Walking through La Latinawe find a tavern with a striking tropical-style decor. With its dim warm light, wooden tables and walls with plants drawn on them, the place is reminiscent of the lively restaurants of Brazil. It is a place that has been in the world of vegan and vegetarian cuisine for twenty-five years now. It was born with the name Viva la Vida, became Viva Burger and today is renamed El Viva (Costanilla de San Andrés, 16). “I wanted to capture in this place my travels around the world and my desire to share the evolution of my cuisine,” explains Mada, the owner, to Madrid Secreto.
Mada, owner of El Viva || Editorial credit: El Escaparate Comunicación.
New additions and better dishes at El Viva
El Viva introduces dishes inspired by Mexican gastronomyin its menu. It is committed to sustainable and artisanal preparation, always in vegan version: the Viva Tacos, main novelty of the house, are prepared with products of the earth, without using any animal products.
Editorial credit: El Escaparate Comunicación.
The tavern has four varieties of tacos with flavors that have little to envy the meats with which they are traditionally made. The filling of the Taco de Yaca Pibil, with jackfruittropical cooked between banana leaves, has a texture very similar to carne mechada. Also noteworthy is the recipe for “ChicharronesTaco de “Chicharrones, with an interior of marinated shiitake mushrooms fried in their marinade.
How could it be otherwise, the Viva Burgershave stayed on the menu. New smash madefrom vegetables and wrapped in organic brioche breadare added. The most succulent is the one withSorian truffle, Parmesan-style vegan cheese and sundried tomato in oil, although the one withcuitlacoche, boletus and chipotle sauce is no slouch either.
To accompany all these vegan delights, the house encourages you to try their cocktails. Its bloody maryis more than recommendable: it masterfully fuses chipotle smoke liqueur, mezcal and two potent sauces: sriracha and tonkatsu. Those who are not much into cocktails also have artisanal wines from family-owned wineries.
And as a finishing touch to a lunch or dinner at El Viva, the Tarta tres leches is a good choice: juicy, very sweet and, like all the dishes that come out of Mada’s kitchen, prepared with ingredients cruelty free.
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