EMMA COCINA
Modern Spanish dishes at an excellent price
Hidden behind the forever-logjammed Mercado de San Miguel, Emma Cocina is a place Madrid locals rave about, but few tourists visit. It’s not my favourite restaurant in the city, but the price to quality ratio is high and if you’re after some light, modern Spanish cuisine for a song, then it’s a good bet. To avoid confusion, there are two Emma places owned by the same woman (yep, Emma) and almost alongside each other – Según Emma (more of a bar, see the DRINK section of this page) and Emma Cocina (more of a restaurant). Choose depending on the vibe you’re after – the menus overlap, with some differences. The website doesn’t show prices, but last time my wife Yoly and I went, we ate and paid thus: a large plate of delicious baby potatoes with mojo picón (a spicy Canarian sauce), a large plate of eggplant Cordoba-style (deep fried, with honey and sesame seeds), two (very generous) tapas: fall-off-the-bone bull’s tail stew and ceviche, plus two beers and four glasses of a local Madrid red. Only €36.
Plaza de San Miguel, 4, 28005
emmacocina.com
This seems to be in the same region as the Mercado de San Miguel or San Miguel Marketplace, nowadays one of the main attractions in Madrid, where you will enjoy a new and fresh Spanish concept tasting the best tapas in Madrid being part of the Spanish culture and habits.
CASA REVUELTA
Small, loud and hectic bar serving the best bacalao (deep-fried cod) in the city
Crunchy, salty and moist – Casa Revuelta does the best bacalao I’ve eaten in Madrid. This brightly-lit no-frills bar – 120 years old, 50 of those serving cod – is a Madrid institution, so it’ll likely be cheek-by-jowl. Everyone orders the same thing (the generously-sized cod tapa is €2.60), so push past the stomachs, shunt up to the bar and follow suit. There’s beer on tap but if you’re after wine, the only choice is a rather rough Valdepeñas (a variety from Castilla La Mancha).
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LA CASA DEL ABUELO
Old mirror and tile-lined taberna serving the best ‘gambas al ajillo’ in Madrid (as far as I know)
A stone’s throw from Puerta del Sol, this bar has been around – so the ageing photos of long-dead waiters attest – for over a century. The menu is short and centres around various ways of doing gambas (shrimps) and langostinos (king prawns). But most come for one thing – gambas al ajillo. Castillian food can be a little tame at times, but with these shrimps flash-fried in garlic and chilli, all is forgiven. At €9.90 the dish is a little steep, but it’s one of the best food experiences in the city. Get one plate between two and it’s ok to ask for more (free) bread to sop up the garlickly juice. They do their own sweet house wine, but I always lean towards the spicy vermouth on tap, or a frothy caña.
Note: they’ve opened a new annex opposite – but make sure you go into the original bar (with the big window).
Arrocería Casa de Valencia
From https://madridfoodtour.com/top-places-for-paella-in-madrid/ they said this is a good place for authentic paella.
