6 of 1
Pro It's a quality offer for the lactose-lover.
Con A couple of details addressed would round out a good experience fully.
Pay
€€
Per Person (Between 3): €19; 6-cheese tasting board, bottle of Bierzo tinto, shared cheesecake.
Find
Website http://www.lacarboneramadrid.com/
Access A step up from the street.
In Short
Hopes. Crackin' cheese!
Reality. Half a dozen genuine, top notch crackers.
First Impressions. Smart, warm welcoming environment, with plenty of table space.
USP? Well curated cheeses at a good price.
The offer in three words. 🐄 🐐 & 🐑
Service! Amiable, informative and efficient. Impressed.
Friend friendly? Within one obvious limit.
Rating for dating. As long as your lactic-tolerant, tonight could be a good, good night.
Tip? 5%
Change one thing? An aperitif would be a welcome welcome.
Revisitability. Pretty good, although I'm also inspired to try my own home-based version.
In Pictures
On Google Images
Compare & Contrast
Brinner at the Arquibar
What's the story?
Be Seeing Ewe
How about a sheeps' cheese washed with cider? Well, we found one at seven o clock on the wheel. excellent stuff. We'll be looking out for it.
Milking it
Matured cow's cheese Comte Sante Antoine is at 10 o clock. The texture of cheddar, but its own distinct flavour, this was excellent. An unusual Spanish blue cheese, inspired apparently by Stilton is on the top right. It certainly reminded us of it. Creamier though.
All six options arrived spot on, temperature wise, with nuts, microherbs, dressed leaves, some spectacular candied orange peel and other fruit and veg goodies. A couple of compotes or chutneys would be worth adding, we think. Indeed, a chutney/preserve tracking/maridaje option could be good. No-one's doing it, as far as we know. Even cracker - or bread - tracking might have potential and would be a fun idea.
Having our cake and eating it
It would have been churlish not to try a suitable sweet, and we seldom churl. A first-rate baked cheesecake, this is simply one of the best we've had. It's rich. It's thick. It's dense-looking. That makes it sound more like a dimwit Primera Liga defender than a rewarding final course, but we enjoyed it a lot and can recommend it readily. Back of the net!
Service was excellent and friendly, up to and including my getting the chance to teach the excellently informed server how to pronounce Comte Sante Antoine wiz a phwopair fwench akhsunt. She was still practising on the way back to the counter. Essential for this type of offer, extra bread arrived in minutes, freshly warmed. A bottle of tinto from the Bierzo washed things down nicely, but needed careful management - a white would have been an interesting choice. Maybe next time.
The interior is very nicely organised, making for comfortable, welcoming surroundings with hints of bric-a-brac, but not tipping into vintage overload. Tables are pleasingly well-spaced and ours, in its own little nook, would be ideal date territory for the tete-a-tete minded.
Coming in at just under €20 a head, the offer can't be classed as full-on value for money, mind. You're paying for considered cheese choices and careful curation. Add the aforementioned chutneys, an apertif and a digestivo and it'd feel a pretty rounded deal, though.
In any event, we're likely to return, as we enjoyed our visit and there's always going to be new finds to try out. Hopefully, La Carbonera will leave you with a happy smile, too. Just don't forget to say cheeeese!
Pro It's a quality offer for the lactose-lover.
Con A couple of details addressed would round out a good experience fully.
Pay
€€
Per Person (Between 3): €19; 6-cheese tasting board, bottle of Bierzo tinto, shared cheesecake.
Find
Website http://www.lacarboneramadrid.com/
Access A step up from the street.
In Short
Hopes. Crackin' cheese!
Reality. Half a dozen genuine, top notch crackers.
First Impressions. Smart, warm welcoming environment, with plenty of table space.
USP? Well curated cheeses at a good price.
The offer in three words. 🐄 🐐 & 🐑
Service! Amiable, informative and efficient. Impressed.
Friend friendly? Within one obvious limit.
Rating for dating. As long as your lactic-tolerant, tonight could be a good, good night.
Tip? 5%
Change one thing? An aperitif would be a welcome welcome.
Revisitability. Pretty good, although I'm also inspired to try my own home-based version.
In Pictures
On Google Images
Compare & Contrast
Brinner at the Arquibar
What's the story?
La Carbonera's menu demands a fair amount of study time as you are spoilt for cheesy choice.
While there are other dishes on the menu, we headed for the main event. There are thirty-ish cheeses on offer, arranged by animal origin. Spanish products unsurprisingly dominate, but we found French and British options also lurking within. We opted for a board of six for our group of three.
While there are other dishes on the menu, we headed for the main event. There are thirty-ish cheeses on offer, arranged by animal origin. Spanish products unsurprisingly dominate, but we found French and British options also lurking within. We opted for a board of six for our group of three.
Good news: six cheeses may not look a massive amount, but they fed a trio of entirely unapologetic cheese enthusiasts who could give Wallace a run for his money. The attractively laid out slate started with a mild cream goats cheese (at 3 o'clock in the photo), getting more intense as we travelled round the clock. Getting more mature as time went on, as it were. If only the same so readily applied to humans. Some highlights?
Be Seeing Ewe
How about a sheeps' cheese washed with cider? Well, we found one at seven o clock on the wheel. excellent stuff. We'll be looking out for it.
Milking it
Matured cow's cheese Comte Sante Antoine is at 10 o clock. The texture of cheddar, but its own distinct flavour, this was excellent. An unusual Spanish blue cheese, inspired apparently by Stilton is on the top right. It certainly reminded us of it. Creamier though.
All six options arrived spot on, temperature wise, with nuts, microherbs, dressed leaves, some spectacular candied orange peel and other fruit and veg goodies. A couple of compotes or chutneys would be worth adding, we think. Indeed, a chutney/preserve tracking/maridaje option could be good. No-one's doing it, as far as we know. Even cracker - or bread - tracking might have potential and would be a fun idea.
It would have been churlish not to try a suitable sweet, and we seldom churl. A first-rate baked cheesecake, this is simply one of the best we've had. It's rich. It's thick. It's dense-looking. That makes it sound more like a dimwit Primera Liga defender than a rewarding final course, but we enjoyed it a lot and can recommend it readily. Back of the net!
Service was excellent and friendly, up to and including my getting the chance to teach the excellently informed server how to pronounce Comte Sante Antoine wiz a phwopair fwench akhsunt. She was still practising on the way back to the counter. Essential for this type of offer, extra bread arrived in minutes, freshly warmed. A bottle of tinto from the Bierzo washed things down nicely, but needed careful management - a white would have been an interesting choice. Maybe next time.
The interior is very nicely organised, making for comfortable, welcoming surroundings with hints of bric-a-brac, but not tipping into vintage overload. Tables are pleasingly well-spaced and ours, in its own little nook, would be ideal date territory for the tete-a-tete minded.
Coming in at just under €20 a head, the offer can't be classed as full-on value for money, mind. You're paying for considered cheese choices and careful curation. Add the aforementioned chutneys, an apertif and a digestivo and it'd feel a pretty rounded deal, though.
In any event, we're likely to return, as we enjoyed our visit and there's always going to be new finds to try out. Hopefully, La Carbonera will leave you with a happy smile, too. Just don't forget to say cheeeese!