The Vallehermoso Market is one of the three municipal markets of Chamberí. And although it was originally designed to bring together local grocery stores, since the mid-2000s they have been transformed into gastronomic spaces where people eat and drink, but where it is increasingly difficult for neighborhood residents to do their shopping.
In Vallehermoso converge restaurants with Asian influences, others specialized in the latest trendy food, with, of course, some classic stall where you can still buy to make your own food (and even a watch shop).
Tripea
The best market stall in Madrid. This was recognized by ACYRE (Association of Chefs and Pastry Chefs) and we take it further: one of the best restaurants -in general- in the city.
The most immediate proof of this is how difficult it is to find a table at this stall specializing in Peruvian food. At the helm is Roberto Martínez, the young chef who (together with other people) is leading the change of direction in Madrid’s kitchens. Your tasting menu is a marvel.
tasting menu at 50€
📍Post 44
The Pierogi
Poland and its culinary tradition do not escape globalization. The most popular Polish dish, pierogi, is (in a short and comparative definition) a hybrid between dumpling and ravioli.
Los Pierogi is a stall in the Vallehermoso market that specializes in this delicacy. Anna Wisniewska runs it and has three options: potato pierogi, cabbage with mushrooms and veal with chicken, which is like the ropavieja of a broth.
💸 Around 15€ per person.
Kitchen 154
The mecca of spicy food in Madrid. A place where to test the palate and not only for the spiciness: in Kitchen 154 they understand food as an adventure, so each of their elaborations are, in their words, “reinterpretations of traditional and exotic dishes with our style”.
One of the most famous are their Korean BBQ Ribs: pork ribs cooked for 12 hours at 80º, prepared with gochunjang sauce, chili and soybean paste and homemade kimchi. Oh, and a tip from our colleague Antonio Pineda: if they tell you to try Da Bomb hot sauce…. Don’t even think about it.
💸 Average price: 20 per person
📍 Rank 60-61-62
Batch
Batch is one of the most difficult stalls to define in the Vallehermoso Market, because it is a wine bar a store and a restaurant. That is to say, in addition to selling natural wines, they produce their own ferments and at the same time a small restaurant with a tasting menu.
Fermenter Nacho García and chef Daniel Vare decided to include a wide variety of natural wines, which only two years ago were not so easy to find in Madrid, when they opened their market stall. The truth is that in addition to those packs of ferments and wines (which they also sell online) their cuisine has been gaining relevance with their cassava waffles as a great reference.
💸 Average price: 35€ per person.
📍 Post: 47-48
Craft 19
At Craft 19 they focus on three things that go very well together: craft beer, pastrami and burgers. Everything you could find in New York, but in Chamberí.
With months of dedication and mastery, they elaborate their pastrami that results in the Super Pastrami, a giant 275 gram snack that has made people make a pilgrimage here just to try it. But that’s not all, they have also joined the trend of smashburgers, which you can pair with a carefully selected selection of craft beers.
💸 Average price: 20€
📍 Rank 19
La Reloj Time Bailón
In the heart of the market, there has been a small cubicle where time comes to life since 1996. In two square meters, the Reloj workshop Time Bailón is passionately dedicated to what we all long for: taking care of time. Their specialty is antique Reloj, although in reality they are experts in repairing any type of clock, be it a wall clock, wristwatch or cuckoo clock. Equipped with a special vacuum machine and a wide variety of tools and gadgets, they can work wonders and no Reloj can resist them.
Empanadas de Gloria
El Obrador de Gloria was born from the memories of its owner in the kitchen of her family home in Viveiro (Lugo) where, together with her mother and grandmother, they created recipes for empanadas and sweets. These experiences gave rise to Gloria’s desire to rescue the recipes and sensations of her childhood, culminating in the founding of this small stand in 2009.
Las Empanadas de Gloria, run by Gloria and her daughter Bárbara, offers a wide variety of empanadas with exquisite fillings: black pudding with apple, tuna, cod, pork loin with bacon and chorizo or gulas and prawns, along with cheese and raspberry or apple sweets. The empanadas at this stand, which weigh more than one kilo and have a diameter of 25 cm, stand out for their delicate dough and generous filling made with top quality ingredients, providing a culinary experience that captures the essence of the family heritage.
💸 Average price: 10€
📍 Rank 24-25
Bonus track: Hermanos Gómez Ortiz Poultry
Although the Gómez Ortiz brothers arrived at the Vallehermoso Market seven years ago, they had already been in the neighborhood for half a century, specifically in the food gallery on Magallanes Street: “We have moved 500 meters, but it seems that we have changed cities,” Higinio, one of them, tells us over the phone.
In the seven years that he has been working here, he has seen the market itself evolve and emphasizes the symbiotic relationship between the different stalls: has grown thanks to his colleagues and, he assumes, they have also contributed to the growth of the others. “Before, someone would come, buy and leave. However, now that we have everything at hand, those who buy good poultry want good fruit, good fish and good everything”.
The quality of the poultry, eggs and game on its stand attracts a large number of visitors Michelin Star (all those in Madrid and a long list outside the capital), to those who supply the genre. Higinio plays it down and summarizes the essence of the market stalls as follows: “It’s true that we have the confidence of several Michelin Stars, but for us as much respect is deserved by the lady who comes to shop at the store as by a chef. Everyone has their own little heart and in the end it’s a matter of knowing what everyone wants. Nothing else“.
📍 Post 13-14
This article has been written by Isabel Nieto, Javi Bisbal, Alberto del Castillo y Elena French.