Madrid: Casa del Abuelo – Mostly for tourists

While walking around the area, we also passed La Casa del Abuelo, which is a tapas bar famous for seafood in general and gambas al ajillo (shrim with garlic) in particular. I love gambas al ajillo, so before I went to Madrid, I considered adding that place to my to-do list, but I usually prefer to have seafood, when I’m close to the sea so there’s a reasonable chance that the seafood is fresh. 

Besides, I also got a bit suspicious, when I realized that all the (excellent) reviews of Abuelo were from tourists only. Most of them first-time visitors with no prior gambas al ajillo experience. Abuelo was therefore off my list, but when a fellow food blogger from Dubai also recommended me to go, I decided to give it a try anyway.

The gambas al ajillo was ok, even though mine had too much liquid and tasted a bit watery. The red wine was good, and I liked the hole-in-the-wall appearance of the place.

Now to the things I didn’t like that much. All the other people inside the restaurant were tourists, and some of the staff members were out on the street, trying to drag in more people. I couldn’t help thinking, that they should have spent their time cleaning up the floor, which was full of garbage, instead. As we left, a very insisting staff member tried to make us continue the evening at the sister restaurant on the other side of the street with a promise of a free drink coupon, which further added to the tourist-trap feeling. Sorry Abuelo, not coming back.

My blog about Madrid