Editor Pick
La Finca de Susana
- October 15, 2005
- Rated 5 of 5 by
soleil17 from Madrid, Spain
La Finca de Susana is quite possibly my favorite restaurant in Madrid... so much so that I almost didn't reveal it online! It is so popular with the Madrilenos that a line forms outside the door every night before it opens. If you go for dinner, the doors open at 8:30pm, but the line starts forming around 8pm. If you aren't in line by 8:30pm, don't plan on getting seated before 11pm. All of the tables fill up immediately when the doors open, and most tables take at least 2 hours to eat. They do not take reservations.
Why is it so popular? Because the food is great and cheap! The wine list has bottles, yes, bottles, that range from 5€ up to the most expensive at 12.50€. Even better? Get a bottle of cava, Spain's sparkling champagne-style wine for 9 to 12€. Starters average between 3 and 5€. Some of my favorites: crepes filled with zucchini and goat cheese smothered in a smooth tomato puree, gazpacho - full of flavor, and tajines of vegetables with shrimp.
The restaurant also has a line of items called "Para mantener la linea" - healthy dishes. In fact, this is one of the few places in Madrid where vegetables are abundant and fried, breaded food almost absent.
For main dishes, the restaurant offers a wide variety of fish, seafood, and meat for 5 to 8€. My favorite dish is a leg of duck (pato) in a caramelized plum sauce with couscous. Other favorites? Mussels (mejillones) - for 5€, you can get mussels marinara that would cost at least 20€ in Belgium. Merluza (hake) with an asparagus sauce is also tasty.
But the real reason I love La Finca? A desert called timbaon. It's a block of homemade nut ice cream on a bed of chocolate sauce. The unexpected treat is a crunchy yet creamy caramelized topping similar to what you would find on a crème brulee. Yummy!
The decor is modern and trendy and the noise level doesn't usually get too high. The restaurant will start kicking people out around 1am, so I believe the kitchen must close around midnight. The restaurant is only 1 block from the Sevilla metro stop on the red line. Use the Seville Street exit, walk up the stairs and past the newsstand in front of you, and follow the curve of the street left to the Hotel Quo. When standing next to the entrance of Hotel Quo, look across the street and you will see a restaurant with a yellow awning. That's La Finca!
From journal Hay que comer con apetito en Madrid!