Now that it looks like I settled on a hotel I would like lots of suggestions for good restaurants for the 10 days I am in Madrid. They can range from 1 or 2 really nice places to mainly good, solid moderately priced food. My daughter, who is studying abroad, has mostly been eating at the home where she is staying and while she has been loving the food, I would like to be able to treat her to a few really excellent meals while we are there. As to an earlier reference to La Barraca for paella, we had it the last trip there and we were rather disappointed. I'm sure there are better paellas in Madrid. One more thing, I know it is touristy but since I've never gone, I'd like to know the best place to go to see Flamenco. I've seen some ads but they all seem like ripoff's for tourists, any ideas?????

My favorite Madrid restaurant is El Ingenio at Leganitos10, across from Hotel El Coloso. Leganitos runs from Plaza Santo Domingo to Plaza de Espana. Get off the Metro at Santo Domingo for a downhill walk.

They have a wonderful blend of good food, ambience and service at resonable prices. They also have a good (all Spanish) wine list and they makr their own licores for dessert.

For Flamenco, I recommend Casa Patas . It is near Sol, and the Plaza Jacinto Benavente.

I'll look up the address and post it later.

If it still exists, the Champañería Gala, at 22 Calle Moratín has pretty good paella, but not really any better than La Barraca. Way different atmosphere though...

There are two restaurants that I recommend. Because the food is good, and they are unique. For lunch...Casa Mingo. For dinner, a Galician restaurant at 7 Calle Jesús called Maceira. And after dinner, you can pop around the corner and hit all the bars on Huertas. A personal favorite of mine is a Cuban place called La Colonial.

A buen provecho!!

Mongo writes: If it's the place I'm thinking about, one of their specialty tapas is angulas (little baby eels). Wife's uncle used to play Dominos there and introduced me to the place.

I second the motion for Casa Patas for flamenco!!!

And for a real treat, I know it is touristy, but El Botin is still one of my favorites. It is off the Plaza Mayor down from Arco de Cuchilleros.
It is mainly inhabited by tourists, as it is listed in every guidebook, but the food is excellent and the ambience is lively and old world...

I haven't mentioned (nor will I) my own best bet for Tablao Flamenco in Madrid because once places are mentioned on MM's board, they are no longer 'off the beaten path.'

I like Florida Park's (a nightclub just inside el Retiro - O'Donnell Street entrance) bailes folkloricos show: I really enjoy Jotas Aragonesas in preference to Flamenco. Their show has both: Sevillanas y Jotas.

They also serve a (supper) meal with a variety of entrees.

how nice to hear about Florida Park;it bring back many memories of youth.
Do not know how old the board is but i am over 40 and the park was my first date with a local girl back in 1971!!!! they use to have parties in there then. Took my kids now to see it during the daytime (kids still under 15) back in 2005 and plan to do a more in depth look this september.
I agree its a delighful place indeed.thanks

Mongo, at your above recommendation, I had lunch with a friend at Restaurante El Ingenio . I had some trouble finding the proper street but once I did I thought it was such a cute place!

It's decorated in things about La Mancha. I laughed to myself when I saw the Men's Restroom was labeled "Quixotes" and the Women's Restroom labeled "Dulcineas".

For starters we ordered (and shared) the Migas Manchegas (fried bread pieces with tocino) & Gambas al ajillo (spiced olive oil boiled shrimps). All very tasty.

For the main course, we ordered (and shared) the Solomillo de ibérico al queso de Cabrales. WOW that was good - slices of steak under a bity cheese. And also Entrecot cebón gallego - raw steak slices on a HOT HOT HOT plate - you turn them over and cook them yourself.

All was served with fried potatoes and they'd served us two free tapas of more migas and black olives in a spicy red sauce.

Dessert: We ordered (and shared) Mousse chocolate blanco (yummm!) & Sorbete manzana verde con orujo gallego.

All totalled, with 3 beers, bread, bottled water, and tea the price was 45.75€. Not bad.

Thanks, Mongo, for the recommendation! I can see why you liked it so much. The menu's were cute too - wooden and hinged in the back with painted (?) characters dressed in traditional (?) La Mancha dress.

Eddie, I've been wanting to go to Florida Park Flamenco dinner show. I like the location and the place looks "so fine". I didn't know they also performed Jotas Aragonesas as well as standard flamenco. That makes it more interesting, I'm sure. I think I'd heard that the food was actually pretty good there too, although expensive. Can you confirm they have good food?

Eddie wrote regarding Restaurante El Ingenio: Eddie, their website's menu, HERE , doesn't mention Angulas so maybe it was the Gallego restaurant (don't recall the name now) just down the hill a little further on the same street towards the Plaza España. I was looking in their window while waiting for my other party to arrive and it looked decent. They specialize in Galician and Asturian foods there. Maybe you could find its name/location via the http://www.QDQ.com website with a photo starting point of Calle Leganitos, 10 and go down towards Plaza España.

Saludos, MadridMan

Maceira is a great place, but it's big drawback is that you can't make reservations there and it gets crowded quickly. Still, worth a try if you're willing to risk it. It has a sister restaurant, Maceiras, on Calle Huertas itself. You walk about 50 yards down Calle Jesús to the coner of Huertas and turn left and up that street. It's on your left and it's a little bigger.

The restaurant question is a tough one because there is so much out there. Another well-known paella place is St. James on Juan Bravo. A classic traditional restaurant is Casa Domingo on the Calle Acalá,or Ciriaco on the Calle Mayor.

As for a economical but pretty restaurant, you can always go to La Finca de Susana. Once again, no booking, and the place fills up often by 9:00 p.m.

These are just a couple off the top of my head, but the list really goes on and on.

Hey MadridMan! Thanks for giving El Ingenio a try. My brother discovered them by accident ten years ago and I have been slowly converting my Madrid circle (with one exception )to fans ever since. I try to visit at least twice every trip.

If you enjoyed the menus and the restroom signs, next time catch the government warning sign on the cigarette machine. It is the same painting of Don Quijote as on the menu, warning Sancho Panza of the dangers of smoking. It is hilarious.