Traditional cuisine in a cozy place in Recoletos
Marriage anchovy and boquerón with orange reduction, trompe l'oeil of ravioli with avocado jam, fake nigiri with truffle mayonnaise…
Just reading it makes you want to close the letter and have someone ask for you? Do not despair, we have a new traditional tavern in the capital so that the only problem is deciding on the oxtail dumplings, the Iberian secret or the hake in green sauce.
It's called Bandido, it has just opened at number 11 Calle Recoletos and inside it hides a secret door that leads to a private club called Misericordia.
You want to know more? Sit down, let's grab something first.
Iberian cured meats table
LIKE AT HOME, BUT WITH AN EXCEPTIONAL CHEF
As soon as you enter the Bandit Tavern, the feeling is to feel like in the living room (with American bar included) .
A dozen tables are distributed around the premises, lit by fun colored lamps and decorated with pictures where the food of a lifetime is the protagonist (also in the bathroom).
Bandit keeps a secret in one of its walls...
The chef Javier Moyano goes in and out of the kitchen to make sure that everything is to the taste of the diners. He doesn't ask much either, just looking at their faces is enough, they all walk around with their mouths full.
After going through restaurants like Lasarte, Sergi Arola Gastro, El Serbal and run the stoves Hotel Villamagna, at Taberna Bandido, Moyano bets on traditional recipes wrapped in a concept castizo-cool that, as we have already said, he invites you to drop down as if it were the sofa at home (there are already many who have moved their afterwork to their terrace).
The sweet spot is taken care of by the pastry chef Paco Torreblanca and one euro from each dessert will be donated to the El Sueño de Vicky foundation.
anchovies in vinegar
CASTIZA KITCHEN IN SILVER TRAY
To open mouth, a Iberian cured meats table and some Doña Tomasa preserves (the anchovies in vinegar are open like a sheet and the peppers are served roasted in muscatel firewood).
They also have traditional flavor portions –what else?–: Madrid omelette, fried ear in brava sauce and our favourite: oxtail dumplings (with a lot of sauce please) .
Are you more of a spoon? The callos a la madrileña and the onion soup with parmesan gratin and egg yolk will not disappoint you.
The oxtail dumplings
For carnivores, we have great and delicious news: the no rib stew, whose aroma reaches us from the kitchen and reaches our table on a silver platter and topped with a Parmesan comb.
The marinated Iberian secret , the chick in pepitoria and the suckling lamb shank glazed complete a menu of meats that will make us return to Bandido again and again.
In the sea section: confit cod, squid stuffed with black sausage or sea bass with asparagus grilled in sea and mountains of carabineros and trotters (a-hí-es-no-da).
No rib stew: to eat it with your hands
THE SWEETEST NEAR-END
The star of homemade desserts could not be other than one of the classics of Madrid: brioche toast, accompanied by cinnamon ice cream.
Do you prefer to innovate? Try the sobao pasiego custard or the puffs of cream (on a bed of chocolate and orange) .
The cream-filled bartolillos add the sweet touch
MERCY: THE CLANDESTINE PARTY BEHIND THE LOOKING GLASS
Diners enjoy after-meal conversation without knowing that under their feet lies Mercy The Club, in charge of Theo Marshal, and whose dj is already playing the first songs of the night.
why do so many people disappear behind the bathroom hallway curtain and never comes out again?
traverse the secret access that introduces us to this clandestine bar, whose interior design bears the signature of Ines Benavides (just like Bandido), it's like going backwards to the movida madrileña or enter a speakeasy in Berlin.
The night of Madrid is clandestine
The stairs that lead to the interior of this cave of wonders welcome us with the phrase "Life is a party" while the music bounces off the bricks of the cracked walls, what make it out No one knows what's going on down there.
Dim lighting, cinema spotlights, graffiti on the walls with messages of 'free interpretation', a leather armchair and even a child's bed from the 60s.
Meanwhile, in the underground of Madrid...
And here comes the bad news: for now, To enter you will have to get one of the 200 existing keys or know someone who has one.
The Madrid night is clandestine and you are going to ask mercy for living it.
Nothing really suggestive has been cooked in broad daylight.
the stairs of hell
Address: Calle Recoletos, 11 (Madrid) See map
Schedule: Tavern: from 10 in the morning to 2 in the morning from Monday to Thursday and until 2.30 on Fridays, Saturdays and the eve of public holidays. On Sundays it will only be open until noon.
Additional schedule information: Misericordia: until 3:00 a.m. on weekdays and 3:30 a.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and the eve of holidays.