As soon as you know you're traveling to Madrid, BOOK A TOUR WITH DEVOUR MADRID!
I first learned about Devour Madrid while reading about places to stay in Madrid on the Spanish Sabores web site (https://tinyurl.com/s-sabores). About a quarter of the way down the web page was an Insider's Tip highly recommending Devour Madrid. Then, quite coincidentally, I was watching CBS Sunday Morning the next day, and they ran a story about a tapas bar crawl through Madrid featuring - you guessed it - Devour Madrid (https://tinyurl.com/madrid-tapas). With the planets aligned, I booked myself and two friends into the Tapas Like a Local tour for our first night in Madrid.
Our evening of tapas deliciousness at Calle de Arenal 11, where we met Joy, our fabulous and incredibly personable tour guide. The tour groups are small - no more than ten - which gave us the opportunity to get to know the others in the group while walking between venues and while enjoying tapas and drinks. Foodies are never at a loss for conversation when hanging out with other foodies, comparing notes and trading stories about foodie adventures while traveling and back home, making our tasting experience that much more enjoyable.
We hit four tapas bars during our 2.5 hour walking tour, starting at Casa Labra, where we enjoyed an incredible codfish croquette that was nothing like what I expected - it was perfectly smooth and creamy inside, with the codfish flavor coming through but not overpowering, balanced nicely by the hot and crisp outer coating. One of my buddies is not a big fish fan and even he admitted that it was quite delicious! To go along with the croquette was a glass of vermouth en grifo (on tap), just sweet enough, a nice aperitif to start the evening with.
The tour continued on to Ópalo, where our host taught us the art of the pour, with several of us trying our hand at pouring a caña of beer with just the right amount of foam. We also had a wonderful tapa consisting of a fried quail egg with potatoes and crumbly pork sausage. Not only was it beautifully presented, it was, by far, the best bite of our entire trip to Spain and Portugal.
I was quite excited about our next stop, as my favorite tapa is gambas al ajillo - shrimp served in a sizzling garlic and chili oil. We went to La Casa del Abuelo, the small tapas bar that originated this dish over a century ago, so it was a real treat to see the small kitchen right in the front of the restaurant turn out dish after dish of this bubbling and delectable dish. Don't let that dish out of your sight until you sop up the garlic and chili oil with some of their crusty fresh bread! The wine served came from La Casa del Abuelo's own vineyards, with three to choose from, depending on your taste. (My recommendation for the entire evening: just have whatever Joy recommends - she knows what pairs best with each bite!)
Finally, our last stop was Casa Toni, where we all sat down and spent a good amount of time enjoying some excellent chorizo that had a great texture and spicy kick, fried calamari, patatas bravas, and a thinly sliced fried eggplant drizzled with honey - all hot off the grill, all quite delicious. As you can no doubt tell by now, the amount of food provided on this tour is quite generous, more than enough for dinner. Again, some more to drink to go along with this bounty of food and great conversation with new friends.
While at Casa Toni, Joy took the time to ask each of us about what kinds of food we wanted to experience during the rest of our time in Madrid, and her recommendations were spot-on. She also provided us with an Insider's Guide listing numerous food options, local attractions, and shopping areas - and walking along the streets on Calles Preciados, Fuencarral, and Serrano helped us discover even more of Madrid's hidden gems.
I really can't recommend a better thing to do on your first night in Madrid than taking the walk over to that doorway at Calle de Arenal 11 and totally immersing yourself in Spain's tapas culture while in expert hands. Finally, "muchas gracias" to Joy for starting off our Iberian adventure on such a high note and for giving us what was truly an extra-special and unforgettable evening.