$$ - The place is not large, the food is always top drawer. Creative cooking, based on traditional Spanish & Mediterranean cuisine. Be sure to reserve, space is limited and it's a very popular venue.
Wine-friendly with a great selection of wines by the glass or bottle. Sherries are an important part of the cellar, and pair well with the food.
Nice atmosphere, attentive service, great food, to be enjoyed.
Photo
$$$ - Basque folk dancers are known as "dantxari", and the restaurant is true to it's Basque origins. The food is excellent, based on top quality raw materials, with relatively simple preparation. It's hard to go wrong here, whether it be fish or meat or their traditional stews.
An excellent wine list, like many in Madrid with a Rioja focus, but also an interesting selection of wine from all over Spain. Friendly, professional service.
Photo
$$ - A small, family operated venue with an excellent offering of Asturian cuisine: the "fabada" bean stew is a standout. A spot popular with wine lovers, and a place where Madrid chefs often go for authentic, home style fare. Always good.
Extensive wine list (300-odd references) and a useful list of wines by the glass.
$$ - Another special place, one of my go-to places in Madrid - restaurant & wine bar with excellent food. Great atmosphere, lovely people, well worth a visit.
Excellent wine list, extensive, well chosen, eclectic with some unusual wines. Good selection of wines by the glass.
Photo
$$$ - Year after year, Sacha is rated among Madrid's very best. The food's superb, once again based on top quality ingredients. It's often referred to as sophisticated comfort food. A favorite of winemakers & chefs, it's not to be missed. A reservation is a must. Wine-friendly with an excellent selection. Good, attentive service.
Photo
$$ - A bit out of the way in the northern part of the city (not far from Sacha). Classic Spanish fare with a modern touch, well prepared & served in a lovely glass enclosed terrace. Nice atmosphere, good value.
The wine list is not that extensive, but well chosen and fairly priced.
Photo
$$$ - Modernized traditional fare, based on exceptional quality seasonal ingredients. The menu's extensive with excellent vegetable, fish & meat dishes, also savory stews and cured meat products. Another place that should be on your short list. Serving continuously 13:30 to 23:00h (Monday to Friday).
The service is excellent, attentive & professional.
Excellent wine cellar, national & international. Wine-friendly with an ample selection of wines by the glass: red, white, bubbly, sherry.
Photo
$$$ - A wine bar & restaurant with a classy cocktail bar downstairs, Angelita is a great place. The food is excellent: traditional home style with a modern touch, based on top quality ingredients.
One of the best cellars in town with both national & international offerings. Most wines are available by the glass and half glass. This is the way to go. Very good, professional service.
Photo
$$$ - An excellent restaurant based on top quality seasonal ingredients: traditional Spanish with a modern touch. Seasonal vegetables are always amazing, don't miss out.
The service is excellent and the wine cellar one of Madrid's finest.
$$ - Billed as a "Jerez Tavern", andalusian-style tapas and sherry are what Palo Cortado is all about. The food is always good, and works beautifully with the wines.
As sherry-friendly as they come with an ample selection to enjoy by the glass.
Photo
$$$ - Founded in 1725, Botín is billed as the world's oldest restaurant. Sitting close to Madrid's Plaza Mayor, it's certainly tourist oriented. That said, food is excellent, especially the world renowned roast lamb and roast suckling pig.
The wine list is respectable, mainly Spanish with a Rioja & Ribera del Duero focus. However, there is a fair selection of wines from different regions and champagne to boot.
$$$$ - Certainly one of the best seafood restaurants on the planet. Fish and shellfish flown in from Galicia on a daily basis. The quality and variety is spectacular. It's not cheap, but a place seafood lovers should not miss. Excellent service, excellent fare.
The wine list is not huge, but well selected and in tune with the food.
Photo
$$$ - Yet another great restaurant: superb Spanish, Mediterranean & International cuisine with a Mexican twist. Well worth a visit. It's small, reservation recommended. Excellent fare!
Photo
$$$ - A superb spot - upstairs a tavern/tapas bar, downstairs a top class restaurant.
Chef Paco Ron offers excellent traditional asturian-style fare with the best ingredients and a modern touch. Always good, upstairs or downstairs.
Wine friendly with a first class cellar (national & international) & a great selection of wines by the glass.
Photo
$$ - A hidden gem of a restaurant, just a couple of blocks from the fashionable Ponzano area. Traditional Spanish cuisine, seasonal produce, perfectly prepared and presented. Their "patatas revolconas con torreznos" are amazing. Highly recommended. Wine friendly with an excellent wine list.
Photo
$$ - Chef Iván Saez, owner of the renowned Desenjaja, opened La Tajada not long ago with the idea to offer top class cuisine at modest prices in a relaxed & friendly atmosphere. The food is superb and the prices user friendly. Classic Spanish fare: croquettes (amazing), callos, patatas bravas, excellent rice dishes and a lot more. Highly recommended, hard to go wrong here.
Wines by the glass, and very good selection of fairly priced wines from all parts of the country.
Photo
$$ - This is one of the best places I know in town for this Spanish specialty: roast suckling pig & lamb. The menu has many other options (steak, fish & shellfish, stews, veg & salads), the food is excellent, service is good and the prices reasonable. They also offer takeaway service. Highly recommended.
A very good selection wines from all over Spain, fairly priced.
Photo
$$ - A recent "find" and a good one at that. Modern/creative, product-based cuisine. A delightful mix of Spanish classic, with
a touch of Paris, Madrid and Cádiz. Located in the fashionable Chueca district, highly recommended.
An excellent selection of wines from Spain & France (special emphasis on sherries)
by the glass or bottle, food friendly and fairly priced.
Photo
$$$ - A relative newcomer to Madrid's restaurant scene, Alabaster has quickly risen to the top, with a mix of modern, traditional & international cuisine, featuring seasonal fare & quality ingredients.
A spectacular wine list with over 600 selected references. Amazing.
Photo
$$ - A classic Madrid "taberna" founded in 1941, located in the fashionable Chueca district.
A bullfighting theme restaurant with photos of bullfighters, actors and other luminaries who've dined there.
The food is traditional Madrid-style and very good.
The wine list is not exceptionally long, but the wines are well chosen & reasonably priced..
$$$ - Famous for both its cuisine and award winning flamenco show, this "tablao" has won critical acclaim on both counts. Spanish cuisine with flair, up to date, modern with the best ingredients.
Outstanding wine cellar with over 1.000 references, 800 of which are sherries.
$$ - In their own words: "Elegant offal is part of our DNA. From Beef, lamb, pork, rabbit, cockerel and duck there are tripe, liver, trotters, tail, kidneys, head, tongue, tendons, heart, brains, cockscombs... we cook it all!" One of Madrid's star restaurants.
Wine list is not huge, but carefully selected to go with their cuisine.
$$$ - Another recent arrival to the Madrid restaurant scene. A modern take on traditional Spanish cuisine. Seasonal fare, top quality ingredients. The croquettes are to die for... Lovely decor, excellent service.
A superb cellar with an extensive selection of Spanish and international wines.
Photo
$$$$ - Since opening in 2016, A'Barra has become one of the city's top venues. Upmarket, modern cuisine in one of the most fashionable restaurants in town. A genuine gourmet experience.
An impressive cellar with more than 700 references of Spanish & international wines.
$$ - Traditional Spanish/Madrid cuisine based on top grade seasonal ingredients. The "tortilla" is a standout, as is the beef and Carmen's "cocido madrileño. It's all good. Highly recommended.
An attractive wine list with selections from many parts of Spain.
Photo
$$$ - One of the city's best. Gourmet cuisine, the menu tends to be short, based on the best seasonal ingredients. A foodie's delight. It's popular and quite small, reserve early.
A wine lover's paradise with an extensive, carefully selected cellar of Spanish & international wines: France, Germany, Italy...
$$$ - A Madrid standout since 1964. A top class restaurant, also much appreciated for the food served at the bar: tapas & "pinchos". Based on top drawer ingredients, both menus: restaurant and "pinchos", offer a splendid selection of Spanish fare. Highly recommended.
Wine friendly with a very good selection of Spanish wines.
$$ - A Madrid classic for 100 years. An extensive offering of traditional fare using seasonal ingredients. Their veal scallop is terrific, a house specialty. Top notch fare and service in the restaurant or their outdoor covered terrace. Most recommendable.
A good, extensive wine list with well chosen selections from all over Spain.
$$$ - Situated in the fashionable Chueca district, Roostiq is a relatively recent arrival to the Madrid restaurant scene. The menu is based on organically grown produce from their farm in the province of Ávila, and a Neapolitan-style wood-fired oven. Excellent fare, all well prepared & served.
A good wine list, mostly Spain and fairly priced.
$$$ - fismuler, a recent addition to the La Ancha group, offers market-focused fare based on top quality seasonal ingredients, carefully prepared and presented. The interior design not what you'd expect, rather a sort of industrial, unfinished look. The service is very good and food excellent. Well worth a visit.
A very good wine list, Spanish & International.
Photo
$$$ - Pepa Muñoz's Cüenco de Pepa, situated in the Chamartín district, is one of the city's most interesting venues. The produce is sourced from their own farm in the province of Ávila. The tomatoes and other vegetables are superb; the beef and fish top drawer...and the preparation as good as it gets. Fine service, not to be missed.
A lengthy, well chosen wine list, Spanish & International.
$$ - A small, unassuming "tasca" in the fashionable Chueca district. The original is a traditional bar at Nº 19 and the
newer restaurant is at Nº 27. Different ambience, same fare at both venues.
The house specialty - "setas de temporada" - seasonal wild mushrooms.
In addition to the "setas", there's an attractive menu that includes salads, shellfish, cured meats, beef, lamb, cheeses.
Highly recommended.
An extensive wine list with selections from all parts of Spain.
Photo
$$$ - Established in 1993, Laredo soon became a hot spot for wine & food lovers. Quality, seasonal ingredients are at the heart of their cuisine. Excellent food & wines are available at both the bar and the restaurant. Retiro district
A superb, extensive selection of wines from Spain, France and around the world.
$$$ - Arzábal is an excellent venue: tapas & wine by the glass at the bar, or a top class sit down meal in the restaurant. Quality fare, perfectly prepared, based on the finest seasonal ingredients.
An excellent, extensive wine cellar. Wine friendly, good service. Retiro district
Photo
$$ - For many local foodies, this is the best tapas bar/restaurant in the city. Top class seasonal fare, carefully prepared. Located in the fashionable Retiro district, not to be missed.
Wine-friendly with an extensive selection of wines by the glass and a first class cellar.
Photo
$$ - Wine bar & wine shop with an interesting selection of wines from Spain & France. As many as 50 wines to try by the glass. Also organize wine tastings & tasting classes.
$$ - Wine/tapas bar and restaurant. Good food, focus on "natural wines", with a diverse selection wines on tap as well as a useful collection of craft beers (on tap and in bottle). Also an online shop with wine, beer and olive oil. If you're into "natural", this is for you.
$$ - Top class wine/tapas bar and restaurant in the Barrio de Salamanca district. Excellent fare whether you chose a table or take a seat at the bar. An extensive menu of creative traditional cuisine, great service and a fair selection of wines by the glass. Highly recommended.
Photo
The photos are my own, feel free to use them.