Okay, I'll do the first one, in English. You could say I'm only doing that because I can't write in Spanish. Well, you'd be ... right. For now, at least.
Anyhow, when I was first looking around to review this place I came upon a review for a different VIPS, in English, where they compared it to a Chilis in the U.S. You know, that's about right. But, I kind of like Chilis. Reasonable menu, reliable, not too expensive....
Oh, yeah ... the VIPS on Calle Velazquez (or Calle Street, as we would say in the U.S... no, wait...) Anyhow, I bump this up to a 4-star because once you normalize food quality by price, you're basically at a 3, or maybe a tad below (given that good, cheap food is legion in Madrid). But then you have to adjust upward for the fact that you are on a cool corner of a cool street in a cool neighborhood in Madrid. The same table a block down gets you higher prices, a spottier menu, and more smoke in your kisser than you'll know what to do with. So location-wise, we're talking something like outdoor-seating at the Chili's at Kahala Mall on O`ahu. Which is good because you are outdoors in Hawai`i. Here, you're renting agreeable space in a cool place in Madrid.
I would not eat indoors at this place (or the Chili's at the Kahala Mall on O`ahu).
Unless I was hungry. read more