Quod Erat Demonstrandum
Bill
€€
Per Person
2017: 1 Starter and 2 desserts between 3. Pizza and 2 beers each. €18
2018: 1 Starter and 2 desserts between 3. Pizza and bottle of rosé. €23. Gratis: aperitif and limoncello. Booking evenings necessary.
Location
Website On the net
Access: Stepfree
In Short
Hopes? Does the evening deal match the lunch menu?
Reality? Food wise, complete success.
First Impressions? Italiano. Smart-eclectic. It's a thing now.
A USP? Authentic Italian at a great price.
The food in three words? Modern and classic.
Can they get the staff? 2017: Enough of them. 2018: One dedicated server in the back room.-
Service with a smile? 2017: Disappointingly impersonal. 2018: Warmed up a bit, chef dealt with an issue personally.
Would you take your friends? I would.
Rating for dating? 2017: Not bad, you'd think, if a bit bustling maybe. 2018: Backroom's too noisy with groups in. Aircon is now in operation in the front dining area.
Tip? About 8%
Change one thing? 2017: Something's stifling the staff mood. 2018: Easy going this time round.
Going back? Yes.
In Pictures
On Google Images
Update, 2018
Click here for 2017 comments.
June 2018 we returned to Menomale for an impromptu dinner.
We're recommending the burrata with tomato jam. The closest thing I can think of to a savoury ice-cream type texture. Delicious, refreshing, light. Absolutely ideal for summer.
The calzone's an excellent pizza, although you might have to navigate some liquid from the tomato, but as you're getting loads of sauce, in a quality that's still not the norm in many Madrid pizza places, that's not a complaint. We had to ask for a replacement for our first order, but the chef was commendably upfront and apologetic about it, the replacement arrived very quickly and the cloud of steam that escaped from spectacularly thin-crusted Calzone 2.0 was a sight to see.
The other pizzas remain excellent and, whilst not the thinnest going, it's probably the best doughy base we've had outside Italy. We recommend controlling starter selection as you'll end up not finishing your main courses otherwise.
Tiramisu too feels like you should be sitting in a trattoria in Trento. Or a ristorante in Rimini. Or a bar in Bari. Look, it's proper Italian, capisce?
Limoncello came, courtesy of HK's talent for knowing to ask. Proper sherbet lemony limoncello.
So, look - take a trip. Pronto!
We do a few lunches. One question often comes to us (just behind "Who put the bop in the bopduwop?"). Does the evening experience serve to the same standard? Does it match midday meal expectations? Does a lush lunch mean decent din-dins?
So tonight we enter an undiscovered country. We have a hypothesis to test.
The evidence? A stylish aperitif came first. Crunchy, tuiley things plus hummus. Not the italianest, but it looked lovely and is a fine use of hummus.
The starter did a similar job,doing a decent job of making provolone look good. Sun-dried tomato aided it, and there's a decent dressed salad. Pleased to see balsamic well-used, not sloshed about like lager at a stag do.
You can't ask for much more from a gas-burning oven than Menomale wring out of theirs, producing pizzas that feel authentic. You won't get the blistered crackle - or flavouring - wood can give, so it's in the taste. And here? Flavour to savour. You'd eat this bread with oil and salt alone.
Proper, simple pizza. Not decorated beyond all reason like a North Korean general. We applaud the Sirocco. Just half a dozen slices of boisterous salame and fennel seeds. Cappricciosa, pizza diva as it tends to be, heads toward overdecorated, perhaps there's more cheeese than strictly needed, but it's still a fine effort. They get the tomato right too, which isn't true everywhere in this city. Here, it's a powerful flavour feature, complementing the cheese. Points for chilli oil and pepper, thoughtfully provided without our asking.
We didn't choose a spectacular - spy those Google photos - grilled platter, but have recent experience. They're generous, use excellent, fresh ingredients and are very good indeed. And, we suspect, give good Instagram.
The heft of the pizzas leaves a desert dilemma for a twosome. Luckily, three of us justified a two-dish test. Lemon sorbet and tiramisu were well proportioned for an a la carte menu and - fourth rule, ahoy! - felt perfectly homemade.
The atmosphere's good, with a decent hubbub in Italian as customers come and go. many stopping to chat as they pick up take-outs.
The price was eye-openingly excellent, helped along as we didn't go for vino. When one of your party's off to tramp through rainforests for three months, a final Mahou or two is the least you can do.
So, our - scientifically rigourous - conclusions?
It looks like the hypothesis holds up. That key variable - food - is consistent. Lunch faithfully sells the evening offer. The menu's broad. Your ethical choices or dietary needs get a good selection of dishes. Go. Try it.
But when things are good, details stand out, and here they come.
Service was efficient, but didn't add. The staff didn't look like the time was flying by. Volare? No volere. One showed the odd couple to seats, but mostly sat with a drink, watching the rest. Ancient Italian restaurant clichés? No, per favore. Impressions like that stop people turning that fifth circle green. And well, as they say in Rome, QED
One other note. Pizza ovens in the eating area warm the atmosphere, but do occasionally fill the room with the aroma of scorched crust. Perhaps unavoidable, given the slightly odd layout, but some might need to know.
Bill
€€
Per Person
2017: 1 Starter and 2 desserts between 3. Pizza and 2 beers each. €18
2018: 1 Starter and 2 desserts between 3. Pizza and bottle of rosé. €23. Gratis: aperitif and limoncello. Booking evenings necessary.
Location
Website On the net
Access: Stepfree
In Short
Hopes? Does the evening deal match the lunch menu?
Reality? Food wise, complete success.
First Impressions? Italiano. Smart-eclectic. It's a thing now.
A USP? Authentic Italian at a great price.
The food in three words? Modern and classic.
Can they get the staff? 2017: Enough of them. 2018: One dedicated server in the back room.-
Service with a smile? 2017: Disappointingly impersonal. 2018: Warmed up a bit, chef dealt with an issue personally.
Would you take your friends? I would.
Rating for dating? 2017: Not bad, you'd think, if a bit bustling maybe. 2018: Backroom's too noisy with groups in. Aircon is now in operation in the front dining area.
Tip? About 8%
Change one thing? 2017: Something's stifling the staff mood. 2018: Easy going this time round.
Going back? Yes.
In Pictures
On Google Images
Update, 2018
Click here for 2017 comments.
June 2018 we returned to Menomale for an impromptu dinner.
The calzone's an excellent pizza, although you might have to navigate some liquid from the tomato, but as you're getting loads of sauce, in a quality that's still not the norm in many Madrid pizza places, that's not a complaint. We had to ask for a replacement for our first order, but the chef was commendably upfront and apologetic about it, the replacement arrived very quickly and the cloud of steam that escaped from spectacularly thin-crusted Calzone 2.0 was a sight to see.
The other pizzas remain excellent and, whilst not the thinnest going, it's probably the best doughy base we've had outside Italy. We recommend controlling starter selection as you'll end up not finishing your main courses otherwise.
Tiramisu too feels like you should be sitting in a trattoria in Trento. Or a ristorante in Rimini. Or a bar in Bari. Look, it's proper Italian, capisce?
Limoncello came, courtesy of HK's talent for knowing to ask. Proper sherbet lemony limoncello.
So, look - take a trip. Pronto!
In Depth, 2017
We do a few lunches. One question often comes to us (just behind "Who put the bop in the bopduwop?"). Does the evening experience serve to the same standard? Does it match midday meal expectations? Does a lush lunch mean decent din-dins?
So tonight we enter an undiscovered country. We have a hypothesis to test.
Lunchtime set menus should sell you the proper experience.Read our menu del dia visit in March 2017.
The evidence? A stylish aperitif came first. Crunchy, tuiley things plus hummus. Not the italianest, but it looked lovely and is a fine use of hummus.
The starter did a similar job,doing a decent job of making provolone look good. Sun-dried tomato aided it, and there's a decent dressed salad. Pleased to see balsamic well-used, not sloshed about like lager at a stag do.
You can't ask for much more from a gas-burning oven than Menomale wring out of theirs, producing pizzas that feel authentic. You won't get the blistered crackle - or flavouring - wood can give, so it's in the taste. And here? Flavour to savour. You'd eat this bread with oil and salt alone.
Proper, simple pizza. Not decorated beyond all reason like a North Korean general. We applaud the Sirocco. Just half a dozen slices of boisterous salame and fennel seeds. Cappricciosa, pizza diva as it tends to be, heads toward overdecorated, perhaps there's more cheeese than strictly needed, but it's still a fine effort. They get the tomato right too, which isn't true everywhere in this city. Here, it's a powerful flavour feature, complementing the cheese. Points for chilli oil and pepper, thoughtfully provided without our asking.
We didn't choose a spectacular - spy those Google photos - grilled platter, but have recent experience. They're generous, use excellent, fresh ingredients and are very good indeed. And, we suspect, give good Instagram.
The heft of the pizzas leaves a desert dilemma for a twosome. Luckily, three of us justified a two-dish test. Lemon sorbet and tiramisu were well proportioned for an a la carte menu and - fourth rule, ahoy! - felt perfectly homemade.
The atmosphere's good, with a decent hubbub in Italian as customers come and go. many stopping to chat as they pick up take-outs.
The price was eye-openingly excellent, helped along as we didn't go for vino. When one of your party's off to tramp through rainforests for three months, a final Mahou or two is the least you can do.
It looks like the hypothesis holds up. That key variable - food - is consistent. Lunch faithfully sells the evening offer. The menu's broad. Your ethical choices or dietary needs get a good selection of dishes. Go. Try it.
But when things are good, details stand out, and here they come.
Service was efficient, but didn't add. The staff didn't look like the time was flying by. Volare? No volere. One showed the odd couple to seats, but mostly sat with a drink, watching the rest. Ancient Italian restaurant clichés? No, per favore. Impressions like that stop people turning that fifth circle green. And well, as they say in Rome, QED
One other note. Pizza ovens in the eating area warm the atmosphere, but do occasionally fill the room with the aroma of scorched crust. Perhaps unavoidable, given the slightly odd layout, but some might need to know.