Mountainous
Pro Portions. Just portions.
Con Menu's not caught up to 21st century diet and lifestyle choices/needs yet.
Pay
€€
Per Person You'll be well fed for less than €20. See text for options.
Find
Website http://www.ventamarcelino.com/
Access Step free to eating area and toilets.
Practicalities
Cercanias C9 from Cercedilla to Cotos is the most accessible public transport way to get up here, although it's not the most reliable service in the world. There's a CRTM bus - 691 - from Moncloa which runs to a weekend-centric timetable scheduled for walkers (and skiers). Whatever the weather in the city, a jumper is wise. It can get breezy in the afternoon at 2000m.
In Short
Hopes. A proper mountain meal.
Reality. When it comes to the food & drink test, it's a mountain pass. Mountain...pass. Joke!
First Impressions. Ski lodge chic. Think cuckoo clocks. Yodelling. Last Christmas I gave you my heart, etc.
USP? Do you need a selling point when you're the only point selling anything?
The offer in three words. Lycra, rucksacks, skis.
Service! Superlative.
Friend friendly? It's a salad and omelette scenario.
Rating for dating. A bit of an epic one.
Tip? Yep.
Change one thing? Seating is very...functional.
Revisitability. If you're up there, you'll be in there.
Compare & Contrast
A day out with more mountain food at El Kiosko de la Silla de Felipe II.
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
Venta Marcelino, filling people with well-cooked food since 1924.
In the list of classic Madrid day trips, this is probably about 4 or 5. We're guessing El Escorial, Toledo and perhaps Aranjuez or Alcalá come out higher. But once you've done them, if you're in any way outdoorsy, you'll almost certainly end up here. You can wander to the lakes. Toddle over the slopes to Puerta de Navacerrada. Or just stand about looking at tree-covered hills and get hungry. Ideally very hungry.
Cotos is the end of the line. Bus line, railway line - it feels like you've reached that kind of place. Aside from the surprisingly grand railway station, there are three buildings. One's a bus shelter. One's a mountain club and information office. One's the bar.
There are two offers at Venta Marcelino. Outside tends to raciones and tapas, inside aims more at sit down meals and sandwiches, but in reality the two are pretty interchangeable if you ask nicely. Although there is a set menu at €20, our cunning plan was to take advantage of the €35 offer, strategically shared. As it turned out, this did the business for lunch with ease.
Here's the starter. If, after a morning's exercise on the trails or slopes you're not feeling full of beans, this'll sort you out sharpish.
Yep it's a dish full of beans, which means you soon will be. Judias/Beans de La Granja is a big burnished stewpot, filled to the top and garnished with chorizo. Standby to be stuffed. In short, unless you're planning on hiking all the way home, eat this solo and you won't be hungry again until the following afternoon at the earliest. I had about 10% of it and was knocked out. Rich and heavy, it needed a bit more seasoning. A mixed salad along the table was equally generously sized. It'd feed three or four as a side dish.
That €35 set menu we mentioned offers a choice of mains. There's a whole baked trout, half the ribcage of a baa-lamb or a lot of a cow. They're sourced locally so while we may worry about the water footprint, at least the local economy is benefitting. The trout was a generous size but a bit over roasted, so drier than it should have been. The lamb chops were almost perfect. I'd have liked them a tiny bit less done, but the freshness made up for it. The entrecot looks rare enough to leap out the window and start chewing on the grassy slopes, but that's because it's how the munching meat enthusiast wanted it. It was as thick as it looks - probably, 800g or so. A side order of chorizo was also very tasty. Quite sausagey (technical reviewers term) in texture. Four large links went very well with the large chunks of decent bread.
Desserts are the usual Madrileño subjects, but that means they're functional and effective, with flans and rice dominating. Again, portion sizes are spectacular. A mound of chocky ice cream was enough to feed one end the table.
Service is prompt and friendly. So good in fact they should offer training courses to a good few places we can think of. The decor's heavy on the polished wood. You'll be surrounded by maps, skis, walkers and cyclists which means more lycra than you can shake a sprung walking stick at. One compromise to the location that creates a touch of inconvenience it's that downstairs the furniture is fixed and you'll be on benches not chairs. Big groups will spill across separate tables.
With coffee and a chupito the size you'd normally order for a full price after dinner drink, we strongly recommend planning no other eating events for the rest of the day. If not the whole weekend.
Pro Portions. Just portions.
Con Menu's not caught up to 21st century diet and lifestyle choices/needs yet.
Pay
€€
Per Person You'll be well fed for less than €20. See text for options.
Find
Website http://www.ventamarcelino.com/
Access Step free to eating area and toilets.
Practicalities
Cercanias C9 from Cercedilla to Cotos is the most accessible public transport way to get up here, although it's not the most reliable service in the world. There's a CRTM bus - 691 - from Moncloa which runs to a weekend-centric timetable scheduled for walkers (and skiers). Whatever the weather in the city, a jumper is wise. It can get breezy in the afternoon at 2000m.
In Short
Hopes. A proper mountain meal.
Reality. When it comes to the food & drink test, it's a mountain pass. Mountain...pass. Joke!
First Impressions. Ski lodge chic. Think cuckoo clocks. Yodelling. Last Christmas I gave you my heart, etc.
USP? Do you need a selling point when you're the only point selling anything?
The offer in three words. Lycra, rucksacks, skis.
Service! Superlative.
Friend friendly? It's a salad and omelette scenario.
Rating for dating. A bit of an epic one.
Tip? Yep.
Change one thing? Seating is very...functional.
Revisitability. If you're up there, you'll be in there.
Compare & Contrast
A day out with more mountain food at El Kiosko de la Silla de Felipe II.
In Pictures
On Google Images
What's the story?
Venta Marcelino, filling people with well-cooked food since 1924.
In the list of classic Madrid day trips, this is probably about 4 or 5. We're guessing El Escorial, Toledo and perhaps Aranjuez or Alcalá come out higher. But once you've done them, if you're in any way outdoorsy, you'll almost certainly end up here. You can wander to the lakes. Toddle over the slopes to Puerta de Navacerrada. Or just stand about looking at tree-covered hills and get hungry. Ideally very hungry.
Cotos is the end of the line. Bus line, railway line - it feels like you've reached that kind of place. Aside from the surprisingly grand railway station, there are three buildings. One's a bus shelter. One's a mountain club and information office. One's the bar.
There are two offers at Venta Marcelino. Outside tends to raciones and tapas, inside aims more at sit down meals and sandwiches, but in reality the two are pretty interchangeable if you ask nicely. Although there is a set menu at €20, our cunning plan was to take advantage of the €35 offer, strategically shared. As it turned out, this did the business for lunch with ease.
Here's the starter. If, after a morning's exercise on the trails or slopes you're not feeling full of beans, this'll sort you out sharpish.
That €35 set menu we mentioned offers a choice of mains. There's a whole baked trout, half the ribcage of a baa-lamb or a lot of a cow. They're sourced locally so while we may worry about the water footprint, at least the local economy is benefitting. The trout was a generous size but a bit over roasted, so drier than it should have been. The lamb chops were almost perfect. I'd have liked them a tiny bit less done, but the freshness made up for it. The entrecot looks rare enough to leap out the window and start chewing on the grassy slopes, but that's because it's how the munching meat enthusiast wanted it. It was as thick as it looks - probably, 800g or so. A side order of chorizo was also very tasty. Quite sausagey (technical reviewers term) in texture. Four large links went very well with the large chunks of decent bread.
Desserts are the usual Madrileño subjects, but that means they're functional and effective, with flans and rice dominating. Again, portion sizes are spectacular. A mound of chocky ice cream was enough to feed one end the table.
Service is prompt and friendly. So good in fact they should offer training courses to a good few places we can think of. The decor's heavy on the polished wood. You'll be surrounded by maps, skis, walkers and cyclists which means more lycra than you can shake a sprung walking stick at. One compromise to the location that creates a touch of inconvenience it's that downstairs the furniture is fixed and you'll be on benches not chairs. Big groups will spill across separate tables.
With coffee and a chupito the size you'd normally order for a full price after dinner drink, we strongly recommend planning no other eating events for the rest of the day. If not the whole weekend.