Cocotito

Exceptional service and delicious food. Truly the best find in Madrid. People working there are nice, kind and polite. Try their Fried potatoes with 6 dips, Fried chilly peppers and bread with caramalized onion and walnuts and you won’t be disappointed.

La calle Cádiz es una de esas que, si eres madrileño de toda la vida, evitas constantemente. Tan cercana a la Puerta del Sol, esta pequeña travesía se ha convertido con el paso de los años en un lugar reservado prácticamente a turistas, y los negocios decentes se contaban con el dedo de una mano.
Sin embargo parece que la tendencia está cambiando poco a poco, y a ello están ayudando negocios como el Cocotito, que están poniendo su granito de arena en conseguir una calle Cádiz más justa no solo para los turistas, sino también para los locales.
Estuve allí antes de Navidades, tomando un menú del día, y me sorprendió bastante. No es nada caro, en absoluto. Eso para empezar. Tienen varios platos para elegir y además tienen terraza. ¿Por qué solo tres estrellas, entonces? Porque aunque el sitio está bien y el personal es muy agradable, la comida se puede mejorar un poco. Yo pedí risotto y la verdad es que, aunque era comestible, le faltaba un pelín de sal. Mi acompañante pidió musaka, y la cosa es que tenía una cantidad de grasa bastante bestia.
De segundo, mis costillas estaban muy buenas, pero mis dos acompañantes pidieron escalopines, y tenían bastante mala pinta: llenos de nervios y nada tiernos. Vamos, que fue un poco «una de cal y otra de arena».

Excelente restaurante. A comida é excepcional, a sobremesa de bolo de chocolate é fenomenal… lugar certo em madri.

I’m surprised this place doesn’t have more reviews or a higher rating. First of all, the service was exceptional. Granted, we went around 4:30pm so it wasn’t too busy, but their attentiveness and kindness was much appreciated, especially considering the service we received at other restaurants in Spain. Our waitress also spoke English!
As for food, there’s something for everyone! The menu was pretty expansive. Don’t be fooled by the portion sizes, especially the section on the menu that says, «Bites». The plates were big enough to pass for full entrees, which is why you might think the prices are high.
We ordered the (1) salmon and guacamole toast (very yummy and large), (2) the potatoes, egg and chorizo (pretty good, nothing too special), and (3) the ventresca salad (lots of tomato and tuna with super thin delicious fries — not many greens).
The wheat beer was also pretty decent, especially compared to beer options at other restaurants.
If it wasn’t our last in Madrid I’d definitely come back and try other dishes off their menu!

A very cute but smallish tapas place near the Puerto del Sol area. We stumbled across this place when looking for a place to watch El Classico, which was being played in Barcelona. Lucky us managed to snag the last two seats in the back, but with a decent view of the TV. It was a fun place to watch the game and I enjoyed the paella, garlic shrimp and wine that we got for dinner.

For some reason, we kept gravitating back to the Sol district of Madrid. Perhaps it has something to do with the vibe of the area. I mean, the have a bar called the Dubliner, but we never went in… although I imagined a bunch of locals speaking Spanish with Irish accents. Our wandering brought us past here and the cheerful young woman convinced us to come in with her limited English.
It’s a cozy place with a lively energy. All the workers were friendly and I was able to order paella for one. We also ordered a jamon y brie tosta and marinated loin with a bell pepper spread tosta to start. These came out on thick slices of good bread… muy bueno. The waitress recommended a great bottle of red wine which wasn’t that expensive. We have not had a bad wine yet… even the house wines at 8−11E are good. We also noticed most tapas places had 3 — 8 bottles of red, ranging from young (joven) to older (viejo).
The partner ordered a chicken dish that looked like wraps when they came out and were drizzled with a spicy sauce… very good! My paella was okay. I almost felt it was made earlier in the day, then scooped up, put in a small pan, and then placed in the oven. I could be wrong, but I’ve had better. It was a little salty too.
Other than that, the ambiance is great! The only problem was that my credit card wouldn’t go through for whatever reason. It worked everywhere else, so we had to pay in euros. I checked with my credit card company, and they said everything was fine, so maybe their machine wasn’t working. I would still go back to try other things on their menu!
Me gusta Cocotito!

Sigo sin decidirme si este sitio me mola o no. En principio, sí, que está al lado de mi nueva casa y tiene un diseño moderno y ecléctico, con una mezcla de texturas, estilos, etc. (Me encantan los individuales que tienen en cada mesa, con dibujos de plazas importantes de Madrid: la Puerta de Sol, Colón, la Ronda de Atocha…
) Otro punto a su favor: ¡hay terraza! ¡Y también wifi!
La primera vez que fui, comí un menú del día muuy rico, y recibimos un trato muy agradable y amable. Yo probé el salmorejo de primero (bueno, un poco demasiado parecido al gazpacho por mi gusto; yo prefiero el salmorejo muy, pero muy, espeso), y de segundo, las albóndigas de pollo al curry (ricas ricas). Mi amiga probó la paella y el pollo a la carbonara (¿creo?) y las dos salimos muy contentas. El menú cuesta sólo 9.90 € y también te ofrecen un chupito de digestivo antes de irte. Está bien, y más que nada teniendo en cuenta su localización al lado de la Puerta de Sol; afortunadamente no es uno de esos sitios muy turisticos con comida mala y precios inflados, para nada.
Pero. Este viernes pasado, quedé con otra amiga para unas cañas al mediodía (hay que animarse un poco para sobrevivir la jornada laboral, ¿no?) y también pedimos una tosta (de lacón con ali-​oli). Ésta vez, el servicio nos extrañó un poco. Tuvimos que esperar un rato para la cuenta (después de pedirla dos veces) y como eramos casi las únicas clientes allí, me pareció un poco extraño. Pero bueno, es seguro que seguiré yendo, por lo menos para sus menús del día, y veremos si les premio con otra estrella.

Local Madrid peeps chillin and singin… todos los caballeros esta muy feliz…
Mahou beers… mucho mas… gra (th)ias…
Jamon iberico sliced paper-​thin y baby eels in garlic… si senior… me gusto cuatro mas, por favor…
Mi vida esta bueno!!!

I absolutely loved this place. The food was amazing (we got the potatoes with dipping sauces, curry chicken burritos, and cheese and walnut pintxo). The drinks were also really good. It was probably the best mojito I had the entire trip. We sat at the bar, and their system is a little backwards (the bar was washing all the dishes, plates, glassware, everything) so there was a steady stream of dirty plates and servers next to us, but it honestly didn’t detract. Even with all the great restaurants in Madrid, I really wanted to go back to this place a second time.

This is a small tapas place with friendly staff. The tapas and drinks were decent. I would visit again if I came back to Madrid.
My only complaint is the let the junk peddlers come into the restaurant to sell your their crap. This is common in restaurants in Madrid — they seem to be more tolerant of junk peddlers.