Devour Madrid

The capital of Spain is home to delicious eats, we booked an Ultimate Spanish Cuisine Tour with Devour Madrid to discover what the city has to offer. On our tour, we had a good variety of tapas, desserts, and even drinks! 

1. Confitería El Riojano | Calle Mayor, 10

Our first stop on the tour was Confitería El Riojano, a famous bakery where the royal family would buy their sweets. We got to try a traditional breakfast, home-baked soletilla dunked in warm chocolate. This first taste was heavenly, who wouldn’t want chocolate for breakfast! We didn’t let any of it go to waste; we drank the rest of the chocolate and ended with a café con leche. 

2. Taberna La Bola | Calle Bola, 5

Next, we stepped into Taberna La Bola. The interior of this well-known restaurant was decorated with portraits of all their famous customers. We got to step into the kitchen to see how they cooked cocido madrileño. The stove had little pots with boiling soup, they were preparing for their fully booked lunch. We got a small bowl of cocido madrileño to taste, this chickpea soup definitely hit the spot!

3. Mercado de Jamón Ibérico | Calle Mayor, 80

This market is known for their different types of ham! Jamón is very important in Spanish culture, apparently, every bride wants a ham slicer at her wedding. People go to school to learn how to slice Jamón into perfectly thin pieces! Here we got to taste Jamón Serrano, Jamón ibérico de recebo, and Jamón ibérico de bellota. Each pig is fed a different diet, which meant the quality of their meat depends on the food they eat. We also did a blindfold tasting to see if we can taste the difference!  We paired our ham with a glass of red wine and olive oil.

4. El Anciano Rey de los Vinos |  Calle de Bailén, 19

This bar was next on our tour after we stopped by the Royal Palace. We tried a modern twist to a tradition bulls tail stew. Bull tail regalito was bull tail meat wrapped in filo pastry, fried with a red pepper on top and drizzled with balsamic glaze. It was absolutely delicious and melted in my mouth! We paired it with their sweet vermouth on tap, an aromatized red wine. 


5. Bar Cerveriz  | Plaza de San Miguel, 2

This bar is right across the street from Mercado de San Miguel, one of the most visited markets in Madrid. If you want something more authentic, stop by Bar Cerveriz. Here we met Carlos, the owner of the bar and he showed us his cider pouring skills. Some of us on the tour had a chance to try pouring our own Trabanco Austrian cider by holding the bottle above our heads and the cup down below. Pouring from that height created bubbles and brought out the cider’s aromas. We paired our drinks with homemade tortilla de patatas, a classic Spanish potato omelet, and cured manchego cheese. 


6. La Campana | Calle Botoneras, 6

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Right by Plaza Mayor is La Campana. This small, but popular shop is known for their fried calamari sandwiches. Many locals come here to grab and go, the sandwich itself is very inexpensive and I can see why it’s a favorite. Our sandwiches came heaping with fried calamari! So much seafood, for such little money, perfection! I only took a bite to taste it, because I knew I would’ve gotten full eating the whole thing. 

7. Torrons Vicens | Calle Mayor, 41

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Our last stop was a sweet treat. We walked into Torrons Vicens and I felt like a kid in a candy store. There were many flavors and different types of sweets, it smelled wonderful in the shop. Our tour group made our way to the back where a chef was making some fresh turron. We had a whole platter for our group to taste. My favorite was the Crème brûlée and the original. Our tour guide told us not to hesitate since all the samples were for us. I gave in! I grabbed a handful of each one and I don’t regret it. Then we got to sample Madroño liquor, a strong spirit made from the fruit of a Madrono tree, which is also part of the symbol of Madrid!

// Thanks for having us Devour Madrid!