Walking tour of Madrid restaurants, foods, tapas and Spanish wine tasting in Madrid Spain. Tours Gourmet.

One of the most scenic and delightful parts of Madrid is the Old Madrid neighborhood, a small and mainly undiscovered area that provides an assortment of authentic Spanish restaurants, taverns, and bars. The walking Tapas Tour of Madrid features English speaking guides that are members of the Spanish Wine Tasting Association. Introducing you to some of Madrid's most amazing traditional eating and drinking establishments is their pleasure and specialty, and you will learn a great deal about Spanish food and wine as you sample both on your tour. The walking tour includes stops at three establishments where you will sample tapas and drinks. The first stop is at an historic family owned tavern. On your second eating stop, you'll enjoy pale Sherry and Jamon Iberico at an authentic "fino" or Sherry bar. Your tour will end at a very popular and distinguished restaurant. Old Madrid - first of all we want to point out the gastronomic richness of this small and hidden neighborhood which is yet to be discovered and which is one of our favorite Madrid tourist attractions. (Don't confuse it with the Huertas neighborhood which is much more contemporary). Old Madrid is the part of the city where our Madrid tours take place because it is a real Spanish food center due to its exciting offer of fancy wine bars (80% of the ones in the city!), tapas bars, romantic taverns, the best restaurants in Madrid that specialize in local cuisine and a distinguished establishment, Botin, the oldest restaurant in Madrid and the world.

Here are some recommendations for eating in Madrid:
RECOMMENDED TRADITIONAL DISHES: Cocido and paella. Cocido: A stew of garbanzos, cabbage, chorizo and possibly other meats, blood sausage or pudding, and vegetables; all stewed in broth.
Even though Paella is an east coast it is available at many restaurants but we recommend that you go to the restaurants that specialize in paella also known as "arrocerias".

RECOMMENDED TRADITIONAL RESTAURANT:Sobrinos de Botin.
This authentic Spanish restaurant is the oldest restaurant in the world, specialities being cochinillo asado (roast suckling pig) and cordero asado (roast lamb). It's perhaps a little surprising that a city like Madrid, with such a large variety and depth of local and Spanish food, doesn't have a wider choice of international restaurants. There's certainly no shortage of American fast food chains or other interesting places in Madrid but finding good quality, genuine, ethnic Spanish food can be something of a challenge.

POPULAR FOODS OF MADRID: During christmas is tradional to eat fried squid sandwiches at Plaza Mayor.

BREAKFAST-This is usually eaten in a bar and most madrileños have little more than a coffee and a sweet roll or croissant for breakfast. Freshly squeezed orange juice is also popular and widely available. Probably the most traditional Spanish breakfast is churros or porras with hot melted chocolate. These are best had early in the morning as they are at their best and crunchiest just after being deep fried.

LUNCH-Eaten between about 1:30PM and 4:00PM, it is probably more appropriate to refer to this meal as dinner as it is the principal meal of the day for many madrileños. Virtually the restaurants in Madrid offer a lunch time menú which is invariably much better value than an a la carte selection and can be excellent. A menu is usually a three course meal, with a limited amount of choice for each course, and generally includes (cheap) wine. The first course can be as light as a bowl of soup of a salad, or as hearty as a bowl of lentils with chorizo. The second course will probably be selection between fish and meat or poultry. Dessert will often be a choice of fruit or some sort of pudding from Spain. The wine included with the price of the meal will almost never be of the finer variety, and it is often mixed with casera or gaseosa, a sweet carbonated drink. Of course it's possible to pay more an get a better wine. Madrid restaurants have a lot to offer for those wishing to eat good Spanish food without spending a lot of money. There are a few tips to follow. Try and eat typical food. As mentioned before, it's best to fill up at lunch, choosing from the wealth of small restaurants offering the lunch time menu. Seafood in Madrid is much cheaper, and often fresher, than in other European countries. In fact, Spain is the second biggest per capita seafood eating country after Japan. Sit-down meals are usually more expensive at supper than at lunch. Its probably more economical to eat tapas for dinner, which are well accompanied by a glass of wine or a caña (small glass of beer). Tapas also offer the visitor a means of trying a large variety of ethnic Spanish food and visiting different eateries on the same night.

The restaurants in Madrid use a variety of Spanish foods combining expansive regional flavours (Andalusain, Basque, Galician, Valencian, Castilian, Riojan) from the Mediterranean, the sun-drenched south, the rugged central plateau and the lush green north. Despite its location, Madrid restaurants also have much to offer in the realm of seafood; in fact anyone up early will see the truckloads of fresh fish and other Spanish food being brought into the city every morning. Madrid restaurants boast the most varied cuisine and the widest choice of dining opportunities in Spain. At the fancy tourist restaurants, eating in Madrid prices are comparable to those in New York, London, or Paris, but there are also many inexpensive, off the beaten path taverns and corporate restaurants.