Mad About Madrid

New Year's Eve in Madrid

I have been asked this question so many times now, that I thought I would display the answer on the site. I would also welcome suggestions by other people on the subject, which is:

What can I do and where can I go on New Year's Eve in Madrid?

This is what I normally end up doing if I find myself in Madrid with my wife, her family and our friends.

Many places in Madrid have private parties on that night - especially the nightclubs. Tickets are not that bad - around 40-60 Euros. However, I have only once been to one of these places and I would personally recommend that you do the following: Have a late dinner in a nice restaurant, preferably near the centre of the city as you don't want to be catching the Metro (I do believe it closes for an hour or two). Try and finish around 11.15  - 11.30. Head as near to the Puerta del Sol as you can. Make sure you buy yourselves a bottle of Cava (Spanish champagne) - I would personally ask the waiter in the previous restaurant to keep it chilled for you. You also need to buy twelve grapes and make sure that you eat them on the stroke of each chime at 12 midnight.

I would then head over to Plaza Santa Ana where you will find plenty of nightlife - and in the nearby streets such as calle Huertas. Try the Moderna, Cerveceria Alemana and Naturbier. You may want to explore the bars around c/ Principe, such as Viva Madrid.  Don't be alarmed if the bars are closed - this does happen as it gives waiters and bar staff the chance to celebrate with their families. They will open at least by 1 am!

And finally, try and have a cup of chocolate in Cafeteria San Gines - preferably around 6 or 7 in the morning.

These are just some quick thoughts and I would welcome suggestions from other people on where to go in Madrid on New Year's Eve. Simply add a comment below.

Angelika Cinema Lounge Madrid

There's a bar/cafe down on Madrid's Cava Baja that I have walked past on a number of occasions - never actually going into it, until now. I wasn't quite sure what to make of it - a video selection as you walked in, high stools around a bar, a smart Apple monitor also behind the bar and plasma TV screens showing popular films (last week they were showing Volver).

Well, last week I went out for a few drinks with my wife, her brother-in-law and his wife and we ventured in. Angelika Cinema Lounge is very different to your typical Spanish bar - firstly, there is a no-smoking policy (don't get me started on the ridiculous no-smoking policies in Madrid!), secondly, you can hire a DVD from their superb selection of films and thirdly, the bar staff at Angelika are acting professionals, who you can ask film advice of.

Though we went in there late I can still remember that they were playing the Bill Murray film Lost in Translation! Films are projected on plasma screens around the bar and, from what I can gather, they all use the original soundtrack (no dubbing). Angelika offers a wide range of drinks and food - coffees, teas, spirits and some great pastries. As it was so late I had a gin and tonic, which from my perspective (at around 2 a.m.!) seemed to be very carefully prepared - gin poured over ice and the juice of a freshly squeezed lemon - delicious!

It also offers a free wi-fi zone and I can't think of more pleasant surroundings to do some work, or even to surf. On different days they offer screenings, short films and cinema debates.

Location

Click Map to view location on Google.

Address: Cava Baja 24, 28005 Madrid, Spain

Telephone: 913 645 531
Web Address: http://www.angelika.es/

Ten Places I Would Never Eat or Drink in Madrid

I was walking around Madrid the to other day when I started thinking about some of the places that tourists go which add little, or no, value to the Madrid experience.They are often franchises, plastic in aspect and with no character. I explored this a little further with Vicen, my brother-in-law, and here is our Top 10 Places where you shouldn´t go in Madrid.:

1. MC Donald´s - OK, so you eat this crap outside Spain. Why not start eating properly in Spain?
2. Burger King - Nothing more to add.
3. Kentucky Fried Chicken - Why on earth would you want to do it? Go look for some alitas or Pollo Asdao or Pollo al Ajillo. Much better and tastier!
4. Starbucks - Usually double (at least!) the cost of a local coffee. A pointless experience but for some reason Americans, and Brits, they feel a need to go here. Go to the bar next door and get a taste of Spain.
5. Pans and Co - I just don´t get this place when you can go to ANY bar and order a bocadillo.
6. Cañas y Tapas - You will find these god-awful places all over Madrid. Go to the bar next door, please.
7. VIPS - Another pointless place to go have food. I cannot understand why Spaniards, and some foreigners, go to these places for their lunch or dinner. Find a place that does Menú del Día nearby and get much better value for money.
8. Café y Té is according to their website: "la consagración del concepto coffee-shop en España" (Trans: the consecration of the coffee shop concept in Spain). Bollocks! It´s another bloody franchise you shouldn´t bother going to.
9. Dunkin Doughnuts - You come to Spain and end up eating this! Just go to one of the many pastry shops and bars and eat their great food.
10. Subway - bascially, expensive bocadillos sold in plastic shops!

And, on that note, I´m off to have a bocadillo de lomo and a beer. All for around 3 Euros. Beat that Mc Donald´s!

Note: I have not included URL´s - if you want to find them, do it yourself!

Taberna Maceiras - a Galician Tavern!

I was just trawling my Madrid picture album (I must have taken hundreds of pictures over the past few years) when I came across a bar that I haven't blogged about. The Taberna Maceiras is located in Madrid's famous c/ de las Huertas, one of the city's most famous nightspots, and boasts some fine food. When Spain beat Argentina in a nail-biting semi final of the Basketball World Championship (they eventually won it), I was sitting in Maceiras having my lunch.

Like many Spanish bars and restaurants the decor of this place is very simple - the owners let the food do the talking for them. On a busy day you may be packed in close to the people on the next table but who cares!

Taberna Maceiras is a Galician Tavern and offers visitors a great selection of food and drink from this region - and boy is the food from Galicia great. Maceiras offers customers raciones - dishes of food which you can, and should, share amongst friends. On the menu (which you can click on right) you can select from a large selection of fish, shellfish and other dishes:

• calamari (calamares)
• clams (almejas),
• mejillones (mussels)
• steamed cockles (berberechos),
• navajas (razor clams),
• pulpo (octopus)
• pimientos de padrón (padrón green peppers)

and many other wonderful dishes.

I'm not a great dessert fan but some people have recommended Queso Arzúa – Ulloa D.O con membrillo (Arzúa cheese with quince). I would also recommend that you try the Vino Albariño. If I'm correct they were having a fiesta del pulpo around the same time (let me know if you can clarify this) and the place was absolutely packed out most lunchtimes.

Address
Huertas (Centro) 66, 28014 Madrid, Spain - +34 914 295 818

Click on Google Map for location

December Suggestions from Metrópoli

Metrópoli has a really good guide to what you can do in Madrid this December - it is in Spanish, though. They have come up with 150 suggestions for what you can do in the coming weeks - eat, drink, be merry and much more. Interestingly, they have broken them down into 15 categories - based on different types of personality. These range from the sportsman (woman), the art lover, the over 65's, under 18's, the shopaholics, singles, and a good few more. There are some really cool suggestions here - there is even a category for those who think they're cool!!

Christmas Programme for Madrid

If you'd like an "exhaustive" programme of activities on in Madrid this Christmas, download [pdf] the esMadrid magazine. Be aware this is quite a "beefy" 8MB pdf!!

9 Propuestas for Summer, 2006

   

Madrid's Popular Local Dishes, Recipes, Foods and Places to Eat

For those who don't yet know - and there may be some - Madrid is one fantastic, gastronomic experience. Putting aside the Italian, Mexican, Chinese and Thai restaurants that most major cities have, Madrid offers some of the very best "Spanish" restaurants that you will find in Spain.

The costas of Spain may well be renowned for frozen, packaged and processed food but in Madrid some of the only places that dish this sort of food up are the foreign, American burger and fast food joints. Interestingly, one of Spain's top chefs, Ferrán Adriá, opened a new fast food concept called "Fast Good" just over 2 years ago - the idea being to offer fresh, quality, fast food.

I don't have much experience of other capital cities but I do know that Madrid offers a very broad selection of regional food from around the country: from Basque and Galician to Valencian, Andalucian and Madrileño.

Here are some starting points for those who want to sample 'local' cuisine.

EsMadrid offers its guide to Madrileñan cooking, though admittedly it is all in Spanish. Here you can find some of the Madrid region's favourite dishes: Cocido Madrileño (stew), Callos a la Madrileña (sort of tripe with beans), Sopa de Ajo (garlic soup), Tortilla de Patata (no need to translate), Bacalao a la Madrileña (Salted Cod in a sauce) and Potaje de Garbanzos (chick pea stew). The guide even includes recipes and points you in the direction of some typical Madrileñan bars/restaurants, like Malacatín, La Bola, La Posada de la Villa, Don Cocido, Casa Carola and L a Taberna de Daniela.

This site also has some good suggestions about 'asadores' (grill houses) where you can eat the culinary delights of the Basque-Navarre and Castilian regions. Some of suggestions are plain mouth-watering: suckling pig, bream, Basque Hake, sardines and cod, with many of the suggested restaurants frequented by film, sporting and political celebrities.

NOTE: Some of EsMadrid's pages don't work too well in Firefox (like the one above) and you will have to use Internet Explorer to view them!!!

Spain.info is the Spanish Tourist Board website, and a very good one it is, too. The site offers its guide to both food products and dishes from the Madrid region, including:

Olives from Campo Real
Chinchón White Garlic
Anis from Chinchón
Beef from the Guadarrama Mountains
Asparagus from Aranjuez
Madrid virgin olive oil

and some popular dishes from the region:

Garlic soup
Madrid 'cocido' (meat, potato and chickpea stew)
Madrid 'Torrijas'  (bread pudding)
Madrid tripe
Madrid-style baked red bream
Potato omelette

It also has some suggestion, taken from the Campsa Guide of places where you can eat.

By the way if you'd like to try out some of the recipes of Spain's most famous 'TV' chef, Karlos Arguiñano, I would suggest you visit his website: La cocina de Karlos Arguiñano, where you will find at least a few hundred Spanish recipes - be aware it is all in Spanish!

Madrid Challenge
Try not to eat or drink in any of the international chains: Mc Donald's, Starbucks, Burger King, Pizza Hut, etc. The food will be much better and at least you will be immersing yourself in the local culture and food.

Related Articles
Fast Good a new fast food concept opens in Madrid

Madrid's Nightime Terrazas

Terrazas in Madrid are one of the great summer experiences of the city. A terraza, in English, is a street (or open air) café which often open to the wee, small hours of the morning. Traditionally, the popular terrazas hve been found on the Castellana or the Paseo de Pintor Rosales but El Mundo has some alternative places where you can enjoy an evening tipple. They include Real Madrid's ground, a terrace outside Torre Picasso (one of Spain's tallest buildings), the Circulo de Bellas Artes and Madrid's Hippodrome, Madrid's horse track with 7 bars, 15 shops and ice cream parlour and 2 restaurants.

One tip: Madrid's nightlife goes on to around 4-5 in the morning, so don't go out too early - a 10 or 11 p.m. start is early enough!

Link
Madrid Terrrazas

Watching the World Cup in Madrid

It goes without saying that you will probably have little problem finding a bar to watch the World Cup over the coming weeks! For many Brits and Americans, the first port of call will probably be the Irish bars, but how about watching the games in a cinema?

The company Cinesa will be 'televising' the Spanish games, along with other important games (such as the final) on their High Definition, Giant Cinema Screens with Digital 5.1 sound at Multicines Proyecciones on c/Fuencarral 136. All games are free but there is obviously a ceiling on the amount of people who can watch the game.