Hi--We'll be on foot (or taxi) in the central area of Madrid (Puerto del Sol, Santa Ana, Atocha Station) and hope to zero in on the best Patatas Bravas we can find. Do you have any recommendations?
Thanks!!

"what hope to zero in on" means? is this hardcore slang?

a.j.

kitt, there's a chanin by the name of "Las Bravas" and they're all good and about 3 of them can be found around the Plaza Mayor and Huertas areas. Mmmm... Patatas Bravas... Mmmmm.. I love 'em! :p Check out THIS Virtual Tourist writeup of Madrid and check the "Favorite Restaurants" section, detailing the "Las Bravas" restaurants.

Also, of course, the famed "El Brillante" makes good patatas bravas as well. It's located at street level under the Hotel Mediodia.

Hello.

When I want to eat Patatas Bravas I always go to one bar located at the street "Álvarez Gato". This street is more known as "El callejón del gato".

It's nearby La Puerta del Sol. More exactly:
you must go up from Canaleja Square to Jacinto Benavente Square through "calle de la cruz", and when you are about to reach Jacinto Benavente Square, you'll find El Callejón del Gato on your left (it's a narrow street).

This bar has its own history. Outside the bar there are 3 mirror and it's said that our writer Valle Inclán wrote "El Esperpento" inspired by these mirrors.

¡Que aproveche!

aaahh I love patatas bravas and I can't believe I missed the Las Bravas chain. Next time, I'll make sure I keep my eyes open. I found during my recent trip to Madrid that it was a bit more difficult to get bravas in the tapas bars but I did manage to track some down in the end.

Andrés,

"To zero in on" means "to target", or "to locate". It is colloquial expression that is fairly widely used, it is not vulgar.

Regards,
Shawn

Just had excellent patatas bravas at "Jaleo," a tapas restaurant in Bethesda, Maryland. I understand there's another in D.C. proper. They were authentic -- for any of you in los alrededores de D.C. Enjoy!

Thank you Shawn for the information. The thing is that we are supposed to be writing in an international message board and so if you use your local slang there may be people that won't be able to understand you and if so they won't be able to help.

Thanks again
PS: it was you the one who asked where "Torero" was?

Andrés,

It is difficult to understand some of the slang that Americans use. But what better way is there to learn it, than to have it said out here, amongst friends?

Heck! Even people from the UK and the US have problems understanding each other's slang at times, so we all have the same situation.

I'm still trying to figure out why an elevator is called a lift, and a baby buggy a pram -

Those Englishmen! You'd think they invented the language, not Americans -

Wolf (Who's totally illiterate when it comes to Spanish. )

Wolf,

lift -- synonymous with elevate, no?

pram -- short for perambulator

patatas bravas -- can't wait to eat some again!!!

Andres, Lo siento---my apologies for the unfamiliar slang. But, you are a man-about-town in Madrid, no? Do you have a patatas bravas recommendation? Your post concerning the wine store was appreciated.
Thanks, Kitt

man-about-town?

Wolf I think that if I have to learn American slang, British slang, Irish slang, Australian slang, New Zealand slang, South African slang.........to be able to understand them I´d better start thinking about suicide ,I mean, all of us have a lot of things to do in life and just keeping one English alive means many hours every week let alone if I had to know the different slangs around the world. Wouldnt it be a little bit easier if English speakers understood that English has become the international language of the world and that when you are not in your local environment people are not going to understand your slang?

Andrés

[ 02-11-2002: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

I agree that we should avoid slang (popular expressions that change as often as fashions do!), but there are expressions (idioms, colloquialisms) that have entered every language's popular vocabulary and should be part of any language learner's "homework"! That's not to say that we shouldn't be mindful of the variety of languages spoken here (we do, in fact, have some board visitors whose first language is neither English nor Spanish!), of course!

I hope board users will ALL feel comfortable asking for help when an expression is unfamiliar...and the number of threads that have been dedicated to language issues (slang, local expressions, differences between Spanish in Spain and in the Americas, etc.) certainly suggests that members like to talk about "how people talk"!

Andres, I think "zero in on" comes from using military targeting equipment (and the expression is not a new one), and "man about town" is commonly used to refer to a person who knows a place well and moves about in it smoothly.

And we ALL should know what "brave potatoes" means!

Mmmm... Just a few more weeks until my next helping of patatas bravas. Mmmmm.... Yum..

I'm puzzled, doesn't ANYBODY here call them 'papas bravas'?

(Then it must be a Zaragoza thing....)

Pim

[ 02-15-2002: Message edited by: pim ]

Kitt the advice given so far is right.
If you are looking for "Bravo potatoes" then the district to go is "Huertas" and the bar any of the four "Las Bravas" you will find there (they have this orange outside colour you cant miss).
Thomas Cook in his guide "time for food" is the first bar he recommends in "Huertas" but Thomas Cook doesn´t say, and only knowledgable natives know, that if their Patatas Bravas are good there are no words for their "Tortilla de patata Brava"(with a red spicy sauce on top). Be careful not to ask for the Tortilla at the end I am sure you will prefer it to the Bravas.

A.J.

[ 02-14-2002: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

Andres, Since I read your reply concerning the "Tortilla de Patata Brava" I can't stop thinking of how delicious that could be. Thank you very much, I will definitely want to try that!
Do you happen to know how that "Brava" sauce is made? I don't know if I can wait until I get to Madrid----maybe I should practice at home??
Thank you, Kitt

Ummhh not only I don´t know but I would be careful about asking questions ;-)let me explain:
The first think you will notice about this place is this Patent number just right on their sign they boast so much about. Yes! they have a copyright on their sauce so if you try to know what the sauce is made of make sure there is no lawer around ;-)

Cheers,

Andrés

Ok, I give up, what are patatas bravas? I will be in Madrid visiting my son for two weeks beginning March 30th. I'll want to impress him with my knowledge of Spanish delicacies which I figure from perusing this board are: churros, cafe con leche and patatas bravas - only, what the heck are they? Enlighten me, por favor!

Mama Chula (cute name),
Patatas Bravas are slices or cubed pieces of boiled (in olive oil, correct?) potatoes covered with a spicey reddish brown sauce and usually eaten as a tapa with tooth picks. You can see a photo of them HERE (on the right), photo taken at El Brillante in Madrid by our own board member, replay (see his photo HERE ).

Mama chula, hey! You'll be in Madrid on April 4th!! That's when I'm having the next "Party With MadridMan: Version 4.0" at El Brillante! Keep an eye on the website for more details. Hope to see you there!

Saludos, MadridMan :p salivating at the thought of patatas bravas

[ 02-20-2002: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

Good day,

I just got back from Madrid on the 17th.... such a lovely town.... But I did indulge in the Patatas Bravas y Cana for breakfast once (11:00 am) and they were the perfect beginning to a great day. I also stopped by El Brilliante (By Reina Sofia) a couple of times (the # 24 - sliced tomatoes, salmon and a red sauce on a baguette).
A couple of places for live music that I enjoyed: "Popularte" on Calle de Huertas, which had a great Latin Jazz band playing: Suritan (forget the street - down the road from "El Matador") which had a very good band "Bidinite" playing; and El Sol which had a "local band" named "Garage Jack" which was one of the highlights of my trip. Great band, great show, excitable crowd. The doorman gave me the bands poster, unfortunately I wasn't able to locate a CD before leaving.....
La Taurina was also a great spot for a quick bite.....
A fine city indeed.......

Oh my, they sound wonderful! Thanks Madrid Man, I can't wait to try them. So, you'll be in Madrid too? I would love to meet you and attend the party. I've enjoyed reading about your trips to Spain and your web site is great! Hopefully I'll be back from Italy by then. My son and his girlfriend thought it would be nice to zip over to Rome for a few days while I'm there. He's on spring break then and itching to travel. I'm so glad they want me to tag along!

I'll keep watching your website for more details. But if nothing else, I'll make sure I get myself over to El Brillante while in Madrid to try those yummy papas bravas - as I would call them, accustomed as I am to referring to potatos as papas (I am Mexican-American).

I'm pretty sure potatoes in the Canary Islands are called "papas" as well. Interesting that in Mexico they're called as they're called in the Canaries, but not as they are on mainland Spain.
Hope you can make the party on April 4th!

[ 02-20-2002: Message edited by: MadridMan ]