There is a dearth of vegetables in Madrid other than salad greens and potatoes (usually fried). Or, you might get a slice of zucchini on a pinxto. We're not vegetarian and were okay with eating meat but it's nice to know where you can get something containing more than a slice or two of vegetable if you need to balance out your diet. There is a little pocket of vegetarian restaurants not far from Cava Baja (near Calle Alfonso--sorry, don't remember the exact location).
There is also a spinach lasagna at one of the Cafe Del Oriente locations overlooking the Plaza and palace. If anyone finds a place that serves broccoli in Madrid, let me know. :)
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9363 posts
You must not have ever ordered the menu del dia anywhere, as the first course is usually a huge plate of vegetables fixed a variety of ways.
Posted by
Los Angeles, CA, USA
1003 posts
Maybe broccoli is just not that popular in Madrid. The Mediterranean diet is hardly lacking in vegetables. In fact, Spain is where I first tried and learned to love artichokes. Maybe you're looking for something that you just won't find.
Posted by
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
265 posts
Don't you know Madrid is where Dr. Atkins got the idea for his diet? Pig, pig and more pig with a little potato fried in pig lard. Just kidding, but it does feel like the've never seen a veggie. Did you try the pig ears in Madrid? There's that pig again. Now I went north to visit the relatives in Asturias. There you get Octopus, Octopus and then you might get some Squid or Cuddle fish. Aren't those related to Octopus? I don't love veggies, but I eat them daily, they're suppose to be good for you, right? They do make a great Fabada Asturiana (Asturian Stew) there, it does contain white beans and collard greens with ham. Man there's that ham again. I guess Spain is not a good place to visit for vegetarians. Must be tough? But not impossible.
Posted by
OP
Gloucester, MA, USA
10 posts
Nancy, I didn't see a menu del dia--I'll have to keep an eye out for it next time. I didn't really expect broccoli, I was just curious whether that is something they have access to in Spain. Miguel, I'll have to watch for that stew too! I'm actually cooking the white beans for my own right now! (white beans, chorizo, kale) I forgot to try a pigs ear. :( Didn't see any at the places we went actually. Also, just realized yesterday that we didn't try any of the Bellota jamon although we did buy 100 grams of the next best black-footed jamon de Iberico at the Museo de Jamon. I brought my digestive enzymes along, so I did okay. :) One thing I forgot to mention is that we found the service in Madrid to be very good. We had read that it was hard to get decent service because the waitstaff doesn't work for tips but, that wasn't our experience at all. It's true we often had to get a waiter's attention to bring us the check but, I felt like that was because it would've been considered impolite for the waiter to make the suggestion that we should leave by offering to bring a check before being asked.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9363 posts
A menu del dia (menu of the day) is offered almost anywhere with sitdown service. It is a set menu. It is usually three courses, a starter, a main, and a dessert or coffee. You have a choice of a couple of options for each course. And you won't find fabada (at least not authentic) in Madrid. It is from Asturias, a regional dish that they are very proud of.
Posted by
St Petersburg Florida
951 posts
Being a vegetarian is rather fun.....until you are in certain places in Europe. In Vienna, we dined on cheese sandwiches, fried mushrooms, and giant cream filled pastry rolls (at the christmas market, I do not remember what they were called, but they were good). Our GI tract was suffering so......then we arrived in budapest, and near our B&B was a vegan cafeteria. I never new a salad would turn me on so much. We covered our tray in so many vegetable colors, instinctively. OUr tummys said "ahhhhhhhh" when we finished. But back to Vienna. On the menu, you would find a section for vegetarians........fried cheese, fried mushrooms, fried vegetables, that you can dip into some kind of ranch dressing. Yes, it was good, but really......fried veggies under the label "Vegetarian"?
Posted by
Oak Park, Illinois
4535 posts
I don't really think of Spain as lacking in veggies, but you might have to be more specific in what you order. The restaurants are probably more likely to serve what is in season there, so you may not see as much of what we do in the US. It is true, waiters do not usually bring the check until you ask for it. I spent a few weeks in Germany, Czech and Austria a few years ago. Finding veggies there took real effort...