We spent one week in Madrid in January while working on a project at the Matadero, a huge cultural…read morespace, on the outskirts of the city center. This modest looking restaurant is just across the street. The staff are very polite and friendly. One of the main waiters speaks english and they have an english menu. However, this is not a touristy place in any way. It's very quiet and typical.
The restaurant is a typical Asador where they grill all kinds of meat, seafood and vegetables. We ate here four times during our stay(after we realized how great it was we didn't want to waste our time!) and tried a good selection of dishes. We also visited the much touted "Casa Lucio" and "Botin" restaurants, and this was by far my favorite in terms of the ambiance and the quality of the food.
The best dishes are, for starters: grilled vegetables (zucchini, eggplant, mushrooms and amazing grilled asparagus), the standard salad which is typically served with crisp, fresh lettuce, tuna, tomatoes, olives, etc... and you dress it yourself with olive oil and vinegar. They also do nice grilled shrimp.
For the main course you simply must get the giant cote de boeuf for two (we even got a bigger one for three when our fiend joined us). It's an amazingly tasty steak, salty and fatty and perfectly cooked. They slice it off the bone at the table. It's very close to a Peter Luger steak. THE BEST STEAK!! For a change of pace, the Cod is also excellent. Everything is cooked simply and tastefully using fresh ingredients in a way that only heightens the flavor. There are no sauces to complicate the food.
PS- I am a celiac and Spain in general was good for me, this food here is generally grilled with salt and olive oil.
