrid with a new restaurant, this time linked to the La Fábrica Group. The Navarrese chef masterfully masters everything that is born and grows in his own vegetable garden, which is located in the chef’s native Tudela. The space is a true ode to vegetables, Floren’s old tomato, known as the sirloin of the garden, borage, fresh lettuce that goes from the garden to the plate. But there are also nods to seafood and meats.
Haramboure
The trajectory of the chef Patxi Zumárraga and Patricia Haramboure, has been in recent years, linked to that of Fismuler. But the time has come to fly solo and in this new adventure together -which accumulates daily fillings-, they have given Madrid one of their great restaurants, a bistro type, in which the Basque-French cuisine is the protagonist. He in the kitchen and she in the dining room make diners feel at home. And they do it with their proposal, in which everything has a name and a surname, as they use exceptional raw material that comes from small producers, orchards and coastal ports.
Playing Solo
After a decade of training in some of the best restaurants in Spain, the United States and Denmark, as well as a productive stay in Japan, a year ago Luis Caballero decided to launch this very personal project that includes a menu with dishes inspired mainly by French and Japanese cuisine. If he drinks from the former, especially in terms of the choice of ingredients and the approach to the elaborations, the aesthetics and cooking techniques are those that present a clear Asian stamp. In short, an exciting project that gathers and projects the accumulated experience.
Rural Madrid
Rafa Zafra has always been the king of the sea, a sort of modern Neptune who perfectly dominates everything that comes out of its waters. But with his latest restaurant, together with Ricardo Acquista and Anna Gotanegra, he has taken a radical turn, dropping anchor and getting off the boat to turn it into another temple, this time for meat lovers. Sausages, cured meats and pates of his own creation, fried foods, the irresistible bikini in a carnivorous version and great pieces such as txuleta, suckling lamb or a suckling pig from Segovia, are part of the menu of this delicious adventure that goes from the land to the table.
Tragabuches
It was the summer of 1998 when Dani García opened Tragabuches in Ronda. Soon after, he got his first Michelin star. The first of many that would follow, of course. Back to the past? With the Malaga-born chef it is possible, because not one, but two restaurants have brought back this concept. One in Marbella and the other in Madrid. In both, García returns to cook his land, to show the Andalusian culture and its products and to elevate them on the table, betting on a raw material of kilometer 0. And of course, with him returns the mythical millefeuille of foie and goat cheese from Ronda with caramelized apple.
Tramo
The creators of Mo de Movimiento, the Conscious Projects Group led by Felipe Turell and Javier Antequera, understood that it is possible to create a beautiful restaurant that also combines under the same roof, honest gastronomy with sense and social work. This is what they have replicated in Tramo, a former industrial warehouse in Madrid’s Prosperidad neighborhood. For the restaurant itself, which is also sustainable, they have opted for bio-construction and artisans, as well as for choosing the ingredients for their menu, in which everything comes from small producers, farmers and organic livestock breeders.
Trèsde
Three friends. Three plates. Three sections. Trèsde is all about triads. From the one formed by those three companions who are Lucas Fernández, Miguel Vallés and Aitor Sua, to the one that makes up their gastronomic proposal, which is a formula of only three dishes – starter, main course and dessert – that varies very often. Theirs is a seasonal product cuisine, which they extol with French techniques, to which Aitor and Miguel put the finishing touches behind the stove, while Lucas is the one who fills the glasses of the diners, with a wine list where the wines of little intervention and the sakes stand out.
Varra
A formal restaurant or a casual one? Varra is both, a relaxed bar on the first floor and a canonical dining room, like that of a restaurant, on the upper floor.
The project that has brought together Jorge Velasco, Joaquín Serrano and Gonzálo Menéndez has opted for this duality, one that satisfies a much broader spectrum of public. It does so with recipes that are an ode to the product, seasonal vegetables, stews with a lot of chup chup and classic recipes. The incorporation of sommelier Juanma Galán has closed the circle, with a wine cellar with more than 400 references.
VelascoAbell`à
The trajectory of Óscar Velasco and Montse Abellà was marked by their time as head chef and pastry chef, respectively, at the now defunct Santceloni. The closure of that restaurant is now a bad dream, because a few months ago they have fulfilled another one, that of having their own restaurant. A place that makes diners feel at home, with Abellà as head waitress and in charge of desserts and Velasco in charge of the kitchen. Theirs is a house where excellence sits at the table, with the elegant and subtle flavors created by the chef and the gracefulness with which his partner runs one of Madrid’s great dining rooms.
RavioXO
RavioXO is Dabiz Muñoz’s culinary space dedicated to dichotomizing Spain, Italy, China and Argentina. A ‘cycled dumpling bar’, in the chef’s own words, which revolves around three merged concepts: time, creativity and product. Based on this mantra, Muñoz develops dishes that are far from traditional recipes, such as Basque caserío with mole de novia, Spanish tortilla, steamed cannelloni with cochinita pibil, wok-fried asta arrabiata, fried eggs with puntilla, blood sausage and crispy ear or Galician-style octopus with fala thai.
Eneko Baske Madrid
Following the essence of the rest of the chef’s gastronomic concepts, Eneko Atxa‘s passion and sensitivity, as well as his cultural roots, the link with the environment and its products, and the traditional Basque culinary recipe book, are a fundamental part of each of his creations. As a result, this new adventure in the capital is pure flavor, an intense and identity-based cuisine.
Its gastronomic proposal is informal and modern, but at the same time it is based on traditional Basque recipes. Here the grill is a key element, with meats, fish and vegetables cooked on it. But as a surprise, even one of the desserts is finished in the embers: the torrija, versioned by Atxa, is finished in the embers. Other outstanding dishes are the Talo de tomate -crispy traditional corn thale, seasoned tomatoes and tomato and basil emulsion-; the curd of foie gras and citronella; marinated scallop and marine granita.
Ugo Chan
Hugo Muñoz is one of those perennial smiles of the Madrid scene. With his sights always set on Japan, after captaining the proposals of strong gastronomic groups, he has consecrated himself in his new ‘home’ shining with his own light, and what a joy. Her omakase – born from her passion for stews and recipes based on popular wisdom – has already become a reference: her fish of the day kizukuri with Getaria-style bilbaína, mussel sunomono, tripe gyoza madrileña style and a wine cellar that Leticia takes care of as well as the dining room, are some of the reasons.
Pabú
Coco Montes‘ career has taken him to some of the best restaurants in Spain and abroad, such as Azurmendi, Zalacaín or the French L’Arpege. His first restaurant, called Pabú, has positioned itself in a very short time as one of the best novelties of recent times. And it is not surprising, because his cuisine is micro-seasonal and ephemeral, something that gets him out of the comfort zone of other types of restaurants.
Montes is always on the move, thinking, devising his next creation, because practically every day he changes his dishes, to surprise the diner and challenge himself. He gives special prominence to vegetables and French techniques. But also to dried fruits, fresh herbs, fruits and even some other products of the sea and the earth. These are expressed in two menus, Paté and Bubú, as a tribute to the way his nephews and nieces call their parents. And the family has a lot to do here, from their unconditional support to the very name of the restaurant. Supported by Pablo Peinado in the dining room and at the head of the wine cellar, he has consolidated this project with one of the brightest futures on the national scene.
