Cuisine: Spanish – Tapas
Average price per person: 30€
Environment: 8/10
Food: 7.5/10
Service: 9/10
Other: Pet-friendly, Gluten-free options
Website: http://casamacareno.com/
What surprised me the most when I tried to visit Casa Macareno, was the relative difficulty in getting a table. My friends and I were looking in our “restaurants we want to go” lists and picked Casa Macareno originally thinking very late lunch/very early dinner i.e. 7 pm reservation on a Thursday. We tried to book about a week before the day we planned to visit and almost no table was available.
Only later i found out that several celebrities, including the Real Madrid footballer Marcelo and the singer Rosalia visited the place, so that might have added to the fuss. Traditional Tapas and Spanish cuisine with a modern twist to keep you on your toes. So all in all, I went there fully prepared to eat at one of the best tapas restaurants in Madrid.
Location/Environment
It’s set up in a vibrant street in Malasaña neighborhood and from the outside, it looks like a traditional Spanish tapas restaurant. The inside is a bit more modern, but you still get the same tapas bar vibe with the traditional painted tiles, the small tables, and the barra setup.
Service
Overall the service was very good and the waiters were attentive and ready to explain the dishes, allergens etc. There was also a good pace between the different dishes and there were no delays even though the restaurant had a lot of customers during lunch.
Menu
The menu is in a format that gives the illusion of a handwritten paper, enhancing the traditional tapas vibe. While several traditional Spanish dishes are on the menu, there are also many dishes with a twist, such as the huevos rotos combined with gambas al ajillo. This dish practically combines 2 Spanish classic dishes, potatoes with eggs and garlic shrimp. More to come on that.
Food
We opted for some gildas as a starter. Gildas are mini skewers that usually include olives, other pickled vegetables, and small cured fish such as anchovies. Gildas are tangy and vinegary, which makes them the perfect side dish for beer (perfect in a sense that makes you want to drink more). Casa Macareno serves them with potato chips underneath, which is also common in some tapas bars. This method is genius, as the chips absorb the fish’s vinegar and oils, making them even more delicious. While everything was set up properly, I have to say that for some reason I found the gildas bitter and not in the way they typically taste because of the vinegar.
The next dish was another classic, patatas bravas. The potatoes were crispy on the outside and, fluffy on the inside without being oily. The toppings were an aioli type of mayo sauce, which was creamy and rich, together with a sweet tomato-based sauce. You could taste the spice from the paprika in every bite and everything complemented the other elements perfectly. Full points for this dish.
The croquetas with the jamon and truffle were crispy and fluffy, but i think that the filling was only relying on the jamon for saltines, so I found it slightly underseasoned. The filling had large jamon bites (compared to other croquetas in which everything in the filling has the same creamy consistency), so it comes down to a personal preference if you enjoy the texture this way.
Huevos rotos with gambas al ajillo, was one of my favourites. The fries were crispy and the dish was improved with the mix of the creamy yolk and the garlicky sauce. The shrimp was cooked well, the garlic pieces were completely soft and sweet. Well-thought-out dish as all the ingredients ultimately fit well together. Rightly one of the most famous dishes of Casa Macareno.
The solomillo (sirloin) comes with french fries, red peppers, and fried padron peppers. The solomillo was well seasoned, flavorful, and with a nice mustard sauce. My only issue and it’s an important one, was that the meat was undercooked. It came to the table almost rare and slightly cold in the middle. Not the typical medium that you would expect to see if there is no indication about the cooking on the menu or from the person taking your order. The other elements of the dish were fine, but I cannot overlook that it wasn’t cooked properly.
Conclusion
The portions were large and we felt full when we left, so this experience was value for money.
However considering all the hype, I cannot say that all the dishes met my expectations or that this was the best Spanish cuisine i tried so far in Spain. I would visit Casa Macareno again to give it another chance and taste some other dishes as well.
Visit: February 2024
Address: Calle San Vicente Ferrer 44, Centro, 28004, Madrid
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