The gala in which the Michelin Guide hands out its stars is becoming more and more mediatized and the level among Madrid’s restaurants is growing with it 24 in total the award winners. But many of these chefs, sometimes because they are multifaceted and sometimes because they want to approach a different public, have restaurants without stars or so much hype. There are even those who have closed their restaurant recommended by the prestigious guide to open something less pompous, but with the same quality, as is the case of Samy Ali. Others, on the other hand, may disappear from the list in this article because they finally end up receiving the star they were looking for (as is the recent case of RavioXo).
Monchis (by Julián Mármol)
This restaurant may be the riskiest on the list, but you know what popular wisdom says: he who doesn’t risk, doesn’t win. And Monchis has everything to win. Its cuisine manages to fuse Mexican gastronomy and Japanese philosophy giving rise to a varied menu where tradition and innovation go hand in hand.
Julián Mármol uses the attention to detail of Japanese culture to reconvert Mexican cuisine and give it a new dimension sin adornments that mask it. Its Omakase menu, which you can consult and reserve here the restaurant offers surprising dishes such as wagyu taco or cod kokotxa.
Alcalá Street, 10 (Downtown)
menus range from 45 to 125 euros per person
BiBo (Dani Garcia)
Dani García, who won three Michelin stars for his Marbella restaurant and who last year earned two more for Smoked Room in Madrid, has many other restaurants in the capital that could well be recognized by this famous guide. Perhaps the best known is BiBo, whose menu is a journey through the chef’s dream places thanks to its global and innovative cuisine. A BiBo you can go to the menu, tapas or to try their famous brunch on weekends and holidays.
Another of the Dani García Group’s restaurants is Sea lion whose specialty is, as its name suggests, fresh and delicious seafood. A very good opportunity to enjoy the best of the coast without leaving Madrid.
Paseo de la Castellana, 52 (Salamanca)
💶 A la carte, about €50 per person
Barracuda MX
How many happy moments Punto MX gave us, the project of Roberto Ruiz that won a Michelin star becoming the first Mexican cuisine restaurant in Europe to be awarded by the famous Guide. But Ruiz ended the project by seeking tranquility and experimentation and returning to quietness.
He did so with the opening of Barracuda MX, a tribute to Mexican Pacific cuisine. That is to say, a different, daring Mexican, who finally opens a new window in Madrid to the unknown delights of the Mexican country with dishes such as grilled octopus tacos with pico de gallo and crunchy yucca, the grilled marrow with red tuna tostadas or the carved sea bass with red guajillo chile adobo and Verde poblano chile adobo. But Ruiz does not disdain his past and returns to Punto MX every month recovering some of the emblematic dishes of what was and will be an icon of Madrid’s cuisine.
Calle de Valenzuela, 7 (Retiro)
a la carte, €60 per person / closed menu, between €65 and €75 per person
Doppelganger
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Samy Ali, a half-Madrilenian and half-Sudanese chef with a boxer’s name, runs Doppelgänger, although he previously owned La Candela Restó, but closed it after winning a Michelin star. This restaurant in the Antón Martín market maintains the creativity and surprise expected of a high-class restaurant, but at an affordable price. The menu varies and when you sit down at the table, they bring out all the dishes (the only thing they ask you is if there is something you don’t like or if you have any allergies). And there are dishes to take away.
Calle de Sta. Isabel, 5 (Antón Martín market, Lavapiés)
💶 Around €30 per person
Orfila’s garden
What a cooking saga the Sandoval family is. From that slow-cooked suckling pig in the family restaurant in Humanes, Las Olas (where it all began), to the two Michelin-starred Coque. But there is life beyond: Mario Sandoval captains as executive chef the team of El jardín de Orfila, the restaurant of the Hotel Orfila. A restaurant that presents pure traditional flavor and the best products.
Start with Osetra caviar or Iberian acorn-fed ham with Carasau bread and tomato and finish with sirloin tournedos with crumbs, Iberian bacon and trilogy of baby carrots or the essential suckling pig confit with crispy skin, pumpkin puree, caraway and blueberries.
Orfila Street, 6 (Alonso Martínez)
a la carte, €60 per person
La Única
Andrés Madrigal ‘s story leaves Madrid, travels to Panama and returns to Madrid. Madrigal got his first Michelin in 1991 at the restaurant El Olivo and his second in 2009 for the restaurant Alboroque. Life took him to Panama, where he undertook new culinary projects.
Now, he returns to Madrid with La Única, a restaurant with “Mexican-Mexiterranean” cuisine that unites Mexico with the Mediterráneo through fire: wood-fired embers are the hallmark of the menu. One that comes with must-try dishes like the gobernador with red shrimp, Oaxacan cheese crust, pico de gallo and smoked chipotle aioli and the one with Sepulveda suckling pig, topped with pibil, guacamole and Xnipek.
Calle de Claudio Coello, 10 (Salamanca Neighborhood)
💶 Around 80€ per person.
Pure State
Paco Roncero is to Spanish gastronomy what an Iniesta could be to Spanish soccer. His titles are counted almost like golden balls: two Michelin stars, three Repsol Suns and a National Gastronomy Award in 2006. The jewel in the crown of its restaurants is the formerly called Terraza del Casino (on the third floor of Alcalá, 15). It is now called Paco Roncero Restaurant and has two stars.
The alternative restaurant of the chef who became a meme with a sandwich is called Pure State and is next to Neptune. They define it as “the most traditional Spanish gastronomy from haute cuisine”. Classic dishes such as scrambled eggs or croquettes and an affordable price.
Plaza Cánovas del Castillo, 4 (Downtown)
💶 Around €30 per person
Kyoshi by Ricardo Sanz
Ricardo Sanz, the leading exponent of Japanese haute cuisine in our country and a pioneer in his culinary proposal, has a culinary proposal of his restaurant at home.
With an average price that is not unreasonable (classic menu): 36/ Kyoshi menu: 38), the Madrid-born chef’s home-delivered menu is exotic, surprising and, like the rest of his creations, audacious as can be. Among the nigiri festival, highlights the kimuchi salmon and lime Kyoshi and the butterfish Kyoshi nigiri with truffle and spring onion.
💶 Around €40 per person
Fire bar
Mauricio Giovanini is the Michelin-starred chef behind Fire bar a very descriptive name that concentrates the essence of the protagonists of this place in Chueca: the grill and the charcoal. So much so that they are not only the center of the menu, but also in the restaurant itself: both the grill and the oven are in view of the diner, who can see how their dishes are prepared with that characteristic aroma provided by the wood.
And although the first thing that may come to mind are meats, the menu of Bar de Fuegos also includes grilled vegetables, seafood, entremets, salads and even desserts that have been grilled, such as grilled pineapple with pisco foam.
📍 Calle de Barbieri, 7
💶 Around €35 per person
The XO universe
Dabiz Muñoz, elected for the second consecutive year as the best chef in the world has its own gastronomic universe. And leaving aside his three-star DiverXO, there are many more mainstreamoptions that he puts on the table – not in vain is it common to see Muñoz launching products such as his own roxcon its torrijas XO or, recently, a hamburger for the World Cup-.
This universe offers among its options restaurants such as StreetXO (temporarily closed due to relocation), GoXO (its option of delivery) or the food truck that is installed at the christmas market in Nuevos Ministerios.
📍 Various locations
💶 Consultation at this article how much does it cost to eat at Dabiz Muñoz’s restaurants?
DSpeak
As you might guess from the name, the chef behind DSpeak is the same as the two-Michelin Star restaurant DSTAgE: Diego Guerrero. The restaurant operates with a la carte and off-menu dishes that are constantly changing according to the season and fresh produce.
It also has two menu options, changing according to the market, at very competitive prices. On the one hand, it offers the Express Menu for lunchtime from Monday to Friday (minimum for two people with a choice of starter, dish to share, dessert and drink). And the All In Menu, Tuesday through Friday at noon, includes two appetizers, two entrées, a main course, a dessert and a bottle of wine for two people (or three glasses per person).
📍 Calle de Fernando VI, 6
💶 Express Menu (35€ per person) and All In Menu (60€ per person)
This article has been written by Alberto del Castillo, María F. Carballo, Isabel Nieto, y Elena French.