Creativity without measure is served here on the plate
Tapas are to Spanish gastronomy what cocido is to Madrid. A must. A way of eating that is so ours has gone around the world. And yes, he has given it, he has traveled to all points of the globe and has returned home.
Then, What happens when this native way of eating is combined with distant flavors? That wonders arise like the ones we are going to discover.
Japan , India , China either Malaysia sneak into the menus of these restaurants that they have found in Asian tapas its new gastronomic champion. They risk and succeed. And what are we going to tell you, they do it so well, that it is quite likely that you will come back several times to eat the entire menu. Shall we start?
It's not just food, it's love and effort made roll
SOMA BY LUKE _(Barbara de Braganza street, 2) _
If we had to give a prize to the creativity beyond measure , that would be for luke jang . You may have read about his story, because this Korean always knew that he wanted to be a chef.
He started peeling onions in a restaurant in his neighborhood, for later study French, Korean and Chinese cuisine.
One day he packed his bags and left his native Korea for Australia, where he worked in a slaughterhouse, until he caught the bug to come to Spain. So neither short nor lazy, he camped at the door of The Bulli until Ferrán Adrià hired him and later he worked for a time in the kitchens of Mugaritz . There is nothing.
His time in these two great houses has left an imprint on his kitchen, which perfectly fuses those techniques and products with the most traditional Korean cuisine.
A few months ago he moved his restaurant to the place that was the old Le Cabrera and thus he has been able to divide his proposal in two. On the one hand, a ground floor of the establishment, where he serves his tasting menu in two passes, one at noon and another at night with the peculiarity that they are all scheduled at the same time and that it is Luke himself who finishes the dishes and explains them.
Gildas, by Luke Jang
On the other, the upstairs area has become his Korean tapas bar. “While in the lower part the menu is pre-established and the flavors are more balanced, the top part allows me to take out all those dishes that I keep imagining, where the flavors are deeper and more powerful. After all, it is the food that I ate at home -bulgogi beef, bibimbap rice, etc.-, in a tapas format so that it is well understood, executed with some Spanish ingredients and typical Korean preparations”, Luke tells us.
The concept is very funny because each dish is an explosion of intense flavors and very well thought out.
For example, he prepares a version of a refreshing Korean gilda, which is assembled with Balfegó bluefin tuna, sesame, piparra, shiitake, pickled lotus and kimchi, spicy and tasty; or his acclaimed saam , which is part of the tasting menu and which also goes up to the bar and It is made with Iberian bacon on a dragon leaf, saam sauce and crispy red onion.
If you are a fan of the baos, here you are going to eat the bathroom of your life Forget about chewy and frozen breads, because to make your own, in Soma's tapas They prepare their own bread, which they lightly grill and fill with meat, kimchi mayonnaise, Iberian bacon and top with herbs to refresh. The bite is sublime.
K.F.C (Korean fried chicken)
They are also very fun **their particular version of K.F.C (Korean fried chicken) ** with fried chicken, rice, daikon and crème fraîche with dill or their Nembi Gyoza , a gyoza soup with seafood, crispy rice and seasonal mushrooms.
oh! And don't forget to try his more than interesting proposal of wines by the glass, very well chosen and out of the ordinary.
THE VIRGIN 154 _(José Abascal street, 11) _
And if we talk about putting together concepts, others who have done it wonderfully have been the boys from La Virgen beer and those from Kitchen 154, that just a month ago opened the doors of your first place where they walk hand in hand. The reason? The good vibes that have always existed between them.
“We already knew each other from the Vallehermoso market, a very good relationship was created between us, because people took the beer in La Virgen and took it to Kitchen 154 and vice versa with their food and We thought why not join forces? , they tell us from La Virgen.
Thus, in a place like few others in Madrid in the middle of José Abascal street, they have opened their new space. And as they themselves say, there they serve 'pure beer and hot manduca'.
This is what happens when Kitchen 154 and La Virgen join forces
They do not accept reservations and the place is diaphanous, fun and noisy and It is located in what was an old garage. You'll sit at long tables and you'll make friends with everyone who sits next to you, because that's what it's all about, to share and enjoy around the table.
To drink, the entire range of La Virgen beers and a new reference created specifically for the premises, “Our Pale Ale devised together with the people at Kitchen 154. A blonde beer, to which we add lime peel and hand-peeled tangerines. This Ale-type beer is perfect for eating Asian food, with spicy points. It will not kill its flavor but it will refresh you to continue enjoying”, they point out.
And how do we talk about asian Tapas, you can not miss that part for which they have been inspired by the premises that bring together under one roof to Chinese, Malay and Indian. The establishment has no smoke outlet, so everything here it is steamed or cooked at low temperature and the menu is short but intense. No more is needed.
start with a selection of siao mai that a lady makes by hand every day for the restaurant, "she can make more than 1,000 dumplings a day" and that are presented in tapas like the Kary Puff with chicken breast and Malaysian curry, a siao mai of pork ear, minced beef and prawns or the impressive Baozi Chair Siu, stuffed with roast pork.
'Pure beer and hot manduca'
They continue with two no/Malaysian salads of roasted baby squid or pig's ear and finish with some 154 classics, like their Korean ribs or their Malay Rendang based on low-temperature beef, star anise, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon, accompanied by jasmine rice.
By the way, as you already know, Kitchen 154 cuisine is spicy and each dish is accompanied by a sauce created by and for him. Get ready to enjoy the beauty.
MEDEA
Surely you have thought about it more than once, at least I think about it almost every day. How cool would it be to have a tapas bar of every restaurant with a tasting menu? Doesn't it happen to you that you take a bite and say, I would eat twenty more and you can't do it?
Well, the chef Luis Angel Perez , creator of Medea and a symbol of Madrid's inventive and creative cuisine, he has finally thought of all of us.
Some time ago they changed their location and with the change came an expansion of the concept. At the entrance of the new Medea now stands the Medea-Bar, a space with high tables and bars where you can enjoy its cuisine in tapas format, as an added bonus to the gastronomic restaurant.
The same as always, but in a fun and relaxed format
“The Medea-Bar is the same cuisine that we do in the restaurant, but in a more fun and relaxed format. It is a way of transferring all our experience of these three years, from the formal to the informal way”, Luis Ángel tells us.
For the bar menu they have thought of dishes that are already on their menu, such as Peruvian chili croquette -OK, it's not Asian, but we had to name it- and the sea of rich dishes like the Korean saam with boneless chicken wings and Mexican dressing, their cheeseburger gyozas stuffed with beef and cheddar and topped with sweet pickles and ketchup or paella ramen, made with udon noodles with chicken and squid legs and that tastes like paella.
To accompany the gastronomic proposal, it is best to do it with beer, its selected vermouth and wines from native grapes who are recovering and interesting foreigners. One of those that you don't see much of.
DERZU BAR _(Baía de Palma Street, 4B) _
Although somewhat removed from the traditional circuit, Derzu Bar has earned a place on this list in its own right, because in addition, He was one of the first to bring an Asian fusion concept to Barajas, and we are referring to the town-district, not the airport. Its freshness and creativity have captivated since it opened its doors in 2016.
His famous 'black gyoza'
Derzu is the second 'son' of Daniel Vangony , which has already begun to stand out with its Bahía Taberna and that in this restaurant is inspired by the film Dersu Uzala of Kurosawa, to create a concept of Asian cuisine that drinks from Japan, China... Or better as they say “We like to practice #KungFood. We play on words with the term Kung-fu, which is used to talk about a skill acquired over time, with perseverance, discipline and effort. It applies to any activity that is carried out to try to do it in the best possible way.
"Kung Food, is our culinary parallel. Kitchen with an oriental touch to which all the love and effort has been put", sentence. And they do all this in front of the client and without cheating or cardboard.
On the menu you can find a crab spring roll, some oxtail dim-sum with quail egg, some Iberian pork gyozas with broth or the already famous black gyozas with baby squid and bacon or a bao stuffed with sausage, cucumber and hoisin. And everything is scandalous.
Also, next April 7th they will celebrate the first 'fight of roosters' . Don't be scared, because what it is about is a dinner in which will face Mawey Taco Bar vs. Derzu Bar, offering a tasting menu in which each one will compete so that each dish is better than the previous one and that will be held in the new Mawey premises, in San Bernardo, 5.
What happens when we bring together something as close to home as tapas with something as distant as Asian food?