Text: Brigitte Müller
Photos: Stephan Oeller

The bright red couches provide a contrast with the lilac wall and establish the model for the bright and pleasant atmosphere of Allora Qui. It does not smell of grease, the irritating clanging sound of plates can not be heard, the young staff here have swapped white shirts and waistcoats for a t-shirt and a long apron.  

Alberto Solueta is enjoying success thanks to his formula: reasonably priced lunchtime set menu and fashionable restaurant at night. Lunch for 10.80 euros in a modern and completely unconventional atmosphere, where you can easily take work colleagues or superiors. “Tender white bean casserole with clams in green sauce”, “eggs with black pudding and crystallised potatoes”, “chocolate crème caramel”. The basic rule is as simple as it is effective: fresh, accessible vegetables, determined by the time of year and prepared in a quite uncomplicated way, but always with that special something, like seafood in green sauce, for example.        

In Calle Manuela Malasaña, in the Malasaña area, frequented by young people, shopkeepers and employees from the other side of the Glorieta de Bilbao, there are a lot more places where modern design, friendly service and meticulous presentation turn daily lunch into a proper little event.
  
Three years ago “el NINA” was the first restaurant in the street where local and modern were not synonymous with having to dig deep into your pockets. The high roofs, the large windows and the brick lend a special air to the two spacious rooms. The set menu costs 11.30 euros here and includes “smoked fish or meat salad on a bed of escarole and lettuce with dill vinaigrette”, “Special NINA Madrid Castilian lamb stew with square French fries” or “baby squid cooked with onions in their own ink with rice mold sautéed with leek” and “fruit of the season”. In NINA everything is calculated thoroughly, the such detailed names of the dishes do not necessarily correspond with the polished cooking of the creator; in the set menu, which continually changes, the amount is important and the price also includes the atmosphere, for which one willingly pays.
  
On the corner, just beside the Glorieta de Bilbao, we can find Mombay, another restaurant where the deep fat fryer is prohibited and one readily pays an extra 2 euros for the aesthetic quality of the presentation of the dishes and the discreet decoration. Here you can have lunch for around 13 euros. A typical set menu contains “cream of courgette with strips of parmesan cheese” and “loin escalope, Neapolitan style, with bicoloured purée”. The cooking tends more towards the traditional than the exotic, but it is deliciously prepared and artistically presented on square plates, so that a roast pompano with Swiss chard and garlic takes on a touch of nouvelle cuisine. The soft background music succeeds in creating a relaxed ambiance; on the first floor the light has been used sparingly and it seems as if the half-light muffles the rattling sound of the plates.    

Again in Calle Malasaña there is at least one other place which sets itself apart from the lunch of the masses. The restaurant Xin shows that Asian cuisine has long since moved on from the chop suey of typical Chinese restaurants and offers cooking of a high standard and at a reasonable price. For starters you can eat “boiled Vietnamese ravioli”, made of pasta dough, with vegetables and prawns; then you can have fried Vietnamese rolls, which are rolled with mint in a lettuce leaf, and afterwards, “prawns in a green curry sauce” or “wok of multicoloured garden vegetables”. The set menu costs 9.25 euros, but it is not suitable for those with a big appetite. Unlike in other places, here the daily set menu does not change. The restaurant, which is very deep, has no natural light, but the lighting of the walls and their colour, with very few Asian adornments, impart a pleasant atmosphere to the room.      

The lunch tour can continue in the area. There is the Isla del Tesoro where you can eat vegetarian food in a treasure hunt atmosphere or the tiny II Regno de Napoli, with its pasta dishes for 10 euros in Calle San Andrés.

And, naturally, all these restaurants open at the weekend and at night. Eating à la carte is a little expensive, but it can be noticed in the preparation of the dishes. The customers of the NH Alberto Aguilera and of the new Ibis hotel, as well as the audience of the Theatre Maravillas, mingle with the locals and make sure that the restaurants are full and that their clientele is varied.    

“El NINA” has made a central European tradition its own and on Sundays offers brunch to those who wake up late between 12:30 and 5:30 pm (18 euros). This could be described as a mixture between breakfast, aperitif and lunch. Night owls and those who like having dinner late will feel at home here: on Fridays and Saturdays the kitchen closes at 2 am. In Mombay, in Calle Carranza, on Fridays and Saturdays hot food is available until 1 am. In Allora Qui the prices are also reasonable at night and at the weekend, and each dish has at least one ingredient which turns it into something special, such as the pear and onion compote with sprinkled grated goat’s cheese as a garnish, or the vodka on black spaghetti with baby eels and garlic or the foie and apple mousse with duck burger. Worthy of mention here is the wine menu, which offers a great selection at reasonable prices, which goes a step beyond the standard of wines in the majority of restaurants.  

Allora Qui. Calle Manuela Malasaña, 33. 28004 Madrid. Phone: 91 593 9386. Smokers. Every day, 1:30-4 pm and 9 pm-Midnight.
NINA. Calle Manuela Malasaña, 10. 28004 Madrid. Phone: 91 591 0046. Smokers and non-smokers. MON-SAT 1:30-4:30 pm. SUN 12:30-5:30 pm Brunch.
SUN -THURS 8:30 pm-1 am. FRI - SAT 8:30-11:30 pm and 11:30 pm-2 am.
Mombay. Calle Carranza, 3. 28004 Madrid. Phone: 91 444 0496. Smokers (ground floor) and non-smokers (top floor). Every day 1-4 pm and 8:30-11:30 pm. Fri & Sat until 1 am.
Xin. Calle Manuela Malasaña, 5. 28004 Madrid. Phone: 91 446 5888. Smokers (until further notice). Every day 1:30-4 pm. Mon-Sat 9 pm-midnight.