Tucked in a side street off the Plaza de Cibeles in the posh Salamanca neighborhood is Las Carboneras de Lu. Your first experience upon entering this restaurant is that you walk on glass looking down on the tables below. You are literally going to have a heavenly gastronomic experience.
The entry of the restaurant is stacked with a plethora of regional Madrid wines. It is a testament to the husband and wife team that own the restaurant, a sommelier and chef, respectively. They give homage to the adage that the best wines are paired with the corresponding local food. Hence Chianti with pasta.
We went to check in, but the hostess was in the phone and did not acknowledge us and in fact had her back to us the entire time. Her colleague checked us in. The hostess then got off the phone and attended to a pair of traveling oafs. The poor pair couldn't tell the difference between aGrenache, pouilly fuisee or a Riesling. Nonetheless the hostess poured attention on them, like pearls to pigs. I laughed when the oafs picked a 14euro wine. They began sitting us when she interrupted the gentleman saying the oafs were next. We interrupted her and stated that in fact no, we were next.
You descend a staircase down into the restaurant. The walls are exposed brick that according to our waiter were pressure washed for over a month to remove the white paint that had defiled them. We were presented with a bread basket that contained a huge assortment of breads. I ordered the shrimp with wild rice and curry sauce; delectable. The rice was perfect and the shrimp were served perfect and not over cooked. My wife and daughter had the pig dish. My daughters was with white meat and was a solid 5. My wife's meat was from the ear portion of the pig and was loaded with bones.
The dessert was a chocolate mouse with violet ice cream. This concoction is worth a trip to this restaurant, even to Madrid! I would walk the St James trail for this ice cream.
Service: Michelin quality with the exception of the hostess.
Food: great but for the selection of meat for my wife.
Ambiance: nothing to be ashamed of.
Come to this restaurant for an authentic Madrid experience sans the touristy menu and ad nauseam paella. read more