Chueca & Malasaña – Local tips (restaurants)
Our favorite local Madrid restaurants and dining in the Chueca & Malasaña area. This is where our Madrid locals eat lunch or dinner… Madrid insider tips: always up-to-date!
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My favorite Javier Bardem role is from the 1982 film Jamón Jamón (Penelope’s break out role) where he plays a garlic-breathed beefcake (with nudity!!!) which is much hotter, and in my point of view, more talented than his psychopath role in No Country for Old Men.
Bardemcilla is his family’s restaurant which pays tribute to Javier Bardem’s screen successes by naming the dishes after various films or roles. You feel like you’re in their family living room because the place is decorated with family heirlooms and photos of young Javier. If you forget to make a reservation, you can hang out at the bar, but don’t miss out on the food (note, lunch isn’t served until 13:30 and dinner service starts around 21:00).
The menu selection covers the whole gamut of Spanish cooking with lots of fried foods and ham and a few salads. The rations are big, so the dishes are perfect for sharing – the croquetas “Jamón Jamón” (ham croquettes) are great, as is the Morcilla “Mas fea del mundo” (the ugliest blood sausage in the world) and the Tortilla “Mar Adentro” (”The Sea Inside” Spanish omele
tte).
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Bardemcilla | Restaurants (Spanish) | Shareable dishes € 8.50
Calle Augusto Figueroa 47 | Chueca & Malasaña | +34915214256
Mon – Fri 12:00 – 17:00 & 20:00 – 02:00, Sat 20:00 – 02:00
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It’s probably the most British of all the bars of Madrid, half brasserie, half English pub. Informal but smart and warm, one of its main attraction is an impressive gin’s carte. They have called Gintonize and includes more than sixty different gins from gin tonic lovers.
The meal is practically English and you can find dishes like English soup of the day (7 euros), roast beef (21 euros), fish and chips (12 euros) or bread & butter pudding (6,50 euros).
On Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays, the clients can enjoy an English brunch and the rest of the days, a lunch menu for 11,90 euros. Tea in the afternoon, the first drink of the night… it’s open almost all day and night. Bristol bar is very dynamic related to activities as thematic dinners, concerts, wine tasting and so on.
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Bristol Bar | Bars, Snacks, Restaurants (British) | Medium ticket € 35
Almirante 20 | Chueca & Malasaña | +34915224568
Mon – Fri 10:00 – 01:00, Sat 11:00 – 02:00
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Brand new literary café bistro that is just beside Fuentetaja bookshop. Café Bistró Max Estrella has been named after one of the most famous characters of the Spanish writer Valle Inclán (from the book “Luces de Bohemia”).
But lets talk first about the bookshop. Although it hardly has another languages books, this bookshop is worth of a visit. Very spacious, industrial and modern, has apart from the bistro, a brick-built basement where some days classic musicians plays for the clients of the bistro.
Max Estrella is attractive and large. It has a bar, quite a lot tables and an area with a pair of sofas and cooking and travelling books. In spite of being quite a lot smart, the prices are for every budget. Traditional meals in a desing place.
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Café Bistró Max Estrella | Art & culture, Shopping, Restaurants (Bistro) | Buffet meals € 16.00
San Bernardo 35 1ª | Chueca & Malasaña | +34915324170
09:00 – 00:00 daily
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It looks like a crappy bar at first sight and it has very few tables but oh sweet Lord!! Try the garlicky boletus topped with a fried egg. They have a short list of wines but well selected. They have all varieties of mushrooms, wild fungus and amazing steak from the north part of Spain (Galicia). Many of the wild fungus are picked by the owners at weekends in Madrid’s surrounding mountains.
They don’t have deserts but you will be so full with the main courses that you will forget about them!
It is worth to eat there but after the diner wash all your clothes and yourself too because you will smell as if you have been cooked too!!
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Cisne Azul | Restaurants (Muchrooms) | Meal € 35.00
Calle de Gravina, 19 | Chueca & Malasaña | +34915213799
Mon – Sat 12:00 – 16:00 & 20:00 – 00:30
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If you need your fill of tasty burgers and sandwiches with specialties like really spicy chipotle pepper chicken or a tandoori-spiced burger all made from organic meats, this is your place.
Owned by a French Canadian Chef who has made Madrid his home, the upscale diner-themed restaurant has gained popularity as it’s the only place in Madrid to get an organic beef burger. It’s absolutely necessary to have a reservation to eat there most nights of the week. In good news however, they offer take-out and they’ve opened two other branches in the city center.
Don’t miss the pomme frites and variety of homemade desserts.
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Home Burger Bar | Snacks, Restaurants (Burgers) | Classic burger € 8.75
Calle Espiritu Santo 12 | Chueca & Malasaña | +34915229728
Mon – Sat 15:30 – 16:00 & 20:00 – 00:00
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Just off of busy Fuencarral, La Ardosa always has a pleasant jazzy atmosphere filled with typical Spanish scents.
The bar is packed with paraphernalia dating back to 1892 when it was founded – a picture of the owner’s family, famous people who have stopped in over the years, a board showing the results of their Guinness drinking contest (can you top 14 pints?!) and reprints of Goya’s “Caprichos” prints (silly, sometimes vulgar whimsical images).
They serve some of my favorite tapas; sliced ham from pigs who have only eaten acorns (Jamon de bellota), dried tuna (Mojama – tuna jerky!), and a thick version of gazpacho called Salmorejo. The “raciones” are big here, so you can ask for a “media-ración” instead of a full plate.
If the bar looks full from the street, push through the crowd, duck under the bar, and try the back room which is not accessible any other way.
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La Ardosa | Bars, Snacks, Restaurants (Tapas) | Salmorejo € 3.75
Calle Colon 13 | Chueca & Malasaña | +34915214979
08:30 – 02:30 daily, August 11:30 – 02:30 daily
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Xanacuk brings much needed freshness to Madrid, and by fresh, I mean juices squeezed to order, healthy salads and everything available to go. Started by an expat from Australia and his Spanish wife, Xanacuk already has three locations in the city center.
I’m an addict to their juice blends and on a day when I haven’t got a long time to eat, I’ll get a toasted bagel with alfalfa sprouts and smoked salmon or a veggie-hummus wrap to go. The brownies and chocolate chip cookies are perfect to finish off your super healthy meal.
Bonus trivia: the sandwiches are all named after local landmarks!
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Xanacuk | Restaurants (healthy) | big juice € 3.90
C/ Corredera Alta de San Pablo, 3 | Chueca & Malasaña | +34902440028
Mon – Sat 12:00 – 23:00
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