It's hip to be square
Basics
This restaurant has closed. Tia Candela is now open in the same location.
Website for sister restaurant, La Cabreira.
Per Person
Half a dozen shared plates, beer half bottle of ribeira. €24
In Short
Hopes? Some authentic stuff
eality? Expectations satisfied.
First Impressions? Busy but not full by 9pm. Good atmosphere.
A USP? Authenticity around Dos de Mayo.
The food in three words? Tasty. Sizeable. Satisfying.
Can they get the staff? Only three on, but they worked their socks off in a packed restaurant.
Service with a smile? Excellent observation skills and almost mind-reading from our server.
Would you take your friends?Certainly recommended if you've got visitors.
Rating for a dating? Much too rumbustious for canoodling.
Tip? Small one.
Change one thing? Shortage of attention to detail. No chupitos offered. It cut the tip back.
Going back? Yes. It's good stuff.
Compare & Contrast
Nearby, also authentic but there's a shorter menu and it's a mite cheaper at El Rincon.
In Pictures
On Google Images
In Depth
There's a video on Youtube. It's called The Invasion of the Square plates. The point? When it was made, Malasaña was losing its traditional bars. Menu del dia/set menu for 10 Euro, that sort of thing. Blokes in white shirts and black trousers behind a glass-topped display full of tapas awaiting shovelling out. And it's true. You have to work hard to find stainless steel and formica these days for daytime eating.
There's no formica or steel here, but at least the food gives you a taste, slightly smartened up, of how they used to live. There are two Cabreiras. We were on the terrace earlier in the year. Tonight, we're inside down the hill from the vintage Velarde jungle.
As ever the potatoes, with a marvellous parsley oil and vinegar drssing are a treat to be made the most of. A smidge more salt might suit some tastes, but for all tastes they are the way to start and may make their way on to the recommended list, we think.
We were on a largely meat-based agenda tonight, but kicked on with an excellent plate of clams with a parsley/white wine sauce. Bread and shells were essential tools for sauce moppage here. We mopped till we dropped.
So, next up?
Ham croquettas. Nine little bechamel balls. Sadly not quite up to standard, these. You need a touch of the homemade or very fresh and tasty, What we got looked just too perfect to be homemade and were just too bland. Not bad, but just not interesting.
We finished off with the meat course. A thick and well cooked entrecot, which we asked for welldone. By local standards that's exactly how it came, with a smidge of pink running through it. Well cooked, with a fair side of potatoes, but no peppers, which while not on the menu were within our expectations.
No desserts tonight, simply as the night was getting on and we had a party tired after a long day. A couple of beers and two bottles of red.
Service was impressively watchful and with it, with a knowing nod from our server when she twigged I was after the biggest beer going for the Brit with us. Things were lively in this popular place. A birthday party, complete with negligee gifts was going on behind us. There was nary a non-Iberian in the place. Made for a terrific atmosphere for our visitors ("This is the liveliest place we've been in four countries in the last three weeks!")
A good combination of dishes, one misstep aside, well up to the standard of our previous visit to the terrace round the corner earlier in the year. A terrific atmosphere. Reliable service.
One to try.
Basics
This restaurant has closed. Tia Candela is now open in the same location.
Website for sister restaurant, La Cabreira.
Per Person
Half a dozen shared plates, beer half bottle of ribeira. €24
In Short
Hopes? Some authentic stuff
eality? Expectations satisfied.
First Impressions? Busy but not full by 9pm. Good atmosphere.
A USP? Authenticity around Dos de Mayo.
The food in three words? Tasty. Sizeable. Satisfying.
Can they get the staff? Only three on, but they worked their socks off in a packed restaurant.
Service with a smile? Excellent observation skills and almost mind-reading from our server.
Would you take your friends?Certainly recommended if you've got visitors.
Rating for a dating? Much too rumbustious for canoodling.
Tip? Small one.
Change one thing? Shortage of attention to detail. No chupitos offered. It cut the tip back.
Going back? Yes. It's good stuff.
Compare & Contrast
Nearby, also authentic but there's a shorter menu and it's a mite cheaper at El Rincon.
In Pictures
On Google Images
In Depth
There's a video on Youtube. It's called The Invasion of the Square plates. The point? When it was made, Malasaña was losing its traditional bars. Menu del dia/set menu for 10 Euro, that sort of thing. Blokes in white shirts and black trousers behind a glass-topped display full of tapas awaiting shovelling out. And it's true. You have to work hard to find stainless steel and formica these days for daytime eating.
There's no formica or steel here, but at least the food gives you a taste, slightly smartened up, of how they used to live. There are two Cabreiras. We were on the terrace earlier in the year. Tonight, we're inside down the hill from the vintage Velarde jungle.
As ever the potatoes, with a marvellous parsley oil and vinegar drssing are a treat to be made the most of. A smidge more salt might suit some tastes, but for all tastes they are the way to start and may make their way on to the recommended list, we think.
We were on a largely meat-based agenda tonight, but kicked on with an excellent plate of clams with a parsley/white wine sauce. Bread and shells were essential tools for sauce moppage here. We mopped till we dropped.
So, next up?
Ham croquettas. Nine little bechamel balls. Sadly not quite up to standard, these. You need a touch of the homemade or very fresh and tasty, What we got looked just too perfect to be homemade and were just too bland. Not bad, but just not interesting.
We finished off with the meat course. A thick and well cooked entrecot, which we asked for welldone. By local standards that's exactly how it came, with a smidge of pink running through it. Well cooked, with a fair side of potatoes, but no peppers, which while not on the menu were within our expectations.
No desserts tonight, simply as the night was getting on and we had a party tired after a long day. A couple of beers and two bottles of red.
Service was impressively watchful and with it, with a knowing nod from our server when she twigged I was after the biggest beer going for the Brit with us. Things were lively in this popular place. A birthday party, complete with negligee gifts was going on behind us. There was nary a non-Iberian in the place. Made for a terrific atmosphere for our visitors ("This is the liveliest place we've been in four countries in the last three weeks!")
A good combination of dishes, one misstep aside, well up to the standard of our previous visit to the terrace round the corner earlier in the year. A terrific atmosphere. Reliable service.
One to try.