Smile, please.
Pro Entirely authentic central Madrid lunch.
Con Entirely authentic central Madrid service.
Pay
€€
Per Person Menu del dia €14.50. A la carte €20-25. Gratis: chupito
Find
Website Not on the net.
Access Step free.
In Short
Hopes? A menu del dia that Granny would approve of.
Reality? Food mostly does what it has to.
First Impressions? It's clean and smart-looking inside.
A USP? Local.
The food in three words? Menus del dia.
Can they get the staff? Efficient and timely.
Service with a smile? Not a hope. No engagement.
Friend friendly? Potato, asparagus and omelette land.
Rating for dating? Nope.
Tip? 5%
Change one thing? A spark of personality.
Going back? Not likely.
Compare & Contrast
Menu del dia and some ready waiter wit at Casa Valiño.
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
Gentrification.Whassit mean?
More bicycles. More coffee shops. More people with maps, lost on street corners. Bye bye local shops for locals. And the people to use them. As the coffee shops expand and artesan specialist lobster restaurants (yes really) open, it means fewer places Granny might eat. So our task for this Saturday? Find a third-age friendly menu del dia in Malasaña. In August. Thomas Mapother IV might call this Mission: A bit tricky.
But stand up, Restaurante Padron. Open, it seems, all hours.
We had two menu del dias and some a la carte stuff. Starters kicked off with an entirely standard mixed salad, decent-sized but suffering from the curse of modern menus: Balsamic. It's like an infamous villain, destroying all hope the world over and identified by one name only. Like Joker. Dracula. Or, well, you know. And like you know, it's often called an acquired taste. Yep. The euphemism for utterly horrible on its own and little better when diluted.
The asparagus came green, char-grilled. Sadly, the emphasis was on the charred. We like crunch with our caramelisation, but this had had 30 seconds too long. And, yes, the salad garnish had been balsamicked beyond tolerance. What's wrong with white wine vinegar, oil and salt?
Advice corner: Newcomers, try lacon a la gallega, our a la carte starter choice, as an alternative to the octopus version if you're doubtful. Done right, Madrid lacon's got two ingredients - potatoes aren't the norm in the ones we've had in the North - and three condiments (including the oil drizzle), and is instantly addictive. The boiled spuds make a good texture and flavour contrast to the deeply meaty lacon and sweetish paprika/pimentón. Be sure to share and have bread to hand to make the most of the oil and remains on the plate.
Padron gets this dead right. Lots of freshly carved meat pieces (no pre-cut slices), a couple of good-sized potatoes. Simply, this is how it should be done. Very good.
Menu mains were a pair of classics. So for today's competition, it's Spot the difference! Got it? The first brown and yellowy one's meat, the other, fish. A little bit of green might help....
So first up, a cachopo. A dish hardly anyone had even heard of a few years ago, this deep-fried steak-ham-cheese combination is everywhere now, but why is an utter mystery to me. I defy anyone to eat the whole thing anywhere as it's heavy and incredibly filling. It also instantly falls to bits as the crumb coating comes away. I just can't get on with it, so am not a good judge of it. On this one, I can say the minute steak was chewier than I'd like.
The near-identical twin, is in fact a decent slab of hake with an excellent classic sauce. Rich and fishy, it felt like someone had boiled up the bones for the stock for it. Well up the standard set by the lacon, at this price, it's excellent value. The fish was cooked through well, flaking perfectly. Easily the best of the three mains.
Our third was a 250-odd gram entrecot, just right medium rare/al punto. Not the highest quality meat in town as too many grams were fat not meat, but just about worth the €16, a la carte. Chips and pimientos de padron came on the side but...
Pro Entirely authentic central Madrid lunch.
Con Entirely authentic central Madrid service.
Pay
€€
Per Person Menu del dia €14.50. A la carte €20-25. Gratis: chupito
Find
Website Not on the net.
Access Step free.
In Short
Hopes? A menu del dia that Granny would approve of.
Reality? Food mostly does what it has to.
First Impressions? It's clean and smart-looking inside.
A USP? Local.
The food in three words? Menus del dia.
Can they get the staff? Efficient and timely.
Service with a smile? Not a hope. No engagement.
Friend friendly? Potato, asparagus and omelette land.
Rating for dating? Nope.
Tip? 5%
Change one thing? A spark of personality.
Going back? Not likely.
Compare & Contrast
Menu del dia and some ready waiter wit at Casa Valiño.
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
Gentrification.Whassit mean?
More bicycles. More coffee shops. More people with maps, lost on street corners. Bye bye local shops for locals. And the people to use them. As the coffee shops expand and artesan specialist lobster restaurants (yes really) open, it means fewer places Granny might eat. So our task for this Saturday? Find a third-age friendly menu del dia in Malasaña. In August. Thomas Mapother IV might call this Mission: A bit tricky.
But stand up, Restaurante Padron. Open, it seems, all hours.
We had two menu del dias and some a la carte stuff. Starters kicked off with an entirely standard mixed salad, decent-sized but suffering from the curse of modern menus: Balsamic. It's like an infamous villain, destroying all hope the world over and identified by one name only. Like Joker. Dracula. Or, well, you know. And like you know, it's often called an acquired taste. Yep. The euphemism for utterly horrible on its own and little better when diluted.
The asparagus came green, char-grilled. Sadly, the emphasis was on the charred. We like crunch with our caramelisation, but this had had 30 seconds too long. And, yes, the salad garnish had been balsamicked beyond tolerance. What's wrong with white wine vinegar, oil and salt?
Advice corner: Newcomers, try lacon a la gallega, our a la carte starter choice, as an alternative to the octopus version if you're doubtful. Done right, Madrid lacon's got two ingredients - potatoes aren't the norm in the ones we've had in the North - and three condiments (including the oil drizzle), and is instantly addictive. The boiled spuds make a good texture and flavour contrast to the deeply meaty lacon and sweetish paprika/pimentón. Be sure to share and have bread to hand to make the most of the oil and remains on the plate.
Padron gets this dead right. Lots of freshly carved meat pieces (no pre-cut slices), a couple of good-sized potatoes. Simply, this is how it should be done. Very good.
Menu mains were a pair of classics. So for today's competition, it's Spot the difference! Got it? The first brown and yellowy one's meat, the other, fish. A little bit of green might help....
So first up, a cachopo. A dish hardly anyone had even heard of a few years ago, this deep-fried steak-ham-cheese combination is everywhere now, but why is an utter mystery to me. I defy anyone to eat the whole thing anywhere as it's heavy and incredibly filling. It also instantly falls to bits as the crumb coating comes away. I just can't get on with it, so am not a good judge of it. On this one, I can say the minute steak was chewier than I'd like.
The near-identical twin, is in fact a decent slab of hake with an excellent classic sauce. Rich and fishy, it felt like someone had boiled up the bones for the stock for it. Well up the standard set by the lacon, at this price, it's excellent value. The fish was cooked through well, flaking perfectly. Easily the best of the three mains.
Our third was a 250-odd gram entrecot, just right medium rare/al punto. Not the highest quality meat in town as too many grams were fat not meat, but just about worth the €16, a la carte. Chips and pimientos de padron came on the side but...
Where's the hot pimento?
Someone's made them all disappear.
Desserts. Almost certainly mass-made Tarta de Santiago (not offered with alcohol as some places will if you ask very nicely) and decent homemade pudding! finished things off well. And there was the offer chupito,which is what you're supposed to get in Madrid, where ever you go. So no extra points for one small one per person.
The atmosphere's entirely authentically Madrileño, too. But, think Paisley. It's a Sign of the Times. The menu's bilingual. This didn't used to happen in Noviciado. But then, there didn't use to be a Rodilla, a proposed Tim Horton's or an Amish market, either. So, wise choice, Padron. Best not to get left behind.
There's an impressively mixed clientele: young(ish) couples not having brunch; singletons on tablets (and maybe tablets); Granny and Grandad with a child and an in-law making the most of cilunary authenticity. Mind you, service is old-school authentic too, which is not something to put up the flags about. The staff were entirely uninterested in engaging. If you care about getting locals to want to come back, it's worth investing. What does a smile cost? Future revisits, that's what.
So, in too many senses, a traditional authentic Madrid experience. Not actively bad by any means, but you're unlikely to love it, as Padron simply doesn't love you.
Desserts. Almost certainly mass-made Tarta de Santiago (not offered with alcohol as some places will if you ask very nicely) and decent homemade pudding! finished things off well. And there was the offer chupito,which is what you're supposed to get in Madrid, where ever you go. So no extra points for one small one per person.
The atmosphere's entirely authentically Madrileño, too. But, think Paisley. It's a Sign of the Times. The menu's bilingual. This didn't used to happen in Noviciado. But then, there didn't use to be a Rodilla, a proposed Tim Horton's or an Amish market, either. So, wise choice, Padron. Best not to get left behind.
There's an impressively mixed clientele: young(ish) couples not having brunch; singletons on tablets (and maybe tablets); Granny and Grandad with a child and an in-law making the most of cilunary authenticity. Mind you, service is old-school authentic too, which is not something to put up the flags about. The staff were entirely uninterested in engaging. If you care about getting locals to want to come back, it's worth investing. What does a smile cost? Future revisits, that's what.
So, in too many senses, a traditional authentic Madrid experience. Not actively bad by any means, but you're unlikely to love it, as Padron simply doesn't love you.