Madrid in five gastronomic stops

As one of the European capitals with more projection and gastronomic offer, the city has become one of the essential and favorite destinations for the most intrepid foodies. A brunch at sunset (yes, at sunset) with the best 360º panoramic views of the city? You’ll have to go up to the 15th floor of the Club Financiero Génova to try the latest and most original proposal from chef Nino Redruello and Azotea Grupo. Have you managed to get a table at the restaurant that everyone is talking about, in the neighborhood of Las Salesas? Sit down at one of the cozy tables at Casa Salesas to enjoy breakfast, a long appetizer, lunch or dinner and fun drinks to the lively music of the live DJ. Craving Mexican? Don’t miss Can Chan Chán, the restaurant of renowned chef Roberto Ruíz, where classic micheladas and tacos or ceviches take center stage. Cocktails and dishes to share? You’ll have to walk to the Conde Duque neighborhood to visit Yeite, one of the cocktail bars of the moment designed by the guys from Plantea Estudio and with one of the most delicious pastrami sandwiches in the city. Disconnect from the noise of the city and eat in front of a lake? You can do it in the summer terrace of Mena, with a menu inspired by the freshness of the raw bar, the flavor of the fire of the embers and the wood oven or the most traditional dishes.

Take note of these five gastronomic plans and make a reservation!

CASA SALESAS, THE RESTAURANT OF THE MOMENT

It has become the opening of the moment, the restaurant that everyone is talking about. CASA SALESAS, located in Madrid’s increasingly lively Calle Fernando VI, has arrived with the vocation of becoming a meeting point for the Las Salesas neighborhood where you can have breakfast, enjoy an aperitif, lunch, dinner or a drink (enlivened by the music of its live DJ). In its relaxed gastronomic proposal, inspired by the classic All-Day Dinning, you will find starters such as its applauded truffled bikini dude melted grilled cheese, its anchovies from Santoña 00 served in smoked butter brioche bread, its potato omelette with onion, its honeyed Cinco Jotas ham croquettes or its vitello tonnato, with a recipe from the Italian restaurant Totó. Also, pasta dishes such as rigatoni with vodka or spaghetti cacio e pepe with peasant egg yolk and grated truffle or meats, such as the Viennese white veal “Schnitzel” (the classic escalope), its marinated grilled Pampa entrails or the grilled free-range chicken with thyme. Its warm and cozy decoration, inspired by the aesthetics of the classic bistros, full of details and signed by the renowned interior designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán, will make you feel at home. It also has a fun menu with a proposal of classic cocktails reinvented as the “Bloody Barrio”, the “Salesas Bellini”, the “Las Mimosas Vintage”, the “Casa Paloma” or the “Smoky Margarita”.

COCKTAILS AND PASTRAMI AT YEITE

Located in the Conde Duque neighborhood, YEITE has become one of the liveliest and most cosmopolitan cocktail bars in the city. Its cocktails, with amusing names like “Un día de mierda”, “Mordiste el anzuelo” or “Tengo el vicio de dejarme llevar”, become the absolute protagonists of a liquid menu whose inspiration lies in abstraction as a form of expression, defying conventions by dispensing with ostentatious decorations or superfluous elements. At Yeite, less is more. In addition, you will find a small menu of dishes perfect for sharing and pairing, such as their delicious (and unforgettable) pastrami sandwich, served on a spongy brioche with herb mayonnaise and pickles, their highly original stracciatella with pumpkin, grapefruit and basil oil, their Balfegó tuna tartar with flowers, egg and crusty bread or the lemon fish crudo with acid vinaigrette and lemongrass oil. Its interior design, signed by the guys from Plantea Estudio, and full of nods to contemporary design, will catch your attention. You can sit at its lively and imposing stone bar or at its small granite tables. The low lighting and good music will take care of the rest. After the first cocktail, you won’t want to get up.

CAN CHAN CHÁN, THE MEXICO OF ROBERTO RUÍZ

It is the word CAN CHAN CHÁN, used in Mexico to designate friends who become buddies, that is used by the acclaimed chef Roberto Ruíz, creator of such round concepts as Punto MX, to give name to his latest gastronomic project. Located in the middle of the Salamanca neighborhood, in the heights of El Corte Inglés on Serrano street (next to other spaces such as StreetXO), it is presented as a casual gastronomic concept with a photo in a truly contemporary Mexican cuisine. In its menu you will find guacamoles, oysters and ceviches, tacos and dishes perfect for sharing. You can’t leave without asking for their tasting menu, a tribute to the chef’s “cravings” in which you can try a selection of dishes such as their guacamole with shrimp tortillas and glass shrimp, the carabinero ceviche with guajillo chili sauce and their coral, the chopitos tacos or baked txuleta, the charcoal grilled snapper with green tomatillo sauce and cascabel chile or its delicious dessert made of chocolate with Tabasco cocoa, guava pomorosa, hibiscus flower and manguito patecon ice cream. Another of the great protagonists of this restaurant is its liquid proposal, which could not miss the micheladas, its “Frozen Margaritas”, perfect for summer, or more classic options such as the “Bloody Maria”, the refreshing “Paloma” or its “Quetzaliña”, in addition to a section of non-alcoholic cocktails. Its lively terrace becomes a perfect meeting point to enjoy with friends.

BRUNCH AT THE HEIGHTS OF THE CLUB FINANCIERO 

Enjoy a brunch at sunset (yes, at sunset) with one of the best 360º panoramic views of the city? This is the latest and fun bet of chef Nino Redruello, head of Familia La Ancha, and Azotea Grupo, on the heights of the emblematic CLUB FINANCIERO GÉNOVA. This original “Night Brunch” concept consists of an eclectic and traveler menu, perfect to enjoy the good weather, which can only be taken on the 15th floor of Madrid’s Edificio Colón, located in the center of the city. A proposal composed of six passes, refreshing cocktails and the best live music. On the huge tray, with a highly Instagrammable presentation, you will find the Galician beef steak tartar and sea urchin yolk on porra madrileña, the pizza with carbonara base, roast chicken, onion and ear, the txangurro romano, an original spider crab lasagna with demi-glace and trout roe, the red tuna tiradito with ponzu sauce, sweet potato and buttered corncobs, the Chinese oxtail with fried wanton stuffed with oxtail stew, mango chutney and Cantonese sauce or the butter brioche with salted miso cream and coconut meringue, as a finishing touch. In addition to this “Night Brunch” option, the top floor of this iconic building offers a proposal of signature cocktails with an interesting menu of “snacks”, all in a relaxed atmosphere of high tables and sofas, with an incomparable setting such as the Madrid skyline in the background.

MENA, A MEAL IN FRONT OF THE LAKE

Get out of the city and eat in front of a lake. The spectacular location of MENA’s terrace, just fifteen minutes from Madrid and overlooking a lake and the golf course of La Finca, makes it the perfect place to enjoy a lunch or dinner during the hot summer days. This gastronomic space is divided into different areas among which we find high tables for “snacking”, low tables on the shore of the lake to enjoy its cuisine from breakfast to dinner and two suggestive rounded pontoons that, with its chill out furniture, become a space to enjoy the “tardeo” with the best signature cocktails and an unbeatable sunset. Its gastronomic proposal combines the freshness of the raw bar, with dishes such as red shrimp carpaccio with smoked yolk, crispy egg white and caviar, hamachi tiradito with yellow chili or sea bass and mango ceviche with passion fruit and rocoto tiger’s milk, with the strong flavor of dishes prepared in the fire of the embers and the wood oven, such as their cured cutlet tacos with crispy leek, kimchi and guacamole, the leek in five textures prepared in the wood oven (one of their most emblematic dishes), the roasted eggplant with parmesan, mozzarella and pesto or the original Caesar salad with grilled chicken. There is also room for an interesting selection of cured meats, salted meats, cheeses or tins of Doña Tomasa preserves, or a nod to the traditional style with snack dishes such as Iberian ham croquettes, grilled shrimp salad with pickles, suckling pig torreznos with potatoes revolconas or patatas Bravas with kimchi sauce and soft black garlic aioli.

Editor: Álex de la Rosa

Álex is a journalist and a reference in the world of gastronomy, creator of the successful blog “Que no me la den con queso”.