Casa Alvarez Madrid

Cocido, Madrid's best loved lunch

Andrea from Madrid

""Casa Alvarez" serves cocido completo, Madrid's most typical dish. Eating it involves some ceremony & you should come discover it if only to tell the tale!"

The time has come, dear travelers, to talk about cocido, The Full Cocido (pronounced co -THEE -dough) is Madrid's most typical dish, and you should try it! Madrid's most traditional restaurants offer it one day a week only, which increases its mystique. Don't despair - you needn't roam the city looking for it! In Casa Alvarez, you lucky omnivores can enjoy it any day of the week! Except for Wednesdays - that's their day off.

So what is it? Cabbage, carrots, potatoes, chickpeas, and onions stewed together with various nourishing meaty treats - chorizo, tocino (don't ask), black pudding, ham, and chicken.

Eating cocido involves some ceremony, so here comes the fun part. First they bring you a bowl of cooked noodles, then the water everything has been stewed in is poured on top: first course - soup. That finished, the veggies and meat are tipped out onto your plate - they have been kept warm in the dinky lidded earthenware pot that everything was cooked in. It's a lot of food, so come hungry.

There are many other great Spanish mainstays at Casa Alvarez if cocido doesn't appeal; top tip - Sunday is the best day for spotting locals.

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Madrid Spotter Andrea

About Me I am a teacher and examiner who made a home in Madrid many years ago. I love live music, art, books, travel, food and dancing and am well served for all my interests in Madrid. I live on a special plane where I exist as an eternal tourist (check out Alain de Botton’s book The Art of Travel) who maintains a sense of wonder in a familiar place. I love showing people round my favourite spots in Madrid but am never happier than when I am discovering new gems. Why Madrid Madrid seduced me when I first visited, with its untamed and unapologetic Spanishness. We came ...

About this spot

Calle de López Silva 10

Cocido completo:

€

15.00

+34

913651528

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Nov 15, 2025

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