Madrid in 2 days

[windycity]

Please critique my eating schedule:

Juana la loca - really looking forward to the tortilla espanola.

Need a good recommendation for a restaurant specializing in paella. I wasted my Barcelona chance to eat paella. I have Barrera and La Reina, need help picking between the two.

Casa Lastra for Asturian.

1 day will be spent in Segovia eating luscious luscious cochinillo so I don't want asador in Madrid.

[windycity]

I ate at La Barraca and it was the best paella that I've ever had. We had the rabbit paella, and it was brothy and the rice was rounded and creamy. Also had the flan for dessert, that flan has the perfect texture and consistency.

[Steve]

Mmmm, sounds good. My paella 'La Barraca' was not brothy, but every bite was oh so rich.

[JuanDoe]

Try also the tortilla at Txirimiri on Calle Humilladero near Juana La Loca. I also second La Barraca for paella.
My rec for Asturian is La Hoja
http://www.lahoja.es/
… and don't miss the 'vermut de grifo' (sweet vermouth on tap) at La Perejila on Calle Cava Baja.

[Steve]

I ate at La Barraca last week. It is a paella specialty restaurant and is excellent. WIthin its list of rice dishes, you may want to consider the rice with giant red prawns and swordfish. In addition to the paella, we had the habitas (not on the online menu, listed as green beans on the English menu but are more like pigeon peas or other small beans) with ham and onions. A WOW dish. Also enjoyed the scrambled eggs with cod and green asparagus. All food here features intensely rustic preparation and presenation despite the elegant surroundings. The only clunker was the Castillian soup. a really fine place.

http://www.labarraca.es/control.php?s...

[whiskymonique]

I second La Barraca, just took some friends there last week and it's always a hit. I completely agree with Tracy too, assuming that she is talking about the Cavas Alta and Baja in La Latina, head down around 9 at night and you'll have the opportunity to hit about 50 tapas bars. Also, for a variety of tapas, fresh fruit and veg, lots of vino, sherry and cidra, hit up Mercado de San Miguel near Plaza Mayor.
Have a great trip!

[monchique]

For info: Habitas are baby broad beans.

[fbchase]

Do you need a reservation at La Barraca?

[Steve]

We walked into Barraca without reservation at about 3:00pm. The sign on the door said they were open until 4pm for lunch. Although the place looked deserted, the host asked if we had a reservation, and when we said 'no' he didn't look too pleased. I wasn't sure what to make of that! But by halfway through our meal, the place surprisingly filled up, so I would suggest making a reservation if you can - though the place looks big enough to fit in a few walk-ins.

[burgeoningfoodie]

I looked at the location and it is somewhat near my hotel, but I guess I didn't realize that the streets are so narrow that they equate to what we would consider an alley (at least as it appears on GoogleMaps)

[Steve]

The central core in Madrid is easily walkable. Yes, the streets can be very narrow.

[TracyS]

Go on a tapas crawl in the Cava Baja/Alta area - Juana La Loca is in the area and it was a lot of fun to grab food and drinks from so many different spots.

[TracyS]

Oh and paella's not necessarily the thing to get in Madrid, but Champagneria Gala was pretty good.