Madrid's top tapas

The biggest problem living in Madrid is deciding where to eat next (sigh, woe is me).  Madrid's tourist board proudly claims that the city has more bars than any other, and where there are drinks, there are tapas.

But tapas isn't all just plates of jamón and tortilla (delicious though these are).  The creativity and innovation of Spain's gastronomic revolution has shaken up the humble tapas bar, and they stand up alongside the best restaurants in Madrid.  Here are my five favourites.

1)  Le Cabrera

Tapas bar upstairs, cocktail bar downstairs, tiny Le Cabrera is one of my favourite places in the city for a drink, and maybe a plate of seared steak and grilled peaches on the side.  The gastro-coctelería is a name-dropping exercise of the famous faces of Spanish cuisine: Sergi Arola, one of the country’s top chefs, devised the creative tapas menu served upstairs (a review of his main restaurant is coming soon), while Diego Cabrera, the Argentinean mixologist, is in charge of the cocktails downstairs.

2)  Delic

Delic is nestled in my favourite square in Madrid, Plaza de la Paja in La Latina. 

Delic's menu is all about comidas del mundo (food from around the world), which makes a change from the usually patriotic Spanish offerings: Argentine empanadas, Peruvian cerviche and Japanese miso line up alongside the best mojitos in the city.

The black raspberry caipiroskas aren't bad either.

3)  La Gastromaquia

Hidden down a dark street in Chueca, sandwiched between the sex shops and gay bars, Gastromaquia gets my vote as the best restaurant in Madrid.  If you weren't looking for it, you'd walk right past it (you could even walk past it if you were looking for it).

It doesn't look like much from the outside, but each plate is a tiny slice of creative, innovative tapas heaven.  Goat's cheese salad (above left) comes dripping in a basil reduction with a caramelised honey roof, and the tikka masala mussels (above right) almost make you want to pick up the bowl to drink the sauce dry.

4)  Juana la Loca

At the south end of the Cava Baja in La Latina, where almost every building seems to be a tapas bar, sits Juana la Loca.  It's famous for its tortilla de patata (Spanish omelette), but every dish is a winner.  Don't miss the restaurant's self-proclaimed "incredible egg", a soft quail's egg nestled on top of a truffle base.

El increíble huevo ("The Incredible Egg")...

Hoisin duck wraps

Beef carpaccio

5)  La Musa

With a branch in Malasaña and another next door to Delic in La Latina, it's hard not to drop into La Musa almost every week.  My favourite is La Musa Latina for its lazy outdoor terrace in the plaza, although be prepared to queue for a table when the sun's shining.

Like Delic, the tapas veer away from traditional Spanish fare, like Japanese dumplings, Caribbean-style barbecued prawns and a pestle and mortar brimming with tomato, avocado and onion, for hungry diners to mash their own guacamole.

So, where next?

http://www.lecabrera.com/

http://delic.es/

http://www.grupolamusa.com/restaurante-lamusalatina

Lobster and burger

Burger and Lobster has been around in London and New York for a fair old while.  It's a simple concept: they do burgers, or they do lobsters.  Easy.  I'm a fan of the bustling Soho branch in London, where a fat, juicy lobster always goes down a treat after mooching around town, and is a bargain at £20, washed down with a few cocktails by the same bartenders behind Meat Liquor.

So I was rather pleased to read that a pop-up Burger and Lobster spin-off was opening here in Madrid, although not in a restaurant, but in a nightclub.

69 Pétalos is a cheesy yet trendy club, with camp podium dancers and the usual Spanish late-night timetable.  The idea of going there for supper just seemed... wrong.

But go we did.

Although they've swapped the name round to Lobster and Burger, presumably to avoid being sued, the idea is broadly the same: three burgers, three lobsters and three puddings, should you be hungry for more.

Our grilled garlic lobster was a little bit weedy, as if he hadn't had enough time to grow up into his shell, but a tomato and mozzarella burger was a huge, juicy treat.

There's no doubt about it, eating in a nightclub is weird.  All the weirder when it got to half past midnight and on came the go go dancers and "celebrity" impersonators (is that Nicolas Sarkozy?).

But the food is reasonable enough, and with a big group of us and plenty of cocktails we had a great time.  It's not our London favourite, but that isn't why we moved to Madrid, after all.  Go with an open mind, and watch out for Sarkozy.

http://www.grupo69petalos.com/web/restaurante/carta