Reseñas de Taberna Corrientes

Our last night in Madrid and we went on a stroll to find a place to eat! To our surprise, all the restaurants were closed or close to closing! The first spot we wanted to eat at was closing so we saw this place still open and decided to give it a try. We ordered a pitcher of sangria of course, some meatballs, bread, calamari and prosciutto. My family really enjoyed the meal here. For me, I thought it was average. Meatballs were good. Calamari tasted like any other. Bread had this tomato thing topped with it and we all thought it was just ok. Food here was good but it wasn't something that really stood out.

Move on... I knew it was a risk looking for good food in a tourist area but this was not a good experience. First off, they brought a basket of plain bread, which we didn't order so we thought was complimentary. They charged 1 euro. The Sangria was watered down, the paella was bland the only thing we liked was the manchego cheese. Then they refused to give us separate checks and told us we should have requested in the beginning, well They should have asked. Not good service or food.... Move on.

This restaurant is oh-so-typical of hundreds just like it, scattered all around the historical, touristy area of the city. My daughter and I popped in for lunch on a scorching Spanish afternoon, to seek shade, a cold beverage and some food. We sat outdoors, because the large umbrellas were equipped with misting fans, which were very welcoming when the searing heat was approaching three digits. We were planning to have some light tapas, until our gaze fell on a laminated menu of paellas: one seafood paella with squid ink coming up! These are made to order, and it took about 20 minutes. We didn't mind, as this dish was on our "must have" list. In the meantime, we enjoyed lots of cold water, and shared a dish of tapas ( small sandwiches with jamon and salmon) and olives, served gratis to guests. The piece de resistance arrived on time. Only it looked nothing like the beautiful picture on the menu card, except the dish it was served in. Yes, the rice was black, but you could not see the abundant seafood (like on the picture). There were exactly two small-ish shrimp visible on the background of black: no sight of muscles or chorizo, or green herbs (like on the picture). Taste-wise, it was ok: a bit on the salty side. The shrimp was slightly overcooked; we found exactly two muscles in the dark mass, a handful of tiny tiny scallops and a few slivers of chorizo. We later noted that every such typical restaurant had exactly the same menu card or poster in the window, showing off the same picturesof various paellas. We did not bother to find out if the black one was any better at a different spot. We crossed it off our "must have" list, and moved on.

Manuel speaks great English... Which is how we got talked into entering the restaurant. The food is unimaginative and the people in the restaurant are predominantly tourists. Don't go, unless like us, you are tired, hungry, trying to get out of the rain and have just given up on finding someplace nice. Note that this place is expensive compared to the other tapas places found on Calle Cava Baja.

Dentro de la ocupación de la zona, es un sitio tranquilo donde uno puede encontrar sitio, sentarse tranquilo, pedir algunos estupendos aperitivos, o mejor raciones, y tomarlo sin prisas ni agobios. Un lujo. Además buena cocina, sacada en su punto, muy típica de la zona. Siempre entramos dentro. A mi chaval le encanta el ambiente y decoración de pub inglés de esta tasca madrileña.