Coque
The tasting menu at Coque is perhaps the most extraordinary dining experience in Madrid. It is the project of the Sandoval brothers, the third generation of a culinary family who moved their award winning restaurant from the suburbs to this purpose-designed location in Chamberí in 2017. The building, designed by architect Jean Porsche, is integral to the experience. Over a period of around 3 hours, diners are taken on a tour and served numerous incredible creations in five locations. You start in the cocktail bar with a Galician oyster and frozen pearls of Bloody Mary; then it’s on to sommelier Rafael’s spectacular wine cellar for a polyphenol macaron with Torta del Casar cheese. After bull tartare and sherry in the sacristy, you reach head chef Mario’s kitchen with its wood-fired stove and research lab. All this before taking your place in the dining room for a further array of exquisite dishes and at-table finishing led by maître d’ Diego. It is awesomely impressive, great fun, and very expensive, especially if you opt for paired wines. Unusually, there is a full vegetarian tasting menu too. Tip: Don’t be tempted by Mario Sandoval’s Restaurante Qú at the JW Marriott hotel as an alternative to Coque. It is disappointingly bland and expensive.
The tasting menu at Coque is perhaps the most extraordinary dining experience in Madrid. It is the project of the Sandoval brothers, the third generation of a culinary family who moved their award winning restaurant from the suburbs to this purpose-designed location in Chamberí in 2017. The building, designed by architect Jean Porsche, is integral to the experience. Over a period of around 3 hours, diners are taken on a tour and served numerous incredible creations in five locations. You start in the cocktail bar with a Galician oyster and frozen pearls of Bloody Mary; then it’s on to sommelier Rafael’s spectacular wine cellar for a polyphenol macaron with Torta del Casar cheese. After bull tartare and sherry in the sacristy, you reach head chef Mario’s kitchen with its wood-fired stove and research lab. All this before taking your place in the dining room for a further array of exquisite dishes and at-table finishing led by maître d’ Diego. It is awesomely impressive, great fun, and very expensive, especially if you opt for paired wines. Unusually, there is a full vegetarian tasting menu too. Tip: Don’t be tempted by Mario Sandoval’s Restaurante Qú at the JW Marriott hotel as an alternative to Coque. It is disappointingly bland and expensive.
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