Taberna La Dichosa

Photo of Chupa chups by Javi Martínez

I don't know how it's possible that I haven't written a review of Conde Duque's Taberna La Dichosa before now. This friendly neighborhood restaurant and tapas bar has become one of my go-to places in Madrid for delicious food and a great selection of wines in a relaxing atmosphere. The owner, Eva, exudes a sense of no-nonsense pride and passion for good food that is demonstrated in the traditional, yet innovative dishes on her menu, all of which are prepared with an enormous attention to detail and focus on good quality products and ingredients. The Ventresca (tuna loin) salad has house roasted red peppers; the croquetas change frequently and might have anything from wild mushrooms or artichokes to jamón, among other things; the pulpo (octopus) is grilled to perfection and served with a fresh mango puree; the chupa chups (named after the lollypops) are in fact quail drumsticks which have been covered in a perfectly spiced light batter and fried to perfection, and the list goes on and on, with everything homemade and prepared with a clear love for good food. On top of all this, the prices are fantastic.

In choosing a wine, the best thing to do is put yourself in Eva's capable hands for a recommendation. Her wine list represents a truly astonishing variety of Designations of Origins and she delights in stocking bottles from lesser known regions such as Ribeira Sacra and Utiel Requena. This is one of my own personal passions as well and I love the fact that her wine list never ceases to be both interesting (at the very least) and very reasonably priced.

La Dichosa has a simple but pleasant dining area with low stools and benches and a lovely bar area, both of which make it the ideal place to enjoy a glass of wine or a full meal.

I usually end up doing both, and often.

Taberna La Dichosa
calle Bernardo López García, 11
91 541 88 16
e-mail: eva@ladichosa.es

Now This is Grilled Octopus!

While on the subject of octopus, I thought it might be nice to give people a 'taste' of what a real grilled octopus dish looks like. This photo was taken on the island of La Graciosa, off the coast of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. Grilled octopus is a specialty in Lanzarote and I have to say it was the most delicious pulpo I had ever sunk my teeth into. The outside was crispy and smokey, as if almost caramelized by the heat from the grill, and the inside was soft and tender. While the Canaries do tend to be cheaper than Madrid, if I recall correctly, this plate cost around 8 Euros. Amazing.

Clarita: Overpriced Octopus Category

I can't remember the last time that I went out to dinner and my greatest regret of the evening was not having had taken a photo of the octopus.

The pulpo, or octopus, dish was tasty, I'll give it that, but it was also so incredibly overpriced and ridiculously tiny (think 1-2 bites a person for a group of four) that I kept expecting it to jump up and sing Dixie, just to get my money's worth.

Truly anyone would have been shocked and appalled to pay 16 Euros for the one (small) tentacle of grilled octopus that came out on a massive plate accompanied by four, lackluster acorn-sized boiled potato cubes and a squirt of mango cream. This was hardly the fancy sounding dish that was advertised on the casual sounding menu for 16 Euros, but then again this was hardly a fancy enough place to be able to get away with this kind of blatant customer abuse either.

Fortunately, my guilt at bringing the outrageous price and quantity of the dish to the waitress' attention was assuaged by her surly attitude and uninterested, dismissive response. It seems that Clarita, a cozy looking cafe/restaurant squeezed between the edge of Malasaña (neighborhood) and the iconic avenue Gran Vía, is nothing if not consistent: small portions complemented by soaring prices and heaps of bad attitude. Welcome, neighbors, to the first candidate for the Worst of Madrid Dining in the Overpriced Octopus Category.

Clarita
Corredera Baja de San Pablo, 19
Madrid