Born (again) on the Bayou
Basics
Location
On the net
Per Person
€28-35 Starter, main, shared dessert, wine.
El Tenedor offers may be available at various times.
Reservations at weekends essential, when tables are available for around two hours.
In Short
Hopes?
Reality?
First Impressions? Exposed brick, simple decor.
A USP? The best Cajun food in Madrid. So we'll take a gamble and say the best in Spain.
The food in three words? Real New Orleans.
Can they get the staff? Loads of them. Personal chat from the Patron.
Service with a smile? Very very good.
Would you take your friends? Absolutely.
Rating for a dating? Best you know something of the cuisine, but yes, it could be a goer.
Tip? Yep.
Change one thing? Slightly lower lighting could enhance the atmo.
Compare and Contrast
Different cuisine, similar sensibilities at Havana Blues.
In Pictures
On Google Images
ETA: Edited to add
We said we'd be back. In October 2018 a return visit found the service still at as high a standard as last time. Excitingly, there are new monthly specials. The addition of a certain reptile's meat to the menu gave me the chance to fulfil the dream of a lifetime, with the immortal words "I'll have the crocodile burger, but make it snappy!"
Very pleasingly, emailing in advance, we were able to order a vegetarian Jambalaya and extend the Trikki experience beyond the omnivorous. A cheesecake was a new dessert discovery - acidic, creamy it tastes - and looks - nothing like you might expect, and demands trying.
Exploration of the cocktail menu saw two of us tackle the Himalaya. It scaled the heights. There seemed to be more than two people drinking, as, in all its pinkness, it went down like an avalanche. They ordered a second one. Who can ask for better than that?
We should mention those table time limits too. We're not fans of these as a rule, but credit here as we didn't have any sense of hurry or rush, proving of the service is professional, it's a system that can work well.
Simply, praise was universal from our little group.
In Depth: Original Visit
We are very happy. Find a better restaurant than this in Madrid and we'll buy you a balloon. Trikki's been open a year and a bit. It serves 90% Cajun 10% Venezulan food and you should go.
Many places in Madrid offer dishes supposedly from New Orleans. Expect not much other than half a dozen chicken wings in Jack Daniels barbecue sauce. Few, perhaps only this one, accept that to do New Orleans food justice you have to scare the horses. Take no prisoners. Frighten lovers of the bland. Leave the bottles of JDBS in the cupboard, this is serious.
There is no option. We must borrow from five great thinkers of times' past. There is no option, frankly, but slam it to the left aaaaannnnd:
Spice up your life!
Trikki does. Blimey it does. You will have to shake it to the right. Cautiously. Because after dinner here, you will indeed feel fine. And very, very full.
We kicked off with Fried Green Tomatoes, aka Veggie Spice. Three tommies. Deep fried in cayenne flour with a creamy thing on top, and loads of thyme. Positively thymey-wimey, in fact. You'll want to take your time, anyway. Excellent stuff. Thyme to move on though.
It's time for Gumbo, aka Soupy Spice. Not for the faint-hearted, this. It's hot. And it's hot. A delicious, spiced soup-stew. Chicken and sausage lurk in the depths with the occasional prawn amongst the rice. This is an utter triumph and is instantly h:m recommended. Strongly spiced, immensely tasty it could only be home made.
Aaaand Jamabalaya. Say hello to Ricey Spice. Bowled over already we were slightly wrong-footed by the all-time Cajun classic simply as the gumbo is so intensely flavoured it took a while for our palates to clear enough to appreciate it. Similar main ingredients but with a tomato sauce this time. Once the gumbo had cleared we were delighted. Excellent.
And lastly a po'boy. It's Loafy Spice. This is a giant filled baguette/submarine. Stewed sweet beef, guacomole, a load of grated cheese and some excellent bread. This was plan B when a dish we're already planning on going back for wasn't available. An ideal lunch, it wouldn't be our Saturday night dinner material under normal circumstances as it is immensely filling and pretty much enough for two, on its own. Plaudits for their taking the time to find soft-crunchy bread that exactly matched their needs.The least spiced dish on the menu tonight, we'd have happily had some tabasco or similar to season it.
But there's more. We're off to Venezuela for a dessert. Apparently, the boss's Venezuelan partner is allowed 10% of the menu, so - to Caracas. A spongey pudding! cake, which wins thanks to a load of lime zest which lightens it brilliantly.
We are impressed. Recommended without hesitation.
Basics
Location
On the net
Per Person
€28-35 Starter, main, shared dessert, wine.
El Tenedor offers may be available at various times.
Reservations at weekends essential, when tables are available for around two hours.
In Short
Hopes?
A USP? The best Cajun food in Madrid. So we'll take a gamble and say the best in Spain.
The food in three words? Real New Orleans.
Can they get the staff? Loads of them. Personal chat from the Patron.
Service with a smile? Very very good.
Would you take your friends? Absolutely.
Rating for a dating? Best you know something of the cuisine, but yes, it could be a goer.
Tip? Yep.
Change one thing? Slightly lower lighting could enhance the atmo.
Going back?
Compare and Contrast
Different cuisine, similar sensibilities at Havana Blues.
In Pictures
On Google Images
ETA: Edited to add
We said we'd be back. In October 2018 a return visit found the service still at as high a standard as last time. Excitingly, there are new monthly specials. The addition of a certain reptile's meat to the menu gave me the chance to fulfil the dream of a lifetime, with the immortal words "I'll have the crocodile burger, but make it snappy!"
Very pleasingly, emailing in advance, we were able to order a vegetarian Jambalaya and extend the Trikki experience beyond the omnivorous. A cheesecake was a new dessert discovery - acidic, creamy it tastes - and looks - nothing like you might expect, and demands trying.
Exploration of the cocktail menu saw two of us tackle the Himalaya. It scaled the heights. There seemed to be more than two people drinking, as, in all its pinkness, it went down like an avalanche. They ordered a second one. Who can ask for better than that?
We should mention those table time limits too. We're not fans of these as a rule, but credit here as we didn't have any sense of hurry or rush, proving of the service is professional, it's a system that can work well.
Simply, praise was universal from our little group.
In Depth: Original Visit
We are very happy. Find a better restaurant than this in Madrid and we'll buy you a balloon. Trikki's been open a year and a bit. It serves 90% Cajun 10% Venezulan food and you should go.
Many places in Madrid offer dishes supposedly from New Orleans. Expect not much other than half a dozen chicken wings in Jack Daniels barbecue sauce. Few, perhaps only this one, accept that to do New Orleans food justice you have to scare the horses. Take no prisoners. Frighten lovers of the bland. Leave the bottles of JDBS in the cupboard, this is serious.
There is no option. We must borrow from five great thinkers of times' past. There is no option, frankly, but slam it to the left aaaaannnnd:
Spice up your life!
Trikki does. Blimey it does. You will have to shake it to the right. Cautiously. Because after dinner here, you will indeed feel fine. And very, very full.
We kicked off with Fried Green Tomatoes, aka Veggie Spice. Three tommies. Deep fried in cayenne flour with a creamy thing on top, and loads of thyme. Positively thymey-wimey, in fact. You'll want to take your time, anyway. Excellent stuff. Thyme to move on though.
It's time for Gumbo, aka Soupy Spice. Not for the faint-hearted, this. It's hot. And it's hot. A delicious, spiced soup-stew. Chicken and sausage lurk in the depths with the occasional prawn amongst the rice. This is an utter triumph and is instantly h:m recommended. Strongly spiced, immensely tasty it could only be home made.
Aaaand Jamabalaya. Say hello to Ricey Spice. Bowled over already we were slightly wrong-footed by the all-time Cajun classic simply as the gumbo is so intensely flavoured it took a while for our palates to clear enough to appreciate it. Similar main ingredients but with a tomato sauce this time. Once the gumbo had cleared we were delighted. Excellent.
And lastly a po'boy. It's Loafy Spice. This is a giant filled baguette/submarine. Stewed sweet beef, guacomole, a load of grated cheese and some excellent bread. This was plan B when a dish we're already planning on going back for wasn't available. An ideal lunch, it wouldn't be our Saturday night dinner material under normal circumstances as it is immensely filling and pretty much enough for two, on its own. Plaudits for their taking the time to find soft-crunchy bread that exactly matched their needs.The least spiced dish on the menu tonight, we'd have happily had some tabasco or similar to season it.
But there's more. We're off to Venezuela for a dessert. Apparently, the boss's Venezuelan partner is allowed 10% of the menu, so - to Caracas. A spongey pudding! cake, which wins thanks to a load of lime zest which lightens it brilliantly.
Caveats? We're going to repeat. To get the absolute most from a visit, you need to like spice. There's no compromise here which is, as the boss explained, the whole point. Vegetarians could certainly navigate a great dinner, but many of the signature dishes are, by definition, meaty. They've searched out ingredients that fit what they want to do. They employ loads of people to get the details right. They care.
We are impressed. Recommended without hesitation.