Crunchy, juicy on the inside and with just the right touch of spice, patatas bravas in Madrid are one of the most popular typical tapas essential.
Although the origin of this very simple and successful cover is not very clear, it is known to be relatively young, from around 1960. In now defunct bars, such as Casa Pellico and La Casona, french fries with hot sauce, known today as bravas, became popular.
1. Docamar
To talk about patatas bravas in Madrid you have to start with Docamar. Since 1963 this restaurant has held the popular title of having the best patatas bravas in Madrid.
The keys are the freshly made potatoes and the undisclosed secret of its sauce, but you can take it home because they sell it separately. There is no clear guideline on exactly what you should wear, but one thing is clear, it should have a little spice to live up to its name.
Portion 5,80 € 5,80
Calle de Alcalá, 337 (Quintana)
2. Tavern and a half
Taberna & Media is in that select club where they can officially say that they have some of the best bravas in Spain. In 2020 the I World Championship of Patatas Bravas awarded them the first prize and since then their fame has not ceased.
The bravas at Taberna & Media stand out because they are creamy on the inside, crunchy on the outside and for their sauce, which is a derivation of mojo picón. Both sauces usually have hot paprika as a common ingredient, although they are quite different in the use of garlic -in principle, the Madrilenian sauce does not have it, as opposed to the Canarian, in which it is abundant-.
Portion 12, 50 €
Calle de Lope de Rueda, 30 (Ibiza)
3. Las Bravas
The concave and convex mirrors of Las Bravas appear in the novel Luces de Bohemia by Valle-Inclán, although at that time this bar was not known by that name – nor did patatas bravas exist as such – but its name is almost as mythical as the passage in which it is located. Name they have had on record since the 1960s. Having some patatas bravas here is necessary to get to know something of the essence of the city, which languishes among so much tourism in the Sol area.
Portion 6,10 € 6,10
Pasaje de Mathéu, 5 (downtown) and calle de Álvarez Gato, 3 (downtown)
4. Commercial Coffee
Patatas bravas with madroño aioli, is it possible to be more traditional? At Café Comercial they have done the same with bravas as they did with their own place, they have kept the name and some of the original idea, but they have taken it to the XXI century. Unlike the others, this is not a light sauce, it is strong, tasty and a little lumpy. Again, the freedom of bravas allows for almost impossible variations, as with this sweet fruit that is somewhat unknown to locals and foreigners alike, but whose name resonates with the iconic statue of the bear and the strawberry tree in Puerta del Sol.
Portion 13,5 € 13,5
Glorieta de Bilbao, 7 (Malasaña)
5. Alonso Brewery
Cervecería Alonso is a bar in Prosperidad that is known for its bravas, although it also stands out for its callos and torreznos. It’s hard to improve a tapas offer when you get these three classics right. This is one of those places that, without marketing or pomp, has managed to stand out thanks to popular word of mouth.
Portion 6,5 € 6,5
Gabriel Lobo Street, 18 (Prosperidad)
6. Crazy Rosi
The second best bravas of 2023 according to the International Competition Una de Bravas are served at Rosi la loca. In this eccentric restaurant where the excessive decoration is part of the attraction, super crispy bravas are prepared by cooking them in two frituras. The first one is a poaching at 120º (so that the potatoes become soft inside) and the second one, at 180º, to get the crust.
Portion 9 €
Cádiz Street, 4 (Sol)
This is a tapa that lives on in the neighborhoods and from tradition -and some secrecy- from generation to generation. Patatas bravas in Madrid coexist in this limbo of perpetual success along with bocata de calamares (squid sandwich) and callos (tripe). Decades go by, neighborhoods change and tourists come and go, while Madrileños continue to live in the same neighborhoods terracing taking the usual.