Holiday in Madrid, Spain (Part I)

On 2016, we did short escape to Madrid for 6 days. It was promotion price from www.expedia.de . It was a good price with the package of return flight trip and 5 star International hotel accommodations.

This trip was about culinary trip and some place of interest in the city of Madrid.

The Westin Palace, Madrid ✰✰✰✰✰

We really ate a lot in a day. We skipped the breakfast buffet. We did not take the buffet package from the hotel. We would like to taste the local food in different kind of tapas.

We stayed in The Westin Palace Hotel, which is in the middle of Madrid City. We reached many tourist attractions by foot.

On first day, we arrived after Noon time, quick check-in and had a snack time in the Lobby lounge. It was a great experience sitting in the lobby lounge, 1912 Museo where mostly the local senior guests sit having their afternoon tea.

The lobby lounge / 1912 Museo

The Dome and chandelier of Museo Lounge (very big and colorful)

We tried the salami plates as my hubby is big fan of salami and ham. I ordered the mozzarella caprese.

Afterward, we had a bit rest before heading for the late dinner. Here in Spain, they eat dinner a bit late than normal time which is up 8 PM. Most of the restaurant opens after 08.00PM onwards.

Tonight we tried one of the best restaurants in the city, Julian de Taloso. http://en.juliandetolosa.com/ The address is Calle Cava Baja, 18, 28005 Madrid, Spain.

The ambience is very warm. The service team is very attentive and very small number. If I am not mistaken, it was only 3 to 4 service members. The food was so excellent. We had lettuce with Iberico Ham, piemento, monk fish for me and T-bone double for my hubby.

Bread and Olive oil 

Lettuce and Iberico ham 

Red Piemento (sizzling hot)

Monk fish in butter and garlic sauce 

T-bone steak (first round)

T-bone steak (second round)

On Second day, we visited the Museo Del Prado where it features one of the world’s finest collections of European art. Here we saw the great paintings and sculpture from different kind of Artists such as Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Goya, Peter Paul Rubens, Albrecht Dürer, Antonello de Messina, Nicolas Poussin, José de Ribera and many more artists. 

It is not allowed to take picture in the Museum. 

We walked to the Plaza Mayor, which is built during Philip III's reign (1598-1621), and had a look around. You can have coffee in the area of Plaza Mayor. There are few coffee shops and some local attractions in the Plaza Mayor.

Plaza Mayor 

Next to Plaza Mayor, we visited Mercado San Miguel. It is high-end food market. There are food stalls, tapas bar and some interesting seafood stalls.

Entrance of Mercado San Miguel

On the way back to Hotel, we found out one local restaurant, Museo del Jamon. It is very crowded, kind of Spanish Tapas Bar and restaurant. On the first floor, you can have quick bites for 1 – 2 Euro meals (kind of quick Tapas). On the second floor, they serve the table service. It is very full and still queue of people on the stair. It is amazing incredible, the peak hours on the lunch time is around 1 PM to 2.30 PM. It could be more than 150 persons in the restaurant.

In Museo Del Jamon, we had Iberico Ham plate, Chorizo ham, queso (Cheese), Tortilla Spanish omelette, and Pulpo (octopus).

Tortilla/spanish omelette

Pulpo/octopus

We walked through the city using the paper map and Google map. Just be careful with your belongings. It is safe to walk around.

We had some afternoon rest and refreshed ourselves for the dinner time. To burn our calorie from lunch, we walked to La Antoñita http://www.posadadeldragon.com from hotel. It was not so far, it takes us 15 minutes. We had evening walk and looked around the city on 8 PM.

Entrance of Posada del Dragon (on the left side is the entrance of La Antoñita)

The restaurant is casual dining. I love the modern and warm ambience. We had Tripes soup, selection of tomatoes with fig chutney, salmon tataki and pork ribs. The service was very attentive.

It tasted amazing. The pork ribs were so yummy, very soft tender and melted in your mouth. I loved the tomatoes, the best selection of tomatoes I ever had.

Tripes soup

Selection of tomatoes with fig chutney

Salmon tataki (on the top) - Pork ribs (at the bottom)

On third day, we skipped our breakfast. We planned to visit others Mercado (local market). We visited Mercado Anton Martin; it is not far away from Westin Hotel. We decided to walk and look around.  It is interesting to see the local vegetables, fruits and meats, sweets and dessert, tapas bar around the city.

We walked to Puerta del Sol; here is the main city center, shopping center area. The Real Casa de Correos (historical Landmark – House of the Post office) is in Puerta del Sol. We just strolled around here.

Landmark in Puerta Del Sol (Bear and the Madroño Tree, heraldic symbol of Madrid)

Traffic of Madrid City 

Congreso De Los Diputados

Casa de Correos (historical Landmark – House of the Post office) in Puerta Del Sol

Then we had lunch again in Museo Del Jamon. We came a bit early so we don’t need to queue. We had a quick fresh orange juice and quick bites in the Tapas bar before heading on lunch. The orange juice is a must try item. We had chorizo ham, gamba and sausages.

After long walked in the morning, we headed back to hotel and had a rest. After refreshment, in the evening we planned to visit Sobrino de Butin http://www.botin.es/en , it is one of the oldest restaurants in the world. It is well known for the suckling pig. We had done reservation the day before.

We walked again to Restaurant Botin, it took just 15 minutes from Westin Hotel. We tried the Bacalao and red piemento, mixed vegetables and the suckling pig for the main course.

Bacalao and red piemento

Mixed vegetables (beans, artichokes, carrots, mushroom)

Suckling pig and roasted potatoes

The ambience of Restaurant Botin is very classic, they still keep the original concept of restaurant. We had a chance to sit in the basement area. Here we saw the wine cellar, wooden stairs, kitchen and service counter.