Something like 3 courses including Cava and bread for 2000 pesetas - this is excellent value in a fantastic garden-type setting in the centre of Madrid. Be warned, though, it's very popular and you may have to book - we didn't. It was a Thursday night and we just turned up and only just got in. At the weekends, though, you will NEED to book. Don't MISS this place!

Other great places are La Trucha (nice, but still not a patch on Gala) and Casa Mingo - now that's a place! Down by the river, it does a great value Chicken n Cider lunch.

All 3 of these places will do you a great value excellent meal.

Anyone have any comments on these places?

I have been quite a few times to Champagnería Gala (C Moratín 22) and must say that while I was enthusiasted the first time, I came to like it less and less. I found the waiters rather unfriendly (In La Trucha, on the other hand, the staff was very nice), the service not very good (sometimes it took ages to get the next course, or the check), and the setting a bit touristy. However, I know that many visitors adored that place, it has a particular flair, so I do not want to discourage people from having a look and making up their own opinion. It is just not my cup of tea.

We have dined at Champagneria Gala and enjoyed it very much. The interior decor is definitely different and every time we were there the clientele appeared to be predominantly locals. If your looking for elegant this is not the place for you. Out for a good time-try it. While I never noticed the service to be particularly slow, the whole point of dining in Spain is to make an evening of it. We rarely spent less than 2 hours wherever we went.

Wow, I haven't discovered Champañeria Gala yet, and I live right next to it! I'll check it out!
I can very much recommend, in the same area, a place for excellent tapas from the north of Spain(Galicia) called MACEIRA, in calle Jesus nº7; every Saturday and Sunday at one in the morning they make a "queimada" turning all the lights off while a woman recites in ancient gallego something to do with the "meigas"(supposedly good Galician witches). And there's a restaurant with good traditional spanish food nearby(calle Cervantes) called Pereira(cocido, potajes, pucheros, guisos....)

¡Buenas noches!

[ 11-12-2001: Message edited by: pim ]

Damn, Taberna Maceira was one of my secrets and it's been revealed Hope it doesn't get even more packed that it is now.

I was planning to organise a Madridman dinner in the near future and that is one of my choices. However, it's so small that I don't think we could make a reservation if we are more than 10 people (and that would be having dinner very early).

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As for Champagnería Gala, I agree with connie. It might be a great place in the past but it is getting worse everyday.

Although the food is not bad and it's cheap, the service is horrible. The waiters are extremely unfriendly and they even fight among them dicussing which things should do each one in front of the customers.

When I went there it was packed with tourists and we were the only locals there that night. In my opinion, it's not a good sign if locals don't visit a restaurant.

As someone here said some time ago, a good clue to find out whether a place is good or not is to see if workers usually go there everyday at lunch. That's where you can find good home made-like food.

Ooops!, Antonio sorry about that It's one of my all-time favourites too, and everybody I've taken there has loved it But have you noticed that many times they try to charge you an extra 1000pts. by drawing a little "palito" in the notebill?, then when you say something they make excuses like: "Oh, it's the bread...."; and if I tell you about the waitress with an attitude, do you know who I'm talking about?, ha,ha!

Do you know El Rincón Encantado?, I go there some Sundays for "el menú del día", the service is extremely friendly(to me at least)

Well, this martes y trece is about ending here, but I've had a great day, it must be that the "meigas" have behaved themselves today, how about you?

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! Just updating the forum.

A friend from Madrid introduced me to Taberna Maceira on my last visit - fantastic food and a thoroughly great little spot!

As those of you who write notes on napkins and anything else handy will understand - Taberna Maceira retruned to Boston on just such a treasured slip of paper!

[ 11-14-2001: Message edited by: Puna ]

Are these two places still worth a visit today???

Well, it just so happens that last Friday Becky/Chica, Jo(-Anne), Jo's friend, Jo's auntie and myself were going to dine at Casa Mingo, though we decided to change plans and go to Chueca's Bocaíto ( www.bocaito.com , very much recommended, totally Spanish place and the ingredients were first class!) at the last minute instead....on Monday, Becks and I had dinner at Maceiras (the big one, on cl Huertas 66), AND, as though we hadn't had enough of it, dessert at Maceira! (the original one, on cl Jesús 7) . TONIGHT, along with 15 other girls from the Women's Dining Club that mostly Becky and I cofounded almost a year ago now, we're going to Champagnería Gala(It's Arrocería Gala now, www.paellas-gala.com )!

Hope that helps....