Cultural life and leisure activities in the Autonomous Community of Madrid are among the most active in the world. The extensive program offered by the concert halls, theatres, cinemas, museums, stadiums of the city and its festivities ensure that any visitor visiting Madrid will have the opportunity to enjoy every moment of his stay, pleasing all his senses and experiencing the most unforgettable impression.
On these pages you will be able to discover many examples of the rich selection of gastronomic offers that can be found in the city of Madrid. In the “Practical Information” section at the bottom of each page, you will find, along with the name and address of the restaurant’s website, an indication of the area in which it is located (the name is given in Russian), so that you can easily understand where it is located, guided by the map on previous page.
Gastronomic traditions are also part of the culture, and in this sense, Madrid has a lot to offer. The offerings described on the following pages are classified into the following categories:
• Centuries-old restaurants
• Famous places
• Eateries
• Seasonal cuisine
• Gastronomic markets
– San Ildefonso
market – Mercado de la Paz
market – San Miguel
market – Market Anton Martin
– San Anton
Market – Vallehermos Market
• Local Cuisine
• International Cuisine
– American Cuisine
– European Cuisine
– Asian Cuisine
– Japan
– China
– Southeast Asia
– India
Famous establishments
Madrid has a select number of restaurants where the avant-garde and sophisticated gastronomic arts help to continue the very best traditions of haute cuisine. These fine establishments, which in many cases are also gastronomic academies, remain alien to the latest fashions, yet attentive to innovation in order to offer the best dishes to the most demanding public. The elegant hall of the Horcher restaurant with its German-inspired cuisine has been open since 1943 and offers classics such as reindeer beef stroganoff, veal goulash or the legendary German “wooden pie” baumkuchen. We also highly recommend visiting the Zalacam restaurant, which became the first restaurant in Spain with three Michelin stars, which continues to offer visitors its legendary dishes,
If we talk about the Michelin Guide 2019, the Autonomous Community of Madrid is presented in it with a rather impressive list of 23 restaurants and 30 stars. Restaurant DiverXO with three stars, followed by Santceloni, La Terraza del Casino, Ramon Freixa Madrid, DSTAgEw Coque with two, and El Club Allard, Kabuki, Kabuki Wellington, Albora, PuntoMX, Lua, A’Barra, Gaytan, La Candela Restd, Cebo, Yugo The Bunker, La Tasqueria, Clos Madrid, El Corral de la Moreria Gastronomico and El Invernadero with one star, have received mention in this guide. In addition, in the vicinity of the city, two establishments (restaurants Chiron and Montia) were also awarded one star.
In all these establishments, you will be surprised by the most innovative gastronomic offers. The halls of these restaurants are specially designed to provide pleasure to the eater, and the combination of avant-garde trends and the creativity of the chefs will allow the visitor to taste the best cuisine and wash it down with the most delicious liquor or one of the richest wines in the collection.
DiverXo, currently the only three-star restaurant in the capital, thanks to the efforts of its chef, Dabis Muñoz, offers amazing creativity and daring gastronomic solutions based on a combination of oriental, Latin American and Spanish culinary elements.
Four UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Alcala de Henares
Hometown of the world-famous literary genius Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Alcalá de Henares has been a World Heritage Site since 1998, in recognition of the city’s historical and architectural wealth, the fact that it was the world’s first planned university campus. in this capacity, as well as the cultural influence that this city has had since 1499, when Cardinal Cisneros founded the university that later became the modern Complutense University. His model was subsequently adopted by other European universities and, in addition, the Spanish missionaries spread it to the countries of America.
At present, this city is still closely connected with the world of literature and culture, since it is in the center of Paraninfo (Paraninfo) of the University of Alcalá that the Cervantes Prize is awarded every year on April 23, which is the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in Literature in Spanish. It is also highly recommended to visit the High School of San Ildefonso, where the facade of the old university, the Grand Auditorium with Mudéjar decoration and the Trilingual Courtyard attract attention. Other important tourist attractions in the city are the Museo Casa Natal de Cervantes, the Iglesia-Catedral Magistral, the Archbishop’s Palace, the Corral de Comedias Theatre, the Convent of San Bernardo and the Regional Archaeological Museum.
Alcala de Henares is also an ideal place for walking, where you can walk around the streets and squares, grab a few tapas in one of the great restaurants in the city, sit and chat on the veranda of the cafe, shop and take some souvenirs with you. a typical local sweet bought in a patisserie or in one of the monasteries. In addition, in spring and autumn, you can come here on the Cervantes Train, carrying passengers along the Atocha-Alcala route. During the journey, the animators act out scenes from the Cervantes era for the passengers.
