Mouthwatering in Madrid

The Plaza Mayor area in Madrid, Spain, can be very pricey for meals, especially in the tapas bars on the street Arcos de Cuchilleros; they are mentioned in almost every guidebook.

My wife and I, much to our delight, in March ’06 stumbled upon a jewel of a restaurant for lunch just a block away from the Plaza Mayor. The restaurant is Bar Casa Jacinto (Plaza de San Miguel 4, 28005, Madrid, Spain; phone 913546013).

Most restaurants have lunch specials, but this one had not only fine food but the best deal, a wonderful value. For €6.90 (near $8.50), one can have bread, a first course, a main course, dessert (usually flan) and a bottle of wine, a beer or a bottle of mineral water. This is a no-frills restaurant, but the food is wonderful.

There are three choices for the first course as well as for the main dish, so there is always something that anyone could eat. The first-course selections included a mixed salad, paella, lentil cream soup and green beans and ham, and the main-course selections included hake (a sort of whitefish), meatballs, scrambled egg mixed with ham and mushrooms, and grilled squid.

As an added bonus, the staff, consisting of one waiter and the cook, are very friendly and eager to chat with customers, many of whom are locals from the neighborhood.

We liked this place so much, we had lunch there three times. We took day trips out of town on the other days or we would have eaten there more often.

KEVIN O’BRIEN
Tybee Island, GA