When you arrive to Spain, there is nothing that you can enjoy more than paella. In Madrid, good rice is synonymous with meeting and sharing a great experience with friends. Rice does not know of classes, it has been a popular dish among nobles and townspeople alike. The most fundamental value of the rice is the flavors that it absorbs, it exercises the most varied polygamy applied to a cereal, from the most humble ingredients to the most exclusives.
The national epicenter of this elaboration has been in the Community of Valencia, where it´s considered a totemic dish. It is there where they began to cultivate it in XII century, and there where its course was born. In Madrid we can enjoy paella in exemplary places, where the rice is made with the fundamental ingredients…affection…these are our favorites:
1. –El Ventorrillo Murciano (C/ Tres Peces, 20 – 91.528.83.09)
This is a humble place, founded by Iette Martines and Jose Maria Muñoz. Their rice is superb! I like the abanda – the black or the longaniza Murcian sausage. But, it is the vegetable that presents us with a precise flavor, one that is not disguised. Despite the small room and the extremely long waits, they maintain their loyal clients who value the level of preparation found at this restaurant.
2. –La Barraca (C/ Reina, 29 – 91.532.71.54)
This establishment has a 75 year history and many anecdotes which give rise to Belgium spies and conspirers. Although where it is situated facilitates the travelers and daydreamers, the rice continues to conserve their formal level of perfection. There are dozens of categories with different ingredients, my favorites being el arroz al horno (oven rice) and la paella huertana (vegetable garden paella). This is a must-visit!
3.-Sant James (C/Juan Bravo, 26 o Rosario Pino, 14 . 915207020)
The arroz a banda (rice platter) is unbeatable! This dish come with crayfish and carabineros…With a dish like this, I can´t more, especially if I have to go back to work from the restaurant. While they prepare the paella it is recommended that you try the steamed cockles, which are genuinely divine.
4.-Rice Bar La Bomba (C/ Pedro Muguruza 5 , 91.3503047)
This restaurant is the last to arrive, but was able to make a successful space for itself in the panorama in Madrilenian paella restaurants. Here, you can find an informal concept and aesthetic. The technique that they use to elaborate (a lucky space originated from Modernist Cuisine) is the reduction of wait time to that which is anecdotal. They enhance the abanda rice with iberico nad vegetable risotto. Interestingly enough, they also offer a glass of wine as accompaniment.
5. –La Albufera (C/Capital Haya 43 )
This is one of the classical Madrilenian restaurants from 40 years ago. It is situated in the North of the capital, in the Meliá Castilla Hotel – both luminous and elegant, with attentive service. They have a great variety of rice, dry, sweet and creamy. Personally, I love the ¨Senyoret¨ that comes with small peeled shrimp, or there is also a delicious rice flavored by tomatoes and scallions. An elegant spot that will always leave you satisfied.
Enjoy…and after the Paella, why not take a good stroll?
