Until quite recently, kebabs and falafels had the monopoly over nighttime snacks in Lavapies. My favorite new Tex-Mex hole in the wall is hidden due to its awkward branding.

Perdizione, a pizza franchise with another location in Legazpi, has partial ownership of this site—the sign above the door says “Perdizione Pizzeria” which causes passersby to be none the wiser that inside can be found hearty and filling burritos and other Mexican treats.

For 4 euros you can get an enormous burrito of cochinita, vegetables or chicken, and for an additional €1.50 you can add on nachos, guacamole and a beer. Tacos cost 1.50. I smiled when I saw that they offered Negra Modelo, my Dad’s favorite beer from his native city of Mexico D.F. The staff of this location have always been super majo.

Once I earned regular status I offered my council to the owner—this establishment needs to focus on its strengths and prioritize the burritos and its branding as a Mexican joint.

Info

For more on Mexican food in Madrid, check out: 

Madrid’s Best Mexican Joints

Also in Lavapiés: 

Baobab, an Authentic Senegalese Restaurant in Lavapiés

Tribuetxe, a Basque Pintxo Bar in Lavapiés

Cafelito, a trendy spot for coffee lovers in Lavapiés

Restaurante Badila is my number one. My favourite place to eat in Madrid. I’ve flirted with other restaurants during the years I’ve lived here but I keep coming back to this one, it’s just SO good. I’ve dragged pretty much all of my visitors here (some of them multiple times) and Badila never fails to disappoint. It’s really only taken me so long to write a post about it because I was wrestling with the idea of whether to share Madrid’s best-kept secret, but here we go. The secret is out.

This gem of a restaurant is tucked away behind Plaza Tirso de Molina, on the corner of Calle Cabeza with Calle San Pedro Mártir. Its interior is light and airy, with simple decor and a host of delicious wines on display. There’s only room to squeeze in about ten tables, so the atmosphere is informal and unpretentious, with lovely owner Miguel waiting on tables himself. But the real star of the show here is, of course, the food. Oh, the food.

The menu consists of updated versions of Spanish classics, with a smattering of international dishes, all based on the tried-and-tested formula: simple, home-cooked fare prepared with the freshest ingredients. Miguel shops around for the best stuff on offer each morning, so the menu changes from day to day and from season to season. It’s a menú del día format for both lunch and dinner, with around six or seven options for primeros and the same for segundos – far too much choice for someone as indecisive as me!

On our most recent visit, my boyfriend ordered the ensalada mixta con frambuesas y queso de cabra (mixed salad with goat’s cheese and raspberries) to start, whereas I opted for the salteado de espárragos con carabinero y crema de lechuga (a divine concoction of asparagus, red shrimp and lettuce – it needs to be tasted to be believed!).

For my second course, I went with my old favourite: escalopines al cabrales (pork fillet with cabrales cheese sauce). I must have ordered this dish over a dozen times at Badila but I can’t help myself, it’s just so damn tasty.

My boyfriend chose the redondo de ternera a la austriaca (stumped on how to translate this one, very tender veal in a delicious sauce?!) which he hadn’t tried before. Initially I told him off for ordering something fairly unphotogenic but quickly forgave him because it tasted absolutely amazing and I ended up stealing half of it.

Naturally, we managed to squeeze in dessert. I had a slice of wonderfully gooey chocolate cake and my boyfriend went for his favourite cuajada de queso (describing this as milk curd just doesn’t do it justice) which I didn’t even manage to get a photo of because he ate it so quickly.

The menú del día costs just under 14 euros per person and is worth every penny. The portions are very generous and everything is well thought-out and unbelievably tasty. Even the bread here is delicious, unlike in many Spanish restaurants. The price of the lunchtime menu goes up to just under 18 euros at weekends and the evening menu is slightly more expensive at around 20 euros.

Badila is open every day for lunch from 14:00 – 16:30 and on Friday and Saturday evenings for dinner from 21:00 – 00:00. They only take reservations for dinner, so if you go at lunchtime I’d recommend either going early or going late otherwise you might have to wait for a table. As you’d expect, a place this good does get pretty busy!

Info

• Facebook
• Address: Calle de la Cabeza 7
• Metro: Tirso de Molina
• Telephone: 914 29 76 51

In a barrio undergoing the gradual process of gentrification, chic cafes are a dime a dozen. Cafelito, situated on Calle Sombrerete near Mercado de San Fernando, quickly stood out amongst the crowd as my go-to spot for coffee and studious activity in the barrio. The owner, Julio, imports his coffee from locations such as Kenya, Ethiopia and Mexico.

During my first two years abroad I lamented the absence of iced-coffees, especially during the pinnacle of the Madrid summers. This past summer, when Cafelito opened, they boasted of offering homemade iced-coffee using cubes of frozen coffee as the ice. Since then, I have gone through 6 full punch chards and been rewarded for my loyalty with as many free drinks.

My favorite winter drink, which I typically take to go, is dirty chai. When I need to sit and be studious as I write assignments like this, I usually take a double espresso of whichever imported coffee is available that week.

Cafelito is now a hub for the writers amongst us in the barrio. The charms of the cafe are enhanced by the recycled furniture and open library. Coffee drinkers can borrow books–on the honor system–and leave books in the hope that they in turn will be borrowed.

They have cakes too.

Looking for other spots in Lavapiés? Check out:

Baobab, an authentic Senegalese restaurant

Tribuetxe, a Basque pintxo bar 

Mercado de San Fernando, the real food emporium 

Taberna Lamiak, another Basque pintxo bar with free wine tastings

I was recommended Tribuetxe by one of my former students, a stoic Basque Señora, who wanted me to try the cuisine of her region’s chefs. I haven’t yet explored Pais Vasco, but I have every intention to due to the hype surrounding their food culture. I sampled Tribuetxe’s fried shrimp tapa during Tapapies, the competitive international food festival of the barrio—I was not surprised to learn later on that they had won.

A fairly new location, situated behind Mercado San Fernando on Calle Tribulete, Tribuetxe is always petado. I clearly understand why after consuming four of their excellent pinchos alongside glasses of vino tinto. One of my new years resolutions was to incorporate more eggplant into my diet after sampling their berenjena pincho. I followed this up with duck, a skewer of shrimp and octopus and a skewer of fried merluza. Each filling pincho costs between 3€ and 3.50€.

Mercado San Fernando is one of my favorite hubs of community within the barrio. If you are exploring that area on a pleasant weekend afternoon, I strongly advise you to venture to Tribuetxe for your daytime drinking and snack endeavors.

Here’s a full article on El Mercado de San Fernando, entitled: ‘Lavapiés and its market: the real food emporium!’

Another Basque pincho bar in Lavapiés and La Latina that we love is: Lamiak

If you’re looking for wonderful wine bars in La Latina, check out: ‘The cosiest wine bars in La Latina (with gluten free options!)’

Casa Adela‘s chickens have been a staple for cheap eats during my time abroad. A tiny and intimate space on Calle Embajadores, Adela’s is a watering hole for the residents of the barrio. Adela’s is a family-owned business operated by Señora Adela and her sons. During their 20 years of business they have refined their process of preparing rotisserie chickens and fried chicken breasts to perfection.

Besides her culinary expertise, Adela radiates a real affection for her diners. She shows it by showering recurring clients with terms of endearment such as corazon and cariño and by taking the time to stop and talk to them about their lives, always remembering particular details from the previous conversations. I would never have discovered this hidden gem had my first Madrid apartment not been directly across from it—we would often joke about creating a delivery system via basket and pulleys.

Adela’s holds a tender place in my heart because I have learned so much Spanish slang from listening to their banter amongst themselves and with their clients. Here, the unique sense of community in Lavapies is visibly apparent. I initially met two of my neighbors, fellow extranjeros Matt and James, while waiting in line for a chicken during my first year. This chance encounter directly resulted with my absorption into the larger social circle that has now become my family.

After I moved out of my initial apartment on Calle del Oso, I feared that I would lose such easy access to my primary source of protein. Fortunately, I was told that they hired an employee to make deliveries on his scooter within the barrio for a 0.50€ cent supplement. I often stop by and say hello while grabbing a bite when walking down Calle Embajadores. It’s comforting to frequent an establishment that is visibly frozen in time and has gone unchanged for 2 decades.

Would you like to try Adela’s revered chickens?

Our other favorite place to get rotisserie chicken is Casa Mingo, which is an absolute must in Madrid. If you haven’t been, check out our post on it here.