El Cenador del Prado

Frommer's Review

Founded by brothers Ramón and Tomás Herranz 2 decades back, this eccentrically beautiful eating spot is like no other in Madrid. In the anteroom, an attendant will check your coat into an elaborately carved armoire before the maitre d' ushers you into one of a trio of rooms. Two of the rooms have cove moldings, English furniture, and floor-to-ceiling gilded mirrors. A third room is ringed with lattices and flooded with sun from a skylight. Bright maroon and orange walls and glittering chandeliers create a modernist-cum-baroque mood. The main dining area basks in a glass-domed conservatory setting, while the small private adjoining salon has the air of an 18th-century palacete. Cuisine is a blend of Hispanic and Middle East Mediterranean with exquisite entrees like hummus with peppers and superb main fish courses such as rodaballo con leche merengada (turbot cooked in cinnamon-flavored milk). You might also enjoy such specialties as crepes with salmon and Iranian caviar, a salad of red peppers and salted anchovies, a casserole of snails and oysters with mushrooms, a ceviche of salmon and shellfish, potato-leek soup studded with tidbits of hake and clams, sea bass with candied lemons, veal scaloppine stuffed with asparagus and garlic sprouts, or medallions of venison served with pepper-and-fig chutney. The fixed menú de degustación is very good value.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.

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