24-hour guide to flirting in Madrid
GOOD MORNING
A breakfast date can be a great plan when you don't know your crush very well and you don't intend to make the evening too long. But it can also be the start of a long day if things work out. especially if it's the weekend.
**A) ** The environment of The Little Big Café _(Fernández de los Ríos, 61; María de Molina, 24) _ is perfect for a quiet date, sitting around a small table, enjoying a freshly brewed coffee and a portion of homemade sponge cake and without additives. If the songs accompany and the evening goes on until noon, They have a menu of salads and healthy sandwiches. . Just like in Toma Café _(Palma, 49) _, an institution and a pioneer in betting, finally, on quality coffee in the city, accompanied by biscuits, cookies and light snacks.
**B) ** At Monkee Koffee _(Vallehermoso, 12) _ , the best is the coffee, without a doubt, but the packaging invites you to have an impromptu date, one of those "since we're around here..." or one planned with premeditation and treachery. local monkey , with an industrial aesthetic, high ceilings, cement floors and long wooden tables to share. Hint: if you want short distances, the best is the sofa in the back corner.
**C) ** They tell you that “on my last trip to New York I discovered mini cupcakes. Don't you know what they are? I invite you to try them, they have just arrived in Madrid. They make them daily at Valentinas _(Carranza, 20) _. I'm sure you'll love them." And almost without realizing it... You have an appointment at 10 in the morning.
An entire coffee institution
AT THE TIME OF THE CANE
Nothing like a reed to break the ice and start talking. At least in Madrid, where the hour that separates lunch from tapas is practically non-existent, And one thing leads to the other…
A) A cane with some grilled prawns , is there something more traditional? It may seem typical and not very daring, true, but that doesn't make it boring, not if the chosen place is one like the El Pez Martín tavern _(Atocha, 73) _. Its aesthetic is seafaring, and its Galician and very fresh products to drink at the bar or at one of its interior tables, for that of being more calm.
**B) ** Vermouth is a good idea, increasingly present in the city. If combined with sessions of Dj and original tapas , the result is a very rogue date at Verbena Bar _(Velarde, 24) _. And let the fun continue!
**C) ** The 'study or work' thing has long since passed into history. But if someone walks in asking you something like ‘how do you like your tortilla?’, they take you to the Pez Tortilla _(Pez, 36) _ for sure. But beware, the answer should be "liquid", which is how a real tortilla should be , if not, it means that you have no idea about life (that's what they say in the Pez Tortilla).
What happens in the Verbena...
** WEEKEND BRUNCH**
Late breakfasts are cool to start a date (well, it's Sunday and you don't have to get up early) and also to continue one that started the night before (also good, because it seems that this is going on...) . Because no matter what happens, at least you know you're going to eat breakfast a lot, and late.
**A) ** A classic among classics is Fonty _(Castelló, 12) _. Haute patisserie and French-style bistro in the Retreat area where you should go if you want to impress with bites in the purest Parisian style: croissants, crêpes, tartlets, macarons... although they also have cocktails , in case that moment comes when you need a little push to lose your embarrassment. Ganz _(Almadén, 9) _ is also a good idea, same bistro coffee roll but more traditional , in the neighborhood of Las Letras, with a menu based on natural juices, fresh pastries, bread with butter and jam, yoghurts... and more, much more.
The ultimate breakfast-brunch
**B) ** There are places in the purest all you can eat, all you can drink style, to enjoy the day as if it were night, as in the Chicote Museum _(Gran Vía, 12) _, a very pure club style surrounded by photographs of the characters that have passed through there throughout its more than 100 years of history. For a late breakfast, a selection of pastries such as croissants and pain au chocolat which are eaten together with mini oxtail hamburgers, chicken gyozas or salmon makis. And after brunch, DJ sessions that last until Sunday night. Anything can happen.
**C) ** How about a street food? It is the gastro trend of the moment, versioning haute cuisine dishes in a street snack format. And for that, the quote is motherEAT _(AZCA complex, Paseo de la Castellana, 89) _, or did you not know that it is the gathering that concentrates the largest number of foodtrucks in the city once a month, the one that allows you to take high-altitude dishes with your hands and sitting, or even lying on the grass, and that they close late? You already know it.
MadrEat Market: the perfect excuse
TIME TO EAT
Along with dinner, lunchtime is the most common time to have a date but, at the same time, one of the most complicated due to the risk of not making the right choice. Burger? It can be too casual, even in the most gourmet places. Japanese? Ridiculous if you don't know how to eat with chopsticks. Spit? Failure if the other person is a vegetarian… But you have to take risks.
**A) ** Is there a chic place, super current, elegant but informal, atmosphere with a glamorous retro touch, that can be eaten almost at any time , that the menu has a little of everything and that it is cute for a date for two? Yes, many, and one of them is the Villanueva Hideout _(Villanueva, 26) _. It is a mythical city that has just been renovated , inside and out, and just to see it deserves a date. To chat and have a relaxed conversation is also Quentin _(Jorge Juan, 17) _, modern, informal cuisine, at prices that are not exaggerated despite being in the Salamanca district, and an atmosphere decorated in the style of an original vintage grocery store. Behind this concept, the team of the classic El Paragüas, is there a better guarantee?
And if you have more typical culinary tastes, an Italian can also be a good option , who does not like pasta or pizza? If they are baked in a wood oven, Sicilian style but in Chamberí, it is already the best. This is how they prepare them at the Premiata Fornería Ballaró _(Santa Engracia, 90) _, a place with a red and white interior design that couldn't be more fifties.
To the rich hamburger!
**B) ** Almost everyone likes hamburgers, even more so if they are gourmet. The Goiko Grill roll is cool, a fun atmosphere in its premises and a menu that always has the occasional naughty surprise: they have one 12 centimeters high! Let's not fool ourselves, it is difficult to manage without getting dirty, but the good taste in the mouth is guaranteed. Continuing with American food, why not a hot dog? Okay, but informal, signature and with views of Madrid from above, to impress a little more if possible. At Perro Bar _(Gourmet Experience Callao, Plaza de Callao, 2) _ it is possible. It is not the typical romantic place to go as a couple, but the size of its bar and the not at all strident light, allow more than one confidence in the ear, for sure.
**C) ** They tell you to stay in one of those traditional bars, with grandma's recipes and flavors that remind you of your mother... Yes, because it's new. It is Russian steak _(San Bernardino, 15) _ and has just opened in the same place and with almost the same aesthetic as the Rough Bar that previously occupied its four walls. To eat, what its name says, Russian steaks, patatas bravas and ham and chicken croquettes. Although they can also take you to a more sophisticated site. Few know that the Arzábal boys' Club A is now A Japanese Kirikata _(Antonio Acuña, 19) _, a Japanese restaurant with an exquisite British soul. They prepare up to 30 elaborations of sushi cuts that are tasted from Chester-style sofas.
Newcomer from San Bernardino Street
SWEET TEMPTATION
A freshly brewed coffee, with its own blend if possible, homemade pastries, original pastries and other snacks , even salty, with which to surprise mid-afternoon. That way it will be hard to resist.
**A) ** Mama Framboise _(Ferdinand VI, 23) _ is the best. The site is refined but very warm, almost homely , with stripped furniture, aroma of toasted bread and freshly made pastries. Leaving there without eating at least one of their macarons or a tartlet is a sin. Even more collected is Motteau (San Pedro, 9), a tiny signature confectionery in the neighborhood of Las Letras with barely room for a couple of small tables and a workshop in sight. Her lemon pie has come from another world to conquer us all. **Also with a relaxed atmosphere is Cafelito ** _(Sombrerete, 20) _, a tavern with a bar, a lounge with sofas and coffees with Colombian recipes that are made one by one, at the moment, and with secrets that seem to come from the laboratory of an alchemist from the heart of Lavapiés.
**B) ** As there are no rules in snacks, they can invite you to a cold or hot, sweet or salty, or even all at once. This is what happens in space hot/cold _(Carretas, 15) _, where you can have a slice of pizza al taglio -with the signature of Square Pizza behind-, with a frozen yogurt from the international Yogen Früz . And so divine. Also betting on insurance, and on weekends, one can go for a barbecue on the terrace of The Hat _(Imperial, 9) _. The atmosphere, relaxed, modern and with a touch of bohemian city. Views of the city's rooftops they become the perfect excuse to have a conversation, or many.
**C) ** The new, what almost nobody does in the city yet, they like it. Did you know that Panda by Hattori Hanzo _(Desengaño, 11) _ is the first authentically Japanese pastry shop in Madrid, and one of the few in Spain? It opens at snack time to take you straight to Tokyo with its wawashi: spectacular mochis filled with ice cream, dorayakis -identical to the bun that Doraemon ate- and matcha tea frappes.
The Perfect Japanese Date
HALF LIGHT APPOINTMENTS
It is the quote par excellence: We stayed for dinner and then... We will see. It gives rise to being in a romantic environment, but it all depends on the intentions and the desire that they have, or not, to impress.
**A) ** Would you like to have dinner in a place with a relaxed atmosphere, dim lighting, intimate corners, tables for two, a good menu based on market cuisine and an extensive selection of wines? Well, let's go to the Vinoteca Moratín _(Moratín, 36) _, in the neighborhood of Las Letras. It's like a little bistro, with style and many books on the shelves ; It is a very good idea to surround yourself with them, in case the conversation falls apart and resources have to be used. Another that smacks of total seduction is the Bodega de los Secretos _(San Blas, 4) _, a restaurant built, or rather hidden, under the ground in Madrid on the remains of an old cellar from the 17th century. Vaulted ceilings and nooks just for two. In such a context, you have to give badly in order not to emerge victorious. And for a first date in a super romantic restaurant, but with informal snack food, another classic is Donde Mónica _(Padilla, 3) _ a place with a small interior garden patio, with tables for two and candles.
**B) ** Buns and Bones _(Santa Isabel, 5) _ is a very rogue and casual corner in the lower part of the Anton Martin market , the only restaurant to date specializing in baos or oriental sandwiches in Madrid. It is to eat with your hands, at tables that are sometimes shared and that is almost in the middle of the street. **More street food is what comes out of Mi Kitxen ** _(Hartzenbusch, 8) _, street dishes from all over the world but here they are served on a plate; a place with two faces, because the informal cuisine vibe is combined with an intimate space divided into an interior lounge and tables for two in the front part, which give it that little formal point that serves to conquer a first dinner as a couple.
**C) ** And since what is most popular is Asian, why not discover a Nikkei haute cuisine version, with a tavern format? Well, come on, straight to Ronda 14 _(General Oráa, 25) _, a restaurant whose cuisine is the result of many influences: tiraditos, ceviches, rolls and makis They share a menu with cachopinos and homemade croquettes -these latter dishes are a direct legacy of the first Ronda 14 restaurant opened in Avilés (Asturias) by the same team-.
More privacy, impossible
THE FIRST CUP... OF MANY MORE
Although the idea is not always to end up like a certain Alfredo... meeting up for a drink works. And if the place and the environment accompany it, it can be the trigger to take a second one.
**A) ** You can start the night quietly, without frights and little by little, with a drink in a chill out environment, of exotic decoration and, why not, a bit labyrinthine . There is no reason to be nervous, especially if the name of the site has the word coffee, which always reassures you in case you are one of those who do not launch just like that. And, in addition, they also have cocktails and live music. So straight to Café La Palma _(La Palma, 62) _. More classic is the 1862 Dry Bar _(Pez, 27) _, a cocktail bar like the ones from before, with an ultra careful aesthetic , small bar, high stools, a large mirror on the wall and a couple of lamps that fall from the ceiling. An elegant place, with class and limited space, to make the date even more intimate.
B) Casual, genuine atmosphere and with its rogue point to go for drinks? Yes, and their cocktails are heart-stopping. It's Le Cabrera _(Bárbara de Braganza, 2) _, an informal bar with creative cuisine and a cocktail menu with more than 60 to choose from: from signature cocktails to classics , old glories and champagne cocktails, as well as others for drivers, in case there is no money left for the taxi back home...
**C) ** When it comes to drinks, the usual ones, there are those who go beyond the brands and put the homemade before the prefabricated. Well, Macera Taller Bar _(San Mateo, 21) _ is the perfect place. You have to go with time , because this place with the soul of a clandestine alcoholic laboratory fills up and in what way. Its handmade alcohols are giving a twist to the premium concept of the city based on quality and popular prices. And then there is Meat _(Santa Teresa, 4) _ a burger that is more like an industrial slaughterhouse than a restaurant : New York flair, art gallery, space for exhibitions and hamburgers made to order. Although since the date is at night, what is interesting is his cocktail facet. They have a menu, very good, but here's a little secret: his thing is to approach the bar, talk to the bartender and let him surprise you with a cocktail shaker.
Speciality: house spirits
Voucher. Now is the time for the count.
MOST OF A: your date is with a romantic person, almost shy, I would dare to say, the one that chooses the places based on the ambient decibels, because what she wants is to talk and conquer with a leisurely conversation.
MOST B : you've been with someone throw yourself, that goes in a hunter plan ready to succeed, a person that what he needs is a stage that rises to the occasion to step on sure.
MOST OF C : you have in front of someone trendy, that trend tracker, that one who knows everything that is new in the city and goes straight to impress with the gastronomy of the moment . The best thing is that, whatever your conqueror or conqueror is, the plan is guaranteed, because if you don't take a second date, at least you already know one more place to go out and flirt the next time.
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The classy cup