Madrid

El pescador
Cuisine: Seafood
Address: Calle José Ortega y Gasset 75

El Pescador is a fantastic seafood restaurant in the heart of Madrid. Fresh seafood arrives daily in Madrid and the menu reflects this. The management airfreights them in and prefers to serve them a la plancha (grilled). You might start off with spicy fish soup and accompany it with one of the many good wines from northeastern Spain. If you're not sure what to order, try one of the many varieties and sizes of shrimp. They go under the names langostinos, cigalas, santiaguinos, and carabineros. Many of them are expensive and priced by weight, so be careful when you order.

Casa Paco
Cuisine: Steak
Address: Plaza Puerta Cerrada, 11

Casa Paco is a classical Castillian tavern situated in the traditional Plaza de Puerta Cerrada. The menu includes pisto manchego (similar to ratatouille, lomos de buey (tender ox steaks) and filete de merluza (hake fillets).Señor Paco sears his steaks in boiling oil before serving them on plates so hot that the almost-raw meat continues to cook, preserving the natural juices. Casa Paco isn't just a steakhouse; you can start with fish soup and proceed to grilled sole or baby lamb, or try Casa Paco cocido, the house version of Madrid's famous chickpea and pork soup.

Casa Lucio
Cuisine: Castilian
Address: Cava Baja, 35

Celebrated typically Madrileño restaurant that is so popular it's had to open another dining area across the street. Famous politicians, journalists, artists and VIP's come here for the simple, traditional dishes like Oxtail Stew, suckling pig, callos (tripe), judías con perdiz (green beans with partridge) and capón en pepitoria (capon fricassee). If you want to try a classic cocido madrileño , this is the place to do so.
There is an excellent selection of wines to accompany the food. The restaurant is a well known classic on the Madrid restaurant scene and its interior decor is as traditional as its cuisine-that is why all these powerful people keep coming back-it provides them with a sense of stability in an ever-changing world. Valet parking is available. Entrees range in price from $20-$30 USD. Reservations are recommended. Take metro to metro stop La Latina.

Botín
Type: Spanish
Address: Calle Cuchilleros, 17 Tel: (91) 366 4217. Fax: (91) 366 8494.

This is the oldest restaurant in the world, dating from 1725. The restaurant is also mentioned in the book Fortunata y Jacinta by Benito Pérez Galdós (published 1886-1887) and Goya supposedly worked here before becoming a painter. Hemingway was a frequent visitor and pronounced it one of his favourite restaurants. Today, the restaurant is decidely a tourist spot, since it appears in so many guides. The speciality in this restaurant in Madrid is traditional Castillian dishes with a menu including, roast suckling pig and tender Aranda lamb. The restaurant consists of four floors of tiled, wood-beamed dining rooms, with caste-iron ovens several centuries old.

El Olivo
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Address: General Gallegos, 1

Locals praise the success of a non-Spaniard (in this case, French-born Jean Pierre Vandelle) in recognizing the international appeal of two of Spain's most valuable culinary resources: olive oil and sherry. Designed in tones of green and amber, this is the only restaurant in Spain that wheels a cart stocked with 40 regional olive oils from table to table. From the cart, diners select a variety to soak up with chunks of rough-textured bread seasoned with a dash of salt.

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