Where the streets have one name
Taberna Sacromonte
Website http://tabernasacromonte.blogspot.com/
Access Step free
In Short
First Impressions. Corner shop chic.
USP? Andaluz-Asian Fusion. Seriously.
Service! Spot on. With help from the customers!
Friend friendly? Spanish classics and so on. Navigable.
Rating for dating. Lots to try and talk about. Would be a memorable experience.
Revisitability. Potential, yes.
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
Well here's an interesting one. Easily walkpastable, as from the street it looks more cornershop than bar. Shelves in the windows are loaded with the usual suspects - wines, olives, gherkins and all - for sale, but inside's a bustling interior full of enthusiastic locals, blackboards with long lists of offerings and hard-working, extremely welcoming staff.
Two beers arrived in seconds and we were able comandeer a table by dint of being in the right place at the right time. A decent tapa of vegetable rice did its job, leaving us curious for more. Cue a scan of the walls and, behold, a blackboard with a potato dish highlighted.
And here it is. Gosh. Well, it got a hearty recommendation from the friendly customer who passed it to us from the bar, so let's see. Baked potato halves with pureed tomato plus ham surrounding a quail's egg? With a vinegary salad/salsa on the side? Whatever we think of it - our thoughts coming in a sec - it's surely unique and you'll have to try to know if it works for you.
Sad to say, much as we enjoted the tone, atmosphere and style of Sacromonte, we really have to call this dish a misfire. If you think it looks odd, wait till you get to the flavours. There's a reason tomato puree and baked potato aren't put together much. Partly because it's a pretty odd taste combination, partly because it's not a texture I want to repeat in a hurry. It's just too much mush. Add the egg yolk and it ends up textureless and bland. You're left with mouthfuls of chewy ham to process. Attempting to cut through that with a vinegar-based salsa is a flavour misstep for us of colossal proportions. Like adding lime juice to cocido or soy sauce to hummus. It's not a goer for our palates.
Saving grace? One of us liked the salsa on its own, the other couldn't separate it from the starchiness of the potatoey side.
There are other things to investigate and intriguing ideas, mixing local Usera - i.e. increasingly oriental - concepts with the owners' - Andalucian - heritage. Experimentation like that is worth investigating, of course, so we'd willing try more. But the potato's not for us.
Los Asturianos
Not on the net.
Access Step free
In Short
First Impressions. Local bar for local people.
USP? Food as fresh fried as it comes.
Service! A little wary at first, but warmed up.
Friend friendly? You're probably going to be on the cabrales or bravas.
Rating for dating. For authenticity, very high.
Revisitability. For food quality, very good.
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
When you're in a new neighbourhood, random side streets can reap rewards. We picked Calle de Isabelita Usera to get us to Sacromonte and made a discovery in the process.
Oh, yes. All those Useras. Factoid time:
An initially slightly standoffish server warmed up a bit when we ordered some torreznos/pork scratchings and a - pretty generous - plate of buñuelos de bacalao/deep fried cod chunks came our way. They might have come anyway - who's to know?
Social niceties aside, the quality is excellent, with a hard working cook in the kitchen turning out serving dishes at regular intervals. The free tapas are much the same size as the ones you pay for. Our cod was fresh, crispy and with a hint of herb int he light batter. The torreznos were well up to standard too. Tooth picks recommended though, always.
Entirely full of locals, we counted one non-Spanish native speaker in the whole place during our visit. Me. The only anglophone in the village. Los Asturianos is genuine find, and worth seeking out down one of those side streets for a bit of proper, undiluted authentic Madrid that deserves trying and celebrating while it's still to be found. What else might be there to discover?
Taberna Sacromonte
Website http://tabernasacromonte.blogspot.com/
Access Step free
In Short
First Impressions. Corner shop chic.
USP? Andaluz-Asian Fusion. Seriously.
Service! Spot on. With help from the customers!
Friend friendly? Spanish classics and so on. Navigable.
Rating for dating. Lots to try and talk about. Would be a memorable experience.
Revisitability. Potential, yes.
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
Well here's an interesting one. Easily walkpastable, as from the street it looks more cornershop than bar. Shelves in the windows are loaded with the usual suspects - wines, olives, gherkins and all - for sale, but inside's a bustling interior full of enthusiastic locals, blackboards with long lists of offerings and hard-working, extremely welcoming staff.
Two beers arrived in seconds and we were able comandeer a table by dint of being in the right place at the right time. A decent tapa of vegetable rice did its job, leaving us curious for more. Cue a scan of the walls and, behold, a blackboard with a potato dish highlighted.
Sad to say, much as we enjoted the tone, atmosphere and style of Sacromonte, we really have to call this dish a misfire. If you think it looks odd, wait till you get to the flavours. There's a reason tomato puree and baked potato aren't put together much. Partly because it's a pretty odd taste combination, partly because it's not a texture I want to repeat in a hurry. It's just too much mush. Add the egg yolk and it ends up textureless and bland. You're left with mouthfuls of chewy ham to process. Attempting to cut through that with a vinegar-based salsa is a flavour misstep for us of colossal proportions. Like adding lime juice to cocido or soy sauce to hummus. It's not a goer for our palates.
Saving grace? One of us liked the salsa on its own, the other couldn't separate it from the starchiness of the potatoey side.
There are other things to investigate and intriguing ideas, mixing local Usera - i.e. increasingly oriental - concepts with the owners' - Andalucian - heritage. Experimentation like that is worth investigating, of course, so we'd willing try more. But the potato's not for us.
Los Asturianos
Not on the net.
Access Step free
In Short
First Impressions. Local bar for local people.
USP? Food as fresh fried as it comes.
Service! A little wary at first, but warmed up.
Friend friendly? You're probably going to be on the cabrales or bravas.
Rating for dating. For authenticity, very high.
Revisitability. For food quality, very good.
On Google Images
What's the story?
When you're in a new neighbourhood, random side streets can reap rewards. We picked Calle de Isabelita Usera to get us to Sacromonte and made a discovery in the process.
Oh, yes. All those Useras. Factoid time:
Little bit of historyTMSo Los Asturianos. A geuine sidreria this, with loads of ciders and the draught as readily on tap as your standard beers. The counter top is decked out with tapas, one of which will almost certainly arrive in the traditional Madrid way: included with your drink.
Contrary to my guess, apparently the district isn't named to commemorate its ex-owner. It's actually named after all those So-and-so Usera streets. Now, they are named for the Usera family, but it's not as simple as it might appear. When it was laid out in the 1920s, the administrator picked names from the family - and, interestingly, domestic staff - of one Colonel Marcos Usera. He was (deep breath) the husband of the daughter of the farmer who'd previously run the land. So it's named after the streets named after the family of the son in law of the previous owner. Hope you followed all those possessives. We now return you to our usual programme...
An initially slightly standoffish server warmed up a bit when we ordered some torreznos/pork scratchings and a - pretty generous - plate of buñuelos de bacalao/deep fried cod chunks came our way. They might have come anyway - who's to know?
Entirely full of locals, we counted one non-Spanish native speaker in the whole place during our visit. Me. The only anglophone in the village. Los Asturianos is genuine find, and worth seeking out down one of those side streets for a bit of proper, undiluted authentic Madrid that deserves trying and celebrating while it's still to be found. What else might be there to discover?