Opened by two British men, Alan and Rick, Tuk Tuk is a low-key restaurant with two locations near Bilbao and Chueca. All their dishes are based on Asian street food recipes, particularly from Bangkok, Hong Kong and Saigon. With an international wait staff (many of whom are native English speakers) and a range of flavor-packed dishes (plentiful and affordable to boot), it’s no wonder why Tuk Tuk has become so popular among the city’s expat community and Madrileños alike.

Tuk Tuk’s menu features noodles, rice bowls, soups, curries and barbecued meat platters. Chock full of different types of vegetables and spices, your tastebuds get a mix of tangy, spicy, coconuty and sweet ingredients in every bite. Tuk Tuk can please any palate. And it’s vegetarian friendly, too.

You’ll find my favorite dish in the photo below: Babi Panggang (barbecued pork with a caramel-like glaze and thick soy sauce). It came on the Pat Pong Party Platter (€30), a great starter for a big group. Just look at the four dishes it includes:

I also like the mango and cucumber salad as an appetizer to share. As for main dishes, so far I’ve tried a soup, rice bowl and Thai curry. Although I don’t remember their names, I’d happily eat all of them again. My advice: just go in, run your finger down the menu and choose whatever you land on. You can’t go wrong!

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Menu if you feel you need to prepare beforehand

Average price per person: €15-20

Tuk Tuk has two locations now, one near Bilbao and the other, Chueca:

<M> Bilbao: Calle del Cardenal Cisneros 6 |  Reservations: 914 45 91 80

<M> Chueca: Calle del Barquillo 26  |  Reservations: 915 23 25 56

More Asian restaurants featured on Naked Madrid:

• Ramen Kagura, Madrid’s (almost) perfect ramen bar
• Kintaro – Oy Vey
• Sumo – This Japanese restaurant’s name says it all
• Chuka Ramen Bar – Madrid’s hottest ramen restaurant
• Hattori Hanzo – Japanese food, straight up. No sushi.
• Nippon 2 – top quality yet affordable sushi, finally!
• Soy Kitchen – a fusion of Asian flavors
• Karachai – A cozy and elegant Thai restaurant in Alonso Martínez

This was the first vegan restaurant I’ve visited in Madrid and to this day it remains my favourite. Whilst the food is moderately priced, it’s certainly unique. And you absolutely have to try the sharing plate of vegan cheeses!

Rayen Vegano can get surprisingly busy, so make sure you come during early lunch hours if you haven’t made a reservation. Their menu changes daily and they offer homemade bread, cakes and, of course, fresh food.

Even their food changes daily – I’ve ordered ‘Brunchito’ twice and both times the plating was completely different, which is something I’ve never seen before, but it’s welcoming. The waitress speaks English (you can even get the English version of their menu) and the restaurant is extremely passionate about vegan ethics – it shows even through their wifi password.

Everything is cute here, from the little decorative touches on each table to the ‘Happy hour para perros‘ sign outside with a dog bowl full of water and their mission statement – “Change the world, become a vegan.”

And the best part? All vegan and vegetarian restaurants in the area support each other. In front of Rayen Vegano you’ll be able to find a bunch of business cards from other restaurants and shops along with information about meditation and yoga classes.

Info:

By Mandy Lutman 

From May 7th – 21st, the whole neighborhood of Lavapiés will be turned into a blank canvas. Over forty urban artists will be painting, spraying and setting up beer bottles on the streets, storefronts, traffic lights, you name it. This year’s edition of Madrid Street Art Project is the perfect excuse to head on over to Lavapiés, support local artists and enjoy Madrid at its finest. Plus some of our favorite places, like Swinton & Grant (featured in the photo), will be getting a nice makeover. So get out, walk the streets and check it out!

Organizers: C.A.L.L.E. Lavapiés and the Asociación Comerciantes de Lavapiés, an association dedicated to promoting local businesses.

In 2013, biologists Guillermo and Laura – Spain’s newest generation of olive farmers – took over the family business and embarked on an innovative mission: to connect the local countryside with the city of Madrid and make farming a sustainable way of life once again.

How it all started:

Over a century ago, in a small town in the region of Toledo, Guillermo’s great grandfather planted his first grove of around 200 olive trees, and between the evenly spaced olive saplings grew rows of sun-drenched grapevines.

A hundred odd years later, only the footprints of the old vines are visible, but the olive trees have grown beautifully gnarled and twisted, with silver miniature leaves and shiny hard fruit, ready for the annual harvest of some of the tastiest organic extra virgin olive oil in Spain.

The centenarian olive trees

Guillermo and Laura’s story:

Olive farming has been in both of their families for generations, inspiring them to study biology at university, which is where they met. From early on, they drew sketches on scraps of paper illustrating grand ambitions to re-bond our booming capital with its rural backyard, enthusiastically telling anyone who will listen about the genius that is the organic farming ecosystem (it’s genius).

By mid 2014, their dream had gathered enough steam for them to quit their jobs and make Proyecto Los Aires their life, and for being in the midst of an economic depression, it’s incredible how much they’ve already achieved.

The tour:

On Saturday, we headed out to their stunning olive grove in Arcicóllar, about an hour south of Madrid. When we arrived, we met up with our fellow tour buddies and set off on our educational meander through the olive trees.

Guillermo and Laura led us around their oldest plot and explained the process of creating olive oil: from planting and harvesting to filtering and bottling. Their scientific angle on the entire practice is fascinating, but I won’t say any more – the oohs and aahs are all part of the fun!

The walking tour begins

Taking a closer look at the trees

After the walking tour (and tanning opportunity), we sat down at a shaded table nestled idyllically among the centenarian trees. It was time for the tasting. This involved professionally sampling several olive oils in little blue glass cups, and learning how to tell the difference between generic supermarket oil and top-quality organic oil such as theirs.

And then came the food and wine. Through local connections and friends and family, Guillermo and Laura brought together a plethora of Iberian foodie gems for us to eat. A mercado on a table came to mind, and our tour companions’ similarly delighted reactions included lots of “mmm”s and “oh my God”s and jokey squabbles over who liked the pumpkin morcilla most. We chatted, talking about Guillermo and Laura’s endeavours as well as our own, then gratefully accepted Guillermo’s offer of a top-up of wine to accompany our final wander through the trees (and take a few grove-selfies). Finally, we had the opportunity to buy some of the delicious products we tasted that day.

The tasting (and eating and drinking)

The quaintest little market stall in the world

After an eye-opening and mouth-watering experience, we said our goodbyes to the lovely Guillermo and Laura and hopped on the bus back to Madrid, desperate to get the word out to you!

The project explained:

Proyecto Los Aires aims to promote local agriculture by running educational tours & tastings on their farm and forging a direct link between urban consumers and the rural economy. Their oil (Los Aires Extra Virgin Olive Oil) can be found in gourmet shops such as Oleoteca Murúa at Mercado San Antón. Guillermo and Laura also regularly sell their oil in markets across Madrid such as Mercado de Motores, Mercado Central de Diseño, Nómada Market and Gastro Market. Next time you’re there, go and say hello!

Los Aires olive groves

How to get there:

The meeting point for the tour is the bus stop in the town of Arcicóllar (see location here). Regular buses (see timetable here) will get you there from Madrid’s Méndez Alvaro bus station in just over an hour. If you’re driving, it takes around 50 minutes from central Madrid.

Details & Contact Info:

Tours run year-round on any day of the week or weekend and must be booked at least 48 hours in advance.

Facebook & Web

The website is in English and Spanish! For more information about the tour, pricing, and to book, click here.

On May 22 at 7pm, Madrid-based poet James Womack will be reading from his latest collection, ‘Misprints’ from Carcanet Press, at Desperate Literature – our favorite bookstore. Located near metro Santo Domingo, Desperate Literature sells quality books in different languages and holds delightful and free events like this one, always involving a few bottles of wine and some treats. So don’t miss it!

Here’s a full post of ours on Desperate Literature if you’d like to learn the story behind it:

Desperate Literature, for book lovers in Santorini, Brooklyn and now Madrid!

Want to clean out your closet? Pass on the clothes you love but never wear and replace them with something new? If your answer is yes, then check out this pop-up clothing swap by Lady Clementine. It will take place on May 23rd from 12pm-2pm near Retiro. All participants should bring 4-10 items to swap and however many more they would like to sell through Lady Clementine’s site.

Check out the event details here

Or make an appointment to consign your clothes in person here

From the 30th of April to the 10th of May, check out DocumentaMadrid – an international festival of Madrid documentary films. Get to watch more than 80 films in one of Madrid’s most prestigious cinemas — Cineteca in El Matadero Madrid (a former slaughterhouse turned cultural center).

Buy your tickets here.

Here’s a full post on the Matadero if you haven’t been!

It’s very easy when living in Madrid to slide into a certain pattern and become all about the booze. Wine’s cheaper than water (seriously, I’ve paid more for a Perrier than I have for a Pinot on more than one occasion). Cañas replace coffee and without realising, you’ve wound up on an unintentional liquid diet that’s bad for both your purse strings (as well as your head).

Having said that, there are times when you want to chow on down without breaking the bank and dress up for dinner – Lady Madonna has got this nailed. Tucked away on Calle Orellana 6 (a stone’s throw from Alonso Martinez metro) it is a little oasis amongst the local eating options that include Burger King *that said there’s a time and place for a Whopper but maybe not on a Friday night!

First discovered on a random Thursday whilst on a quest for a trendy terrazza, I experienced what can only be described as the best cake that I have ever had in Madrid. It involved Chocolate. It involved Guinness. Weird you say? Nope, more like a party in your boca and everyone should be invited. There literally aren’t enough superlatives to describe its deliciousness – instead I suggest you order it on arrival and wrap up your dins with another one come desert time (again, speaking from experience).

Not only is the food borderline orgasmic (not just my opinion, it’s been uttered by my dining companions if I seem too easily pleased) but the décor is literally like something torn from the pages of Wallpaper Magazine. In other words, not a piece of Ikea furniture in sight and somewhere that I’d quite happily move into after kicking out time. You’re greeted with gorgeous tiled floors, plates that almost got swiped and popped into my handbag and lighting that seemed to create an Instagram filter effect which is never a bad thing in my book. Lady Madonna is completely cornering that New York warehouse vibe.

I’m steadily working my way through the menu but the following things stood out as being calories well spent: the Gambones a la Brasa managed to tempt a confirmed carnivore into seafood submission, whereas the Ensalada de Burrata even had me eating my greens. If like me, dinner isn’t a delight without some decent red action fear not, a glass of Rioja is “una ganga” at 2 euros 50 a pop.

Gambones a la brasa – grilled shrimp

I was warned by the hip (but not scarily so staff) that if you want a table on a Saturday night you need to be booking up about a week in advance. My concern is that after a rave review that might up the ante to a fortnight. Either way, Lady Madonna is the kind of place that cocoons you with its culinary chicness but has you pining for your Oysho jammies by the time you pay the bill (or maybe that’s just me/an attack of my eyes being bigger than my belly!).

Try it, you might like it.

All images from Lady Madonna

Lady Madonna

• Facebook & Instagram: @ladymadonna_restaurante
• Address: Calle Orellana, 6
• Metro: Alonso Martínez
• Phone: 915 02 41 82

Join Moveable Feast for this ‘farm-to-table’ inspired weekend in a finca in Almería, Andalucía, indulging in slowly cooked food, visiting local markets and taking siestas under the sun. Does it get any better than that?

Why join Moveable Feast?

Living outside your home country of course presents numerous challenges, i.e. getting to know people, the language barrier, culture shock and being away from your loved ones, just to name a few. Although one obstacle often gets overlooked – eating proper food.

Making a conscious effort to eat healthy is challenging when you have to translate ingredients and familiarize yourself with the food supply chain, and don’t forget hunting for spots that promote healthy and sustainable living. That’s way groups such as Moveable Feast are a Godsend.

What is it?

Sparked from reading an article about the Slow Food movement in the US, Jenny Pascual started Moveable Feast (also known as Move Feast) with her first farm-to-table event in January 2013, leaving her comfy corporate job in Manila, Philippines. With the mission of connecting those involved in all facets of the food supply chain – producers, buyers, consumers – and promoting sustainable, seasonal, community supported agriculture, Pascual’s passion project has reached the other side of the world.

When is it?

Next month from May 15-17, Moveable Feast will be hosting their first event in Spain at an Andalucian finca in Almería. Showcasing the local produce, cuisine and culture in collaboration with Oro Del Desierto and Unica Group. So if you sometimes find yourself tuned into Master Chef more than you’d care to explain, or simply indulge in menu del día’s all around town, Move Feast is worth the trip to up your food game.

Info & Booking

• Visit their sites: www.movefeast.com and Facebook

We wandered Lavapiés on an overcast day, searching for our regular dosis of cafeína.  As we crept to the door of our usual haunt, my friends and I found a CLOSED sign awaiting us.  Spain’s siesta schedule had tricked us yet again – even baristas need a break.  The time had come to try a new café.

Open since last May, Swinton & Grant sits just off the Glorieta de Embajadores, amid North African falafel joints, street art, and cherry blossom trees.  As you walk down Calle Miguel Servet, you’ll first notice just how big the place is.  Natural light streaks through black velvet curtains, revealing two main areas: on the first floor, Ciudadano Grant, a café-bookstore.  In the basement, the Swinton Gallery, a large space for local artist exhibitions.

Hip folks feel at home here.  Bare bulbs and LEDs light customers’ way to the pressboard bookshelves lined with English and Spanish biographies, comics, and children’s picture books.  Jars of LEGOs and framed pictures of Leonard Nemoy draw your eye to bottles of Arizona Tea, Jones Soda, and fresh cakes and cookies.  Bon Iver, Jorge Gonzalez, and Fleet Foxes tickle the ears while you waltz through the space.

The menu, with its own abstract artwork, impresses.  Coffees come cheap (around €1.40).  For a small charge, you can enjoy the flavor palates of special bean blends from Costa Rica, Kenya, Colombia, and other countries.  Teas come in all sizes, colors, and temperatures.

The café offers a desayuno special before 1PM every day.  While you appreciate the art that is half-Banksy, half-neoclassical, you can try the classic pan con tomate, a ham and cheese sandwich, or a slice of cake with your choice of beverage – all for €2-4.  If you’re still hungry, go for a full-size bocadillo or a giant cookie.

After your sobremesa, take a look downstairs, where artists hang their work in rotating exhibits.  Next on the program are characteristic contemporary pieces from Luis Pérez Calvo, Victor Solana, and Antonyo Marest.  If you’re feeling fancy, feel free to buy the art, with prices ranging from a few euros to a few hundred.

Since my first fateful detoured day into Swinton & Grant’s doors, it’s quickly become one of my favorite Madrid spaces.  These days, when I’m in the mood for comfort, cake, and caffeine, I invariably make my way to Embajadores.

Info:

You may also like:

Best Cafe-bookshops round 1

Best Cafe-bookshops round 2

El Cafelito – for coffee lovers in Lavapiés

Desperate Literature – Santorini, Brookly and now, Madrid!