Casa Andrés

Restaurante Marrovi
C/ Doctor Uquiola, 7

28025 Madrid

Metro: Carabanchel

Every time, I go to Madrid, I always try to find to time for 2 very good friends, Miguel and Pedro. Pedro was a butcher and he worked with me a lot of years, going to every corner of the world to slice Serrano Ham.

He´s a 65 years young guy, full of energy and with who I share the passion of the good quality food and wine. He´s best friend Miguel is similar, and the 3 of us are just some hungry gourmet searching for the perfect restaurant!

They always bring me in special places,... not the top fashion list restaurants of the city, but the small restaurant, you find in every neighborhood, family run and not expensive but really delicious!

Each time we gather the 3 of us, we are just like crazy kids in front of a new toy,... the menu!

This time, we went to one of their friend´s place, Andrés. The restaurant, is situated in a small street of Carabanchel (South of Madrid), you don´t  really notice the restaurant. No billboard, or special letters,... I would not have found it if I did not know exactly where it was!

You enter and find a small room full of tables and workers having lunch break. The TV in a corner, the dark (not because of the color,...) walls, the old fashioned decoration, makes you feel to come back 20 years ago.

We seat where we wanted, and Andrés came, said hello, and bring the menu of the day. For 8 Euros, you have a full 3 courses menu. All homemade dishes, simple and familiar,... 

I wanted to try everything!!!! I was out of Madrid for 4 months and I was eager to eat real, true Spanish food! I finally chose the lentil stew and then the stuffed cuttlefish. But I could not resist to try before hand, some callos a la madrileña (tripes),....

Most of the gastronomies includes tripe dish. It´s difficult to make you mind to try this when you are not used to this kind of food,... and still this is a very delicate dish. Yes it is! You need to know very well how to prepare it. The secret is how you wash it and steam it before cooking. If you do not do it properly, you will have some strong after tastes that are not nice.

But, if you know how to express all the beautiful flavors of this pieces, you can have one of the most refined dish you can imagine!

In Lyon, this is a very famous dish and really unique too. In Madrid,  the tripe is really different, but I learned to love it too. The callos are cooked with blood pudding, chorizo, belly pork, pimentón and a lot of more spices. The final dish is just wonderful! Please, try it!

But, if you are in Madrid, and wants to try it, be Spanish. Do not go in the new fashion restaurants,... Better enter in a small tapas bar or restaurant, looking crappy and murky! You will surely find the best food in town!

This is one of my secret tip,... Spain is full of tapas bars and restaurants,... you can find any kind of food and prices. But the best places I´ve ever eaten, are these small local restaurants!