I am coming to Madrid in August with some girlfriends of various ages from 65 to 25. We are celebrating a fourthcoming wedding. I would like some ideas on things to do in the day that will be memorable and places to eat fine spanish food. Everybody that is coming likes to drink and i would be interested in any information of any wine tasting cellars.

Also has anybody had tea at the Ritz in Madrid? If so what was the price?

Many Thanks

P.S I wish that i was living in Madrid as there seems to be many interesting people visting this site

Hi discodolly!

Although many people say it�s overrated, I would recommend Bot�n Restaurant. It�s claim to fame is that it�s the world�s oldest restaurant.

For a particularly memorable meal, how about lunch in a nice terraza in a nice plaza. Stay away from the Plaza Mayor for this one as they will nail you with tourists prices. I would recommend La Plaza del Oriente in front of the Jardines Real. There are always some strolling musicians and the men� de d�a is a real bargain, particularly considering the splendid view and good food.

Oooh, I�ve been meaning to post this all week!! But Chica, you have reminded me above!! I too was really looking forward to returning to the Plaza del Oriente, and in particular the Cafe de Oriente, having had a wonderful menu del dia with my parents. I was there not two weeks ago, and the standard was just not the same. The menu del dia is now nearly 10� - still good value if the food was good, which unfortunately it wasn�t. I ordered spinach as a starter which turned out to be just a packet of the Findus Creamed Spinach!! The main course was fish, sounded wonderful but all the plate contained was fish in a cream sauce and nothing else!!! The spinach was only lukewarm when it arrived, and the fish dish was almost cold!! To compound it all the white wine was WARM!! The pudding was lovely though - a coffee torte!! Perhaps, it may be best to go there for coffee and cake and sit and look at the beautiful plaza!!

Hi, discodolly (love that name, by the way).

I haven't been to Botin but that's been recommended to me by a lot of people for traditional stuff.

When I have people coming over, I usually take them to somewhere traditional and somewhere not-so-traditional. On the not-so-traditional side, here are two recommendations:

Amparo, on callejon Puigcerda, just off Calle Jorge Juan in the Salamanca area. This is pricey-about E 50 / person for dinner. They serve contemporary Basque-inspired food, the restaurant itself is beautiful- elegant, warm, and yet modern. It's a special occasion type place. I don't know much about wine but my brother, who does, said the winelist was amazing and the wines he picked were very good.

Bazaar, on calle Infantas, near Gran Via in the Chueca area. This is less formal, again not particularly traditional food but good stuff. The menu has about 30 things on it, not divided into starters, mains, etc., you just make it up as you like. It's also great value- between three of us, we ordered eight dishes and it came up to about E 20 per person. This place does get very crowded so either reserve or get there before prime lunch or dinner hours.

For exact addresses and phone numbers, pick up a "Guia del Ocio" when you get to Madrid and get them off the restaurant listings. (I'd put them here but I just threw mine away so I don't have the phone numbers).

Enjoy!

Hi!

A more modern and less expensive/formal alternative to Bot�n would be the tapas of Boca�to www.bocaito.com.
The cold buffet at Gula Gula is fun for a bunch of girls on a "pre-weding mood" www.gulagula.net
Have you given any thought to going to see a flamenco show? Then check out some options at www.esflamenco.com

Sunny, I love it, I'm actually dining there tomorrow , but unfortunately, and as we at our Dining Club, Madridchicas, know very well, you can't book tables at Baazar, you just have to show up as soon as they open the doors, where some people will already be waiting in line) and if you're a medium to big group they won't be so flexible to accomodate you all together! Right Becks?!
The good part is, in my opinion, that you can very easily keep prices lower than 20�, it's very reasonably priced.

Sorry, I've done a brief research and it seems that Madrid is not very big on 'Vinotecas' (wine tasting venues) there are many great restaurant that serve a number of outstanding wines, though (Viridiana, El Quinto Vino, Da Vinis...) and I think, generally speaking, at regular Spanish restos the average quality of the wines is quite acceptable anyways...
(Oh well, there's always the one in Pza. Santa Ana where you're most likely to be waited by a fellow English person....and serenated (like it or not) by a Turkish, Rumanian, Hungarian�? fellow at their terrace....)

See for yourselves: www.ritz.es, www.grupolezama.com (Cafe de Oriente), www.casabotin.com, www.guiadelocio.com

A way to get an overview of the city that could be fun to do as a group are the bus tours. www.madridvision.es

Important: please remember to check in advance if any of these places that we recommend are open on August!!! Lots of places aren't.

Have you tried doing a search on the mm board already? It has loads of info, but also feel free to get in touch for further help. It'd be better if you could narrow the group's preferences ever more, there's so much to choose from! :cheers: