It doesn’t matter. The wine list is terrific. I did the paired tasting menu 2x, and they will make substitutions if you don’t care for a wine. In my case, it was a Chardonnay from Rioja. No bueno.
I don’t understand the dislike of Berria really. Maybe because (like always really) we chose by the bottle. We drank Autour de Minuit 16 and Bardette 2015 the first night and Bouchard Bo17 and VV19 the second all for very good prices.
My issue was 85EUR for 6 small pieces of food and 110EUR for 7 small pours of average to good wine. If I went just for wine and ordered from the list, I would have likely been happier, but their food was nothing special, and the price was just stupid.
I spoke to a friend who lives in Madrid and he did say prices are up significantly there.
We went to TriCyclo last night and had a good meal. Wine service was patchy but I later learned the head sommelier just left.
Angelita tonight.
I’m fairly with you on this as well. Though I did feel rather stupid for paying up for a Comando G Rozas when Ganz and Angelita had it for half of what I paid at Berria. So it goes.
I think what does work for me though is if you are able to sit outside. I loved it two years ago when I did that and I was able to snag some Hubert Lamy for what I felt was a fair price
I just hate the tablet-based list, both the medium and how it’s organized by price with pictures of bottles to scroll through. Takes forever to browse.
I guess it changed since we went last. Pretty sure I used my phone (via a QR code) and it was logically organised with classifications.
By classification first, but within each by price when I saw it. I hate QR code menus even more than tablets. Both make it impossible to look back at something easily in a long list.
I had a really good lunch at Treze in Madrid. It’s in the Bib Gourmand.
Solid food and good wine list like the classics Lopez Heredia/Pingus etc but also some Telmo Rodriguez/Suerte del Marques, also good sherries btg like Equipo Navazos.
1 Like
Dined at Coque and took the vegetarian menu - very well done, great flavors - skipped the wine pairing and just got a bottle. Enjoyed it. But contrast dinner at Invernadero was a little too Californian - in a hippie food kind of way. Flavors were good but very casual and informal. Both tasting menus gave a lot of food - so much so I ended up skipping the last few savory courses at both. Coque seemed like a Michelin experience - Invernadero like a neighborhood joint.
1 Like
Our oldest son (22) just arrived in Madrid yesterday for a semester. He is about 20 minutes north (by metro) of central Madrid. He will be very much on a student budget (at least until mid April, when dining options will briefly be expanded for a week or so 
).
I told him I would ask the Berserker hive mind for some budget dining options. He is reasonably adventurous and there isn’t much that he is unwilling to try. Any and all recs would be appreciated!
If he sits at the Bar at Taberna Laredo, that would be a nice “splurge” meal for the budget (as in, you’d be more than fine).
The better part is that he can work his way around Madrid going nuts on tapas and have a blast. Casa Revuleta has some of the best fried cod I’ve had. He’ll also have a good time at La Fisna. If he’s into coffee, Madrid’s coffee seen has exploded with high quality options. Tell him to download the CoffeeTrip app. That came in handy for me and it’s focused on places that do single origin coffees. It’ll be a worthless app as soon as he leaves Europe, but he can at least go nuts with it for the semester.
He should also probably dig into the videos Spain Revealed have put out. They’re based in Madrid and cater to an audience that will probably be more your son’s speed
1 Like
Mercado Central for cheap good eats.
1 Like
Keith, you’ll appreciate the fact that he is at the Atlético-Osasuna match as we speak. He sent me the following text: “Simeoneball is even more exciting in real life 
”
1 Like
Hey Todd-
My daughter (24) has been living in Madrid for two years-post graduation, teaching English.
She loves it. Also on a budget- here’s some of the restaurants and bars she frequents with friends. She lives in Malasana- so most of these are in that general area.
Hope your son has a good time. it’s a great city, especially if you’re young!
Madklyn
El Chapandaz
Mercado San Miguel
La Venduca (I also like this one!)
Pez Tortillas
Sideriea el Tigre
Casa Dani (tortilla)
1 Like