After visiting Lisbon, mainly to watch City, I headed off to Madrid to do some food reviews. I’m a massive fan and the city never disappoints me. I did get in rather late (2300h at my hotel), but fortunately Madrid and Spain as a whole is one of the best places and countries anywhere on the planet to eat late. Restaurante Cruz Blanca was a good solid choice and was very conveniently located near my hotel.

My hotel , the Claridge, was a really nice one, rooms were nice, service was outstanding, the price was reasonable, and they really do go the extra mile for you here. if I were to have a gripe, it’d be about the beds being a bit hard, but maybe if I stay again i’ll ask if they have softer mattresses. I didn’t bother with breakfast at all, but in Spain I prefer to go light at breakfast and have a bigger lunch. It has to be said that when the fare on offer at lunch is so good , there’s no need to have a big breakfast unless starting very early. I was more than happy to eat in the bar when I took food at the hotel, and happy to order the most wonderful plates of Jamon Iberia, the world’s best ham , served with pan Cristal , bread with tomato.

It’s really important that the ham is sliced thinly, not as easy as it looks, I tried and failed once to cut it well.

Then the next day onto La Penela, a Galician restaurant in the Salamanca district of Madrid. I really like this restaurant and sometimes go with a large group at an event I attend in August most years. Yes I’ve covered a lot of Galician specialities in my Vigo blogs, but one thing you must try here is the “Tortilla de Betanzos” , a super runny omelette . Baby scallops or Zamburiñas , rosa tomatoes and some superb rare entrecôte made up a great meal. The wine of choice, Abadia Retuerta, is always a good choice and the magnum at €57 was incredibly good value. I’ve seen it priced up at £250 in some UK restaurants.

Rosa tomatoes with some sea salt and olive oil are spectacularly good, I wish I could buy them more regularly in Britain.

A couple of days later , off to review one of the best steakhouses in Madrid. Casa Julian de Tolosa, a 3 restaurant chain , 2 in Madrid and one in Tolosa in the Basque Country. Thick ribeye chops are the house speciality and one of the secrets of such good cooking is to use mature dairy cattle, here Dutch Frisian. A well sourced Manzanilla sherry aperitif ,some complimentary Txistorra (small Basque or Navarran sausages) and a plate of ham, along with the main event . The wine I chose was San Roman from the Toro region , a region which in recent years has exploded onto the scene. The cheaper wines can be a bit too muscular for me, but the more refined ones can be outstanding, and are always my first choice with red meat when in Spain.

As always in Spain, no need to tell them how to cook the meat unless you want it well done

The next evening I was happy to meet up with some Real Madrid supporting Muttonistas, who took me for beer and a few snacks in places they like to frequent, a fascinating conversation about football, Madrid, City, and away trips ensued. Loved their tapas and thought the fried salt cod went well with the Mahou lager we were drinking. I also particularly like the patatas revolcanas , pureed potato with crispy belly pork, along with an excellent rendition of patatas bravas.

I hope to take a few drinks with some Real Madrid supporters pre game next time City play at the Bernabeu

The Final day.

I deliberately chose to take a late flight back to the UK, so I could enjoy a seafood lunch. At the Taberna del Puerto in the Salamanca district. It’s often joked that Madrid is the biggest port in Spain. With the appetite for quality seafood here and fast trains (why oh why can’t we build even 350km of high speed track in the UK) to ship in the seafood, Madrid, is actually one of the best places in Spain to eat seafood dishes. I hadn’t had a raw dish on this trip so I slipped a Steak Tartare onto the table as well.

So back to the UK , some football blogs to come and vlogs from Ireland featuring some absolute creamers! In the meantime , check out the Christmas range in my shop and I’ll see you on the next one Muttonistas!