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    El Barril de las Cortes

    4.1 (36 reviews)
    PriceySeafood
    Open 12:30 pm - 12:30 am (Next day)

    El Barril de las Cortes Photos

    EL BARRIL DE LAS CORTES ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Trendy
    Intimate
    Good for groups

    Recommended Reviews - El Barril de las Cortes

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    Anat S.

    We had late lunch here, which can be difficult finding in Spain. Food was excellent. Service and ambiance matched up as well. Highly recommended if you ate into seafood and less into meat. Everything was fresh and t

    Paella the first one on the menu
    Jeazette V.

    So very yummy, all the options were very fresh. The ambience is very nice. Had dinner with my hubby & mother while visiting Madrid and we had a difficult time finding something with good reviews. The service was a bit of a mix of quick until we ordered several items then he relaxed. The oysters were so fresh. Not excited about the Croquettes, the oils on the table fantastic! The paella is a go! Get it the rice was not crunchy, it was AMAZING! Get it! Chicken dish was seasoned with lots of thyme. The wine El Vinculo delish we had 2 bottles, nice light wine. The rice pudding was totally worth it! Get it!!! Not a bad dish here. Sorry some pics don't have the food as the waiter already mixed and served it. But visit this place so yummy.

    A quiet night at El Barrel
    Tough Customer C.

    Hard to find due to the strange street numbering scheme around here. It is odd that sequential numbers are not right next to each other. But once I found it, I was surprised to find such a charming little restaurant in the middle of Madrid. I ordered the sirloin with sauce and fries. They came soon enough and were absolutely perfect. Enough sauce for the steak. Cooked to perfection. You can't beat the prices too. Back in America, this kind of meal would be 2 x the price.

    Paella de Pollo
    Joseph And M.

    The food is amazing; we had the best paella in Madrid here. We tried several places and this restaurant is matchless. Everything from the ambiance to the staff and food were wonderful. It was our first visit to Madrid after many years and they made it special. Thank you El Barril! Muchísimas Gracias

    Carajillo?

    The calamari was very good. Took 20 min to get a glass of wine. The service was not knowledgeable on drinks, I ordered a carajillo (originated from Spain) and the brought a warm espresso with baileys. The corn bread was very taste far superior in taste than the white bread. Las paellas tomaron un poco en llegar pero rica, pedimos la paella limpia y la paella surtida. Llego fría es el único problema. La actitud de los mesero fue un poco extraña con la pregunta de un carajillo y sobre lo que tenia la paella. Ambiente muy elegante, y el baño muy bonito.

    Mike M.

    Fresh seafood. Large menus. Friendly and attentive service. Opens early 7pm. Lost of wine.

    At El Barril, high table, near bar area.
    Anthony N.

    First off,, total local spot with fish being the main on the menu. Does have a bit of steak as well. Place is happening. The food is good but the service is pretty bad, we had Andrea and she looked miserable. I guess if we had someone who at least smiled and talked a bit, the whole experience would have been better. She has no business in the service industry . Overall food good, ambiance good, but service not good. So take as you want

    pulpo (octopus) de pedrero a las brasas con alioli suave
    Abigail H.

    Delicious food and a classy atmosphere. They served a rich, complimentary vegetable soup (?squash) that tasted like it had chicken broth as a base. The gazpacho was fresh and delicious. As a primi plato, I loved the pulpo (octopus) de pedrero a las brasas con alioli suave. It was perfectly prepared and not over cooked or rubbery, which happens often.The very formal waiter didn't speak a lot of English and didn't try conversing with me in Spanish either, but suggested I get this option because it was "smaller." When he brought out most of an entire tentacle, no one else wanted any so I ended up eating all of it. Mom's steak was not to her liking, so I gave her the rest of my hake fish, which was excellent. My dad and teenage brother thought the meal was average, but they ordered roast chicken with citrus and rosemary that came in a pan with rice.

    Front door
    Savio T.

    Food was fresh was the octopus was not that tasty. We asked to put salt on it. Bread was not good quality and we had to ask for olive oil. The waiters were a bit passive. The place was packed on a Saturday night. Perhaps that's why the service was not great.

    Fishy fishy
    Stacy P.

    One of the concierge from our hotel recommended this restaurant, as it had gotten rave reviews. Anxious to try something really "Spanish" and upscale, I was impressed upon entering the restaurant and it's beautiful interior. The raisin bread and the Jamon were the best part of the meal. We dressed to the nines for our first real night out on the town, but it didn't matter. Service took a very long time. Ho hum. Bring your needlepoint. Sat down, and once the server realized we didn't speak Spanish fluently, he gave us American menus and then would disappear like a thief in the night, Jason was so thirsty for water at one point, he actually flipped his water glass upside down, because it was dry as a bone, to maybe show a sign to a server, instead the server took it away. Haha. Different customs I guess (even though we had to pay for the water). We ordered: Our starter (complimentary) two pieces of sliced baguettes with squiggle piped mashed potato? Tasted like baby food that was broiled quickly by a salamander... one bite of that Bread - not included, price is 5 EUROS per piece - the white bread was hard and I later thought I should have kept it to throw to get someones attention when we were ignored... the raisin bread was fantastic Mineral Water 4 EUROS In actual glass bottles, mineral water from where (I'll bet they refill them)... maybe a filter in the back? Hmmm... Jamon Iberico Bellota (Acorn fed Iberian cured ham) 25.50 EUROS - absolutely the best part of my meal, a huge portion, and very tasty, My reason for visiting Spain! Croquetas Varidas (Home-made creamy croquettes, different filling every day)13.80 EUROS The ham and cheese were tasty. The ones with fish reminded me of a creamy version of Gordon's fish sticks from the US. Mehhh. Couldn't eat. And the third, even worse, couldn't pinpoint that taste. The cheese shavings? More like the rind of the cheese. Hard as rinds. Comaparable to fiberglass. Inedible. Carravalseca Copa (2 glasses @ 4 EUROS) 8 EUROS Should have just gotten drunk for dinner Merluza A la Plancha - bilbaina lomo 22.50 EUROS (this was to replace the inedible meat dish he ordered) His beef was SOOO overcooked, reminiscent of second class airplane slop, or a Hungryman dinner. Took over 45 seconds to cut through with a knife, tasteless and chewy. Not even brown sauce to cover it. Potatoes were also bland AF. His replacement fish (after I had to call a server over and explain to him, (as a chef myself) that his dish was simply inedible and unfortunate, offered him a fish dish not on the American menu. Figures. They must think that Americans only enjoy McDonalds or something. The fish was tastier and the roasted tomato. The potatoes were basically the same.

    Front of El Barril de Las Cortes
    Julian G.

    Ordered Sole, on the bone, and the clams. Reasonable prices and friendly service. Great atmosphere. Check out the wine cellar on the way to the restrooms. Built on the foundation of an old brick house. Within 3 minutes walking distance of out Hotel- The Westin Palace

    Hake

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    7 months ago

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    2 years ago

    Best food we had in Madrid scallops were the freshest I've ever tasted - and the service was great.

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    3 years ago

    Great service but really overpriced average food. We were even charged 8.5 euros for bread!

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    7 years ago

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    3 years ago

    Nice ambiance, bad service (my food never came, no real attention to it), son's steak so lightly cooked it was raw. Very disappointing.

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    6 years ago

    Amazing grilled octopus and extensive wine list.

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    El Barril de las Cortes Reviews in Other Languages

    Review Highlights - El Barril de las Cortes

    We didn't have a reservation; I had looked for a restaurant close to the hotel that served paella.

    Mentioned in 10 reviews

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    Marina Ventura - Seafood Paella and Campero Paella

    Marina Ventura

    4.5(83 reviews)
    0.1 kmCortes
    €€€

    The dinner here was probably the highlight of my visit to Madrid! I was so happy to get paella -…read moreArroz negro con sepia y chipirones specifically...I still can taste in my dream, lol! Make sure to have a reservation as it looks to be a very popular restaurant. The ambiance was simple and bright. The service was excellent - in fact all servers that I encountered were very friendly yet polite. They'll be happy to provide recommendations as well. I would really like to go back there sometime soon...

    Perfect meal to kick off our vacation in Spain. We were a party of 6, making reservation was easy…read moreand we were seated as soon as we walked in. They have a lot of options on their menu and we decided to go with their tuna salad, seafood salad, croquettes, fried baby calamari, seafood paella and lobster rice. The veggies in both salads were fresh and crisp. They provide you with vinegar and olive oil so you can mix it yourself to your liking and it's perfect for hot summer days. The shrimps were firm and springy, and calamari tender. The croquettes came with 3 flavors. Iberian ham, mushrooms and mussels. They were fried perfectly with it being crispy on the outside, warm smooth on the inside with each flavor coming through as you eat it leaving a savory and pleasant after taste. The fried baby squid was also perfectly fried and seasoned. There wasn't a drop of oil on the paper. The highlight of the meal was definitely the paella and lobster rice. We decided to order 2 different style of rice dish instead of 2 paella just to try out different dishes that they offer. All the rice dishes are priced per person and there is a minimum of 2 order per dish. Since we have 2 young kids and 2 elderly who don't eat that much. We ended up ordering 2 portions of paella and 2 portions of the lobster rice. The paella was heavenly. The rice was flavorful and perfectly seasoned, al dente but has a nice crispy bottom from being cooked in the pan. The seafood was fresh, including various dish and shellfishes. The only thing was they included 2 different types of shrimps and one of them, not that it's not fresh, but has a more mushy texture which I'm not a fan of. The lobster rice was scrumptious. It was cooked in broth and is soupy. The broth was extremely rich and favorable yet it's not creamy so you won't feel too heavy. There were plenty of seafood and topped with one whole lobster which has big chunks of meat. This was my favorite dish for the evening. We weren't able to finish everything and ended up bringing some of this rice back and it reheated well the next day. The restaurant was comfortable and spacious Europe standard. It was a super hot summer in Madrid as we got hit with the heat wave. Most of the restaurants in Europe have little to no AC but I was happy to walk into the restaurant with sufficient AC. Our servers were also very friendly and attentive and we were offered a complimentary after dinner drink as well. I highly recommended Marina Ventura!

    Photos
    Marina Ventura - Table setting

    Table setting

    Marina Ventura - Salad with Jamon Iberica - very nice but overpriced.

    Salad with Jamon Iberica - very nice but overpriced.

    Marina Ventura - Paella de pollo.

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    Paella de pollo.

    Cervecería Monje - Assortment of croquettes

    Cervecería Monje

    5.0(5 reviews)
    0.9 kmPalacio

    Small place next to our hotel Palacio de los Duques. It wasn't open until 8:30 pm but we waited…read moreuntil then. Wait Staff spoke a bit of English so no worries. We had the grilled artichokes with jamon, the assortment of croquettes and the octopus shrimp risotto. All of it was very tasty and blew our minds, especially the croquettes! Best taste better than in Seville and Barcelona!! No kidding, you should try them. The artichoke wad prepared a totally different way than I've ever seen. Very tasty, small amount sold as unit but we ordered two pieces- enough to enjoy for each of us. I would go back- this know for the seafood. Lots of specials including clams/ conches/ fish dishes. Felt full enough afterwards, really enjoyed their cuisine. A hidden gem.

    What a fantastic find! We are staying at the Gran Melia Palacio De Los Duques. The concierge…read morerecommended other tourist traps for Tapas. Thankfully I searched yelp for a five star Tapas restaurant and saw that there was one right next door. We met the owner Luis and his wife Roxanna were fantastic. We ordered squid al Galicia, white clams in garlic oil, white shrimp and Jamon. Everything was so good including the wine. Luis gave us tips on where we need to go. Great food and wine and more importantly great people!

    Photos
    Cervecería Monje - Artichokes

    Artichokes

    Cervecería Monje - Delicious clams in a garlic broth...perfect for sopping up with the bread!

    Delicious clams in a garlic broth...perfect for sopping up with the bread!

    Cervecería Monje - This is an revised version of an earlier photo I submitted during my wonderful trip to Madrid.

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    This is an revised version of an earlier photo I submitted during my wonderful trip to Madrid.

    La Ría

    La Ría

    4.0(6 reviews)
    0.2 kmSol

    Among the numerous eateries in the Sol area is this tiny place specializing in mussels, the word…read more"majillones" helpfully written in the largest font on its storefront. Most of the seats are outside, where 5 tables provide seats for 2 - 4 each, although more can probably be improvised. Inside, as if to ensure the diner doesn't forget it, neat rows of mussel shells are strung and hung along all the walls. A counter inside provides a place to enjoy the food and beverages standing, at a lower cost. But al fresco is where it's at in Spain so take a seat and wait for the waiter to check in. They offered an English menu in addition to Spanish. The mussels section is extensive, prepared in different ways but mostly served room temperature, alongside other classic tapas. The mussels are cooked well; tender, plump, and juicy. The spiced ones, in particular, were delicious, seasoned well, packing enough heat for flavor without overwhelming. The mussels in hot tomato sauce came warm in earthenware and smothered in sauce but was bland, an odd thing in Spain where excess salt is far more common. Their patatas bravas are worth a mention, being exactly what these potatoes are supposed to be: mouthfuls of fresh-from-the-frier heat, crispy and pillowy in texture, and doused in just enough hot pepper sauce. Along with a glass of cana, this makes for a nice tapas stop in Sol.

    Food is good and staffs are funny and friendly. Really good restaurant deserve for trying!read more

    Photos
    La Ría
    La Ría - Detalle servilleta

    Detalle servilleta

    La Ría

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    El Barril de las Cortes - seafood - Updated May 2026

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