Madrid Eating and Sleeping

You need to know a few things about Madrid eating styles before you go there because they are quite different to many other places. First, people here eat lunch and dinner quite late. Restaurants open for lunch at around 1.30pm and fill up by 3pm, while dinner time doesn’t really begin until about 9pm and many reservations are made for 10.30 or even 11pm. For someone who normally eats at 7.30, that was a shock. Meals can take a long time because locals like to talk between courses and restaurant staff caters for this.

There is a solution to this time thing, however, provided by the early evening tapas hour. After paintings, these could be Madrid’s most irresistible attraction. I’m told the Moors, who controlled most of Spain for hundreds of years, introduced tapas. Today, a tapa is a kind of hors d’oeuvre that sometimes comes free with a drink or which can be bought at restaurants and bars. Most restaurants have tapas bars where you can test the food before committing to a full meal. You usually stand at the bar and point to the ones you want, then eat them as you enjoy your drink.

Madrid is home to the world’s oldest restaurant and there are excellent restaurants specializing in regional cuisines. I have three strong recommendations for places to eat and each is excellent. Try to avoid the touristy places on the main squares as they are pricey and the food may not be great.

Madrid has some excellent hotels in great locations but, as you would expect, these are expensive. So too are a group of small intimate hotels that have been developed in small grand houses but these have appeal because they provide excellent personal service in an oasis of calm. Unfortunately, I was unable to stay in one of these. Two of the grand old dames of the hotel scene are the Ritz and the Palace and I can report that they are both going strong. So too are lesser hotels and even hostels within the city center. I stayed for a few days at a hotel just out of the center and while there was nothing wrong with the establishment I would not recommend it to those who enjoy exploring on foot.

Quick Tips:

Madrid food prices are in line with most of the rest of Europe – certainly not cheap. The best value by far in a restaurant is the menu del dia (daily fixed-price special) which is often available at lunchtime. This is usually a main course, dessert, and coffee (with sometimes wine as well).

One of the best places to enjoy tapas is near Plaza Santa Ana. Try croquetas (deep fried minced chicken), chorizo (hard pork sausage), gambas (shrimp with parsley, oil, and garlic), and boquerones en vinagre (anchovies in salt and vinegar).

Many restaurants close for a few weeks in August.

Dress in most Madrid restaurants is casual but stylish. Don’t arrive in shorts and sandals.

Madrid is a large city so don’t expect to be able to walk to all attractions unless you are staying in the center of town. There is a range of accommodation from 5-star luxury to hostels in this area so try here first.

Best Way To Get Around:

Walking is the most effective way of seeing the central area. There are many pedestrian streets and squares to explore.

The city has an extensive underground train system with about 8 stations in various parts of the central city.

There are buses but I didn’t try to negotiate these as I was not sufficiently familiar with the names and didn’t have a map showing route numbers.

Taxis with meters are readily available and in my experience were efficient. Many drivers do not speak English.

When this marvelous hotel opened in 1910 it was undoubtedly the most exclusive in Spain and many would argue that it still is. Exclusiveness, however, doesn’t mean stuffiness and in particular I found the staff to be friendly, helpful, and very courteous. The location is superb and the public rooms are grand and gracious.

When Alfonso X111 was about to marry Queen Victoria’s grand daughter, he decided that there needed to be a luxury hotel in Madrid for his royal guests. The Ritz is the result. It is said that the King was so interested in the project that he personally carried out some of the construction supervision. I don’t know if the royal guests were impressed but I do know that one very un-royal guest 97 years later was mighty impressed.

The hotel today is part of the renowned Orient-Express collection of luxury hotels and this has given it new life. It has a charm, warmth, and refinement that make it an icon. You see it immediately at reception where check-in is handled effortlessly. You see it in the rooms where rich carpet and furnishings, antique furniture and impressive paintings give a feeling of luxury.

It’s irrelevant to go on about the room features. Suffice to say that they provide everything you could possibly need. They appear to have satisfied some of Hollywood’s elite (Jeremy Irons, Nicole Kidman, George Clooney, Kevin Costner, Pierce Brosnan) and world leaders like Bill Clinton and Kofi Annan, so who am I to complain.

The highly acclaimed Goya Restaurant offers a wide selection of Mediterranean and Spanish cuisine. It is a place to see and to be seen in a relaxed and elegant atmosphere at breakfast, lunch or dinner. If you happen to be here on Sunday don’t miss the renowned Sunday brunch - a generous buffet with a wide variety of Spanish and International dishes, with a special buffet just for children. Unfortunately it is priced at €65 per person (plus VAT).

In spring and summer (depending on the weather) the terrace and gardens are the perfect meeting place for a delightful al fresco lunch or dinner, or to sample traditional Spanish tapas. White wicker armchairs and marble tables covered with crisp linen tablecloths are found throughout the shaded terraces and enchanting gardens of the hotel. Another feature is Traditional Afternoon Tea served in the majestic hotel lobby in the early evening. Enjoy a selection of freshly prepared sandwiches, fine pastries, and traditional English scones, accompanied by a selection of jams, clotted cream, and tea while you enjoy the gentle sounds of the pianist, harpist, or classical Spanish guitarist.

I really enjoyed this hotel. It is absolute luxury yet it has a friendly welcoming feel that is not at all intimidating. We arrived looking somewhat tired and dirty after an eventful road trip but we could have arrived in dinner dress as far as the reception staff were concerned. They were courteous, efficient, and even offered us water.

This has probably been Madrid’s most famous grand hotel over the years since it was finished in 1912. It is three times the size of the Ritz and is in just as good a position. The guest list reads like a who’s who of film stars (Brando and Hayworth for starters), pop music stars (Madonna) and artists (Dali). Then they had us!

The hotel has many wonderful features but it is hard to go past the Art Nouveau stained-glass dome over the La Rotonda restaurant. This place is really stunning. There is a buffet breakfast served here every morning, a buffet lunch, and "a la carte" dinner. The other restaurant is the exotic Asian Art Gallery. This serves the best exotic Chinese cuisine with over 70 dishes on the menu, and a large selection of wines.

The other place that captivated me is the famous Palace Bar, decorated in the purest English classical style. It is famous worldwide for its highly specialized cocktail preparation, in particular for its dry Martinis that were especially appreciated by one of its most outstanding clients, Ernest Hemingway, who mentioned them in his work "The Sun Also Rises." It is a great place to enjoy a good cocktail, coffee or aperitif. Live music creates a relaxing setting at night to discuss business issues or simply end a delicious dinner in one of the restaurants.

As you would expect, the rooms are elegant. I could find nothing missing for the perfect stay. The hotel promotes its Heavenly Bed as offering a little piece of heaven, right here on earth. It claims to “sooth weary travellers with an oasis of comfort and style.” Apparently it offers "ten layers of heaven," starting with a custom-designed pillow-top mattress set, and topped by an unbelievably plush down comforter and five queen and king size pillows. All I know is we slept well.

The other feature worth mentioning is the Nepytuno fitness center on the hotel’s top floor. There’s everything to relax, energise, slim, and tone including massage and sauna and the view is quite spectacular.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this hotel. The rooms are pleasant, the staff are friendly, the whole place is clean, yet I would not recommend it to anyone heading for Madrid if your main aim is to explore the central city. The problem for me is the location.

The hotel is located about ten minutes from the Atocha Railway Station, and has direct access from the M-30 urban ring road by way of the "Méndez Álvaro" exit. So far, so good.

The hotel advertises it is near the "culture mile" area which contains the Prado Museum, the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum, and the Reina Sofía Art Centre. It is probably only 0.75 kilometres from the Art Centre but everything else is much further away and the walk is uninspiring with the railway line along one side of the road. We did it about six times and by the last time we declared there would be no seventh time. It is reasonably close to the Planetarium and the Retiro Park is about a kilometer away but it is more than two kilometers from Plaza Mayor.

The hotel rooms are equipped with a marble bathroom, individual air conditioning, magnetic lock, safe deposit box, small refrigerator with minibar, satellite TV, cable TV, modem line, and hairdryer. There is room service, which we did not use. We thought the room was pleasant enough but were worried by the noise from the plumbing when adjacent or upper rooms used the toilet or bathroom. I must say that this was also a problem we encountered in some other Spanish hotels.

The hotel had a tourist information department which provided us with a good map of the city, a restaurant which we only used for the average buffet breakfast, a modern-style piano-bar, a laundry, 110 parking spots, and gardens out the back. The garden would be pleasant in the summer but the weather was too cold for this while we were there.

This is quite clearly a business hotel because the normal rack rate is 200 euros but on the weekend it reduces to 88 euros. The weekend rate seems reasonable but the normal rate seems high. If you plan to stay here it would be worth trying the Internet for some better rates.

There was no way that I was going to Madrid without going to this – the world’s oldest restaurant. I knew little about it, however. Was it a tourist trap? Was it outrageously expensive? I gave this some thought then decided I didn’t really care. I need not have worried. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it didn’t break the bank.

The restaurant opened in 1725 on the site of an inn. The building is pretty much still original and the four floors of tile and wood-beam dining rooms have plenty of atmosphere. The waiters are mainly older men who are happy to help with menu suggestions and provide a bit of history at the same time.

It’s difficult to know just how good this restaurant is. Hemingway called it the world’s best, but clearly that is over the top. If, however, you have the specialties of roast pig or roast lamb as I did, you will agree that the food is certainly good. Perhaps one of the things that help is the centuries-old ovens that are still used today. The present owner proudly showed us these after our meal and insisted on having photographs taken with us.

Today, the restaurant is decidedly a tourist spot, since it appears in so many guides. Don't let that put you off, though, because Spaniards still go here to sample the excellent food. You enter on the ground floor and are shown to one of several dining rooms. We ate upstairs on the second level, then later went downstairs to the "bodega" or old wine cellars. The timber steps leading to the upstairs dining areas have been scalloped by centuries of diners and staff. The furniture is traditional Spanish, very heavy and very old.

Main courses in Spanish restaurants do not usually include many vegetables and Botín is no exception. This is just the way it goes - the Spanish tend to separate their vegetables and serve them up as starters. My roast baby lamb was delicious and the portion was more than enough. My wife had Clams Botin and this dish was smaller. We washed all of this down with a pitcher of Sangria and a jug of water. Ernest Hemingway wrote in his Death in the afternoon, “I would rather dine on suckling pig at Botin's that sit and think of casualties my friends have suffered." Those sentiments I can fully understand.

Botin was well worth the visit, but I would probably not repeat. I had wanted to go there for a long time and I am glad I made the effort. It fulfilled my expectations even though I knew that many customers were tourists who knew little about it except that it was old. I would certainly recommend anybody to go just once for the experience. The food and service are good and even with all the tourists, this is still a typically Spanish restaurant where when we visited, many of the patrons were locals.

We ate at this restaurant on the first day we were in Madrid so had no benchmark to compare it with. After spending a week or so in Madrid and further time in regional Spain, I would now say this was one of the best places we ate at during our whole stay.

We did not just stumble across this place although as it is in one of the main streets of Old Madrid only a few blocks from the Plaza Mayor, I’m sure that many others do. I had heard about the restaurant from friends and as we were heading towards the palace, it seemed appropriate to stop off here.

In business for more than 100 years, this taberna-cum-restaurant is still run by the same family. It is only two blocks from the Palacio Real, and apparently it has served dinners to members of the royal family along with a list of other impressive guests, including bullfighters, artists, and scholars. These distinguished guests were drawn, as we were, to the unpretentious family atmosphere and the time-tested recipes.

One of the more enticing things on the menu is perdiz (partridge) served with fava beans but it was not available on the day we visited. I was advised that hare is another good choice, this dish served with white beans. A good appetizer is a plate of the grilled prawns, or else you might start with one of the hearty soups of the day, including a specialty of Castile, sopa castellana. A few fish dishes appear, including mountain trout. I had the chicken in almond sauce, and it was delicious. My wife had a lamb stew with vegetables in a tomato sauce. We suggest you wash everything down with a glass of Toledo wine.

The decor of this restaurant mirrors that of an old tavern. All of the furniture is wooden, and the walls are decorated with oil paintings donated by loyal customers of the past. There is also a lot of Spanish memorabilia that you cannot help but be intrigue by. The atmosphere and the food together make for a wonderful dining experience.

If you are looking to have a meal in a traditional Spanish tavern then you should definitely settle into Casa Ciriaco for at least one meal. If you don’t have the time for a full meal, this is a great place to stop and have a couple of small portions (raciones) after sightseeing.

Reservations are recommended for meals. The nearest METRO stations are Ópera or Sol.

I must say I went to this restaurant with some expectations because several guidebooks and other sources of information had made reference to it. I was also told that it gets extremely crowded at times so we decided to go for lunch on the weekend when there would be no local office crowd. We had no problem finding a table inside when we arrived but 10 minutes later the whole place was full.

La Trucha has a street-level bar and small dining room with arched ceiling and whitewashed walls. The decor is made festive with hanging braids of garlic, dried peppers, and onions. On the lower level, the walls of a second bustling area are covered with eye-catching antiques, bullfight notices, and other bric-a-brac. The whole place has an Andalusian tavern ambience. You are surrounded by the typical coloured ceramic tiles and wrought-iron window grilles, and plenty of noise and activity. I loved it.

The name is derived from its specialty, trout ("trucha"). One visit here and you'll see why the name is so appropriate. Masterful entrées also include black sausage, Galician ham, and smoked bacon. You´ll find all the favourite southern tapas on offer and you can order small portions (raciones) of fish off the menu. One favourite is the assorted canapés which has five different types of fish (salmon, trout, anchovies, black caviar, and tuna pate) served on warm toast squares.

There's a complete a la carte menu including trucha (trout), verbenas de ahumados (a selection of smoked delicacies), a stew called fabada (made with beans, Galician ham, black sausage, and smoked bacon), and so on. I had chicken and garlic, which I really enjoyed. My wife had smoked trout and said it was the best she had ever tasted.

We think it is better to sit down when eating but many people chose to eat standing up at the bar counter. Those people not attached to the counter held their plates or drinks in their hands and it seemed like there was a giant cocktail party going on. The smoky atmosphere in the bar added to the effect.

The ground floor area of the restaurant where we ate, only had a few small tables sectioned off by a wall from the bar and every table was full. The waiters were working furiously and also servicing the somewhat quieter, but also full, dining area downstairs just to the side of the restrooms.

The menu comes in Spanish, French, and English. The clientele was an interesting combination of tourists, and many locals.

La Trucha opens around midday until late. The nearest Metro station is Sevilla.