The best restaurants in Madrid
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Madrid has gone gourmet with a vengeance, but the best of the classic tapas bars are still packed to the rafters come dinner time. Begin a visit to the Spanish capital by sinking your teeth into roast suckling pig at the 'world's oldest restaurant' Botín or share a plate of sizzling garlic prawns at Cabreira. Then embrace the modern at Bodega de los Secretos, or one of the many Michelin-starred hotspots. Our resident expert, Annie Bennet, has the inside knowledge on where's best to eat for everything from the traditional to the contemporary.
Plaza Mayor, Opera and La Latina
Botín
According to the Guinness Book of Records, Botín is officially the oldest restaurant in the world. It opened in 1725 and is renowned for its roast suckling pig and lamb, which are cooked over vine shoots in the huge oven that has been there since it opened. Also good are the clams and the baby squid in its own ink sauce. The dining rooms sprawl through the building, from the vaulted cellar to pretty tiled spaces on the upper floors. Unsurprisingly, Botín is very popular with visitors, but eating here is a quintessential Madrid experience so don’t let that put you off.
Contact: 00 34 91 366 4217; restaurantebotin.com
Prices: ££
Opening times: Mon-Sun, 1pm-4pm, 8pm-12am
Reservations: Essential
Best table: Ernest Hemingway fans can ask to sit at his favourite spot
Fonda La Lechuga
This brasserie-style restaurant is hidden away on a little street behind the Plaza Mayor. It's run by the ebullient Alfredo and serves traditional food, often with a contemporary touch. At lunchtime, choose from the fixed-price menu, which is excellent value and might include cocido madrileño (a robust stew made with chickpeas, pork and chorizo and served in stages). It also happens to be the most typical dish in the Spanish capital. The à la carte selection includes more creative dishes, such as ceviche tartare, and there are several vegan options too, such as tomato stuffed with seaweed mousse.
Contact: 00 34 91 364 1116; fondalalechuga.com
Prices: £
Opening times: Mon-Fri, 10.30am-5pm, 9pm-12am; Sat, 10.30am-5pm, 9pm-1am
Reservations: Recommended
Taberna Los Huevos de Lucio
Taberna Los Huevos de Lucio is a traditional tavern run by the younger generation of the family behind the renowned Casa Lucio across the road, and is great for either a quick bite at the bar or a proper sitdown meal. Huevos rotos – fried eggs 'broken' over a pile of chips – is the signature dish, as it is in Casa Lucio, and is a must-try in Madrid. Here it's elevated to gourmet heights, with additions such as chistorra sausage or pisto vegetables (like a Spanish ratatouille). The slow-cooked ibérico pork cheeks are fabulous too. Order a few things to share.
Contact: 00 34 91 366 2984; loshuevosdelucio.com
Prices: £
Opening times: Mon-Sun, 1pm-4pm, 8.30pm-12am
Reservations: Recommended for restaurant, but not needed at the bar
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Barrio de las Letras and Lavapiés
Bodega de los Secretos
You would be very unlikely to stumble upon Bodega de los Secretos by chance, as the restaurant is not only on a quiet side street but is also hidden away in a labyrinth of underground wine cellars that date back to the 17th century. Tables in romantic arched alcoves ensure privacy and there is a great menu of modern Spanish dishes, such as steak from the Pyrenees, oxtail roll, sea bass with scallops and creamed cauliflower, and grilled octopus. There are more farflung influences too, such as ceviche with guacamole, coconut milk and mango.
Contact: 00 34 91 429 0396; bodegadelossecretos.com
Prices: ££
Opening times: Mon-Sat, 1pm-5pm, 8.30pm-12am; Sun, 1.30pm-5pm
Reservations: Recommended
Best table: Ask for one in an alcove
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Cebo
It didn’t take long for Aurelio Morales to win a Michelin star at Cebo, the restaurant at the Hotel Urban, which he opened in 2016 after working with Ferran and Albert Adrià and other pioneering Spanish chefs. In an elegantly minimalist room with discreet lighting, diners can choose a tasting menu or order à la carte. Dazzling dishes draw on Madrilenian and Catalan cuisines, and might include a tiny quisquilla shrimp emerging from a spray of zingy citrus foam, or nigiri with beef aged for 180 days. The pre- and post-dinner cocktails are a work of art too.
Contact:00 34 91 787 7780; cebomadrid.com
Prices: £££
Opening times: Tues-Sat, 1.30pm-3.30pm, 8.30pm-10.30pm
Reservations: Essential
Best table: The round corner table is good for a group of four or six
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La Sanabresa
Madrid’s traditional casas de comida (basic restaurants) are dying out, but this jolly, unpretentious place does a roaring trade every day; waiters charge around and old friends are engaged in animated conversations in the gloriously unreconstructed dining room. Come here for a bargain fixed-price lunch after the Prado or Reina Sofía museums. There is plenty to choose from, with no standing on ceremony, and you may well have to wait, but the queue moves quickly. Have a big bowl of soup, aubergine fritters, a salad, roast lamb, spare ribs, meatballs – whatever you fancy basically.
Address: Calle Amor de Dios 12
Contact: 00 34 91 429 0338
Prices: £
Opening times: Mon-Sat, 1pm-4pm, 8.30pm-11.30pm
Reservations: Walk-ins only
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Paseo del Prado and The Retiro Park
Murillo Café
After walking miles around the Prado, this chic brasserie-style café behind the museum is the perfect place to rest your feet with a coffee – or drop in for breakfast before you start. Snacks include pizzetas with toppings such as ibérico ham or goat cheese, but you might feel like settling in for a leisurely lunch of tuna with quinoa and lentil salad or a Frida burger with avocado and chipotle mayonnaise. If you are really exhausted, order a restorative Cava mojito to start with. Sunday brunch options include waffles and eggs Benedict as well as arepas.
Contact:00 34 91 369 3689; murillocafe.com
Prices: ££
Opening times: Mon-Sat, 9.30am-12am; Sun, 12pm-6pm
Reservations: Advisable for lunch or dinner
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Chueca, Malasaña, and Conde Duque
Cabreira
This tapas bar and restaurant with traditional décor and terrace tables on Plaza Dos de Mayo is found in the boho Malasaña area, and is a popular local haunt. Have the patatas a la churri (sautéed potatoes with scrambled egg, onion and garlic), delicate coquina clams, monkfish goujons, fried aubergine with honey and the gambas al ajillo (prawns sizzling in oil with lots of garlic and chilli). The friendly waiters speak good English. If it is packed, there is another branch nearby at Calle Velarde 13, which is also open on Mondays but does not have outdoor tables.
Contact: 00 34 91 593 0200; cabreira.es
Prices: £
Opening times: Tues-Sat, 10am-1am; Sun, 11am-8pm
Reservations: Recommended at weekends
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Paseo de la Castellana and Salamanca area
Punto MX
It was tough enough to get a table in this stylish yet cosy restaurant even before it was awarded a Michelin star, so be sure to book well ahead. Roberto Ruiz is the only chef in Europe to be awarded the plaudit for a Mexican restaurant, and the only one in the world for an establishment that purely serves Mexican cuisine. The ibérico pork with green tomatillo taco is outstanding, as is the carabinero prawn with guajillo chilli and citrus fruits. You can also eat at the gastrobar Mezcal Lab upstairs, where you can book seats for 9pm, but otherwise it is walk-ins only.
Contact: 00 34 91 402 2226; puntomx.es
Prices: £££
Opening times: Mon-Sat, 1.30pm-4pm, 9pm-12am
Reservations: Essential, walk-ins possible at the bar
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Ramón Freixa Madrid
Catalan chef Ramón Freixa has two Michelin stars at his glamorous restaurant in the Hotel Único, where the floor is a dramatic swirl of black and white marble. He is always creating new dishes, but the menu might include monkfish cured in sea water with salsify, Charolais beef wellington with malt whisky sauce, or Majorcan sausage with apricots and garlic. The indulgent Sunday brunch features gazpacho, rigatoni with prawns, and tuna carpaccio with wakame. This is a great choice for a special occasion meal when you feel like dressing up.
Contact: 00 34 91 781 8262; ramonfreixamadrid.com
Prices: £££
Opening times: Tues-Sat, 1.30pm-3.30pm, Tues-Sat 9pm-10.30pm; Sunday brunch 12.30-14.30
Reservations: Essential
