Taberna El Rincón de Jose — Local services in Madrid

This is a great little taverna that is away from the crowded tourist streets and restaurants of Madrid.

Be prepared to order in Spanish (which just means reading the menu and pointing when in doubt), as the waitress didn’t speak much English. This is also a plus in my book, since the place was more patronized by locals.

We had the house salad (Ensalate de Casa) which looks s bit daunting, but is delicious. Just be sure to pair the salty bits, like the anchovies and olives, with the tuna and tomatoes. We were honestly surprised by how well the flavors (tuna belly, tomato, anchovies, green olives, and olive oil) went together.

The chorizo is a must. In many places chorizo can get really salty, but this one was not. Very fresh, juicy, and the perfect amount of heat. Like the salad, the fries that came with the chorizo weren’t salty and added even more balance to the dish.

We also tried the tripe. It was not at all what we feared. No weird odor or “funk” to it. Super tender, but unfortunately, way too salty to enjoy even with...

We ended up in this “dive” because all the restaurants are full on Sundays at lunchtime, and it’s hard to find a place.

We ordered 4 dishes: 2x pork with French fries 2x Galician-style octopus

2 beers and 2 Coca-Colas

€100

The octopus was burnt, with too much oil and too much paprika — probably to cover up the fact that it had no flavor at all.

They don’t take cards (according to them, the POS terminal “wasn’t working” at the moment…).

Not recommended — there are much better...

Tapas and regular plates are small and expensive. They give you a tortilla cut in half for the price of a full one, and next to your meat you only get like 5 little fries (fries are so cheap why be stingy??). They make you pay 3€ per water and also charge for bread.

Overall, the food was good (a little too much salt in everything) and served quickly, but I dont recommend as a small meal for 3 ended...