Barracuda l Restaurante Mexicano Madrid — Restaurant in Madrid

Not Mexican in any way. Honestly, what a shame. I had great expectations, and none of them were met, in terms of the food. I’ve lived within a Mexican family for a major part of two years, and none of the flavors were represented on this particular night. I was so surprised and disappointed by everything I tasted, I asked if I could just exchange a couple words with chef Roberto Ruiz, the only reason why I came to this place in the first place. Sadly I was told that he wasn’t here tonight. Hopefully that explains the completely foreign flavors. I started with Tacos de arrachera a la brasa. They tasted great. The meat was juicy, and honestly my only complaint was the lack of spice I’m used to. Nothing was spicy enough, besides my Paloma, so it fits the main picture. The guacamole with chicharron, was for whatever reason spattered with sunflower seeds. My server told me they prefer it without the seeds as well, even though they had recommended it to me. Weird. The octopus ceviche, was super sour from too much lime juice, and in parts the octopus was super tough, like it had spent too long marinating in the acid. Also, Cucumbers?? I got quesadillas de huitlacoche. The combo of queso fresco and lettuce on top was weird for quesadillas, as even if there was queso quesadilla, that flavor was completely offset. Although, they reminded me a lot of what flautas are supposed to taste like, so was probably the most Mexican thing here. I also got the beloved grilled fish I saw in all the photos. It was cool, for what it was, but sadly a cross between something I’d see in a fine dining place in NY and a chill Thai restaurant somewhere in LA, because of the slices of mango and chives. A very far stretch would have to be made to call it Mexican. And I’d be so okay with it, if they called it fusion. But Mexican, as it says on the main page, well, it just isn’t. I must mention, the place had live music, that played very well, and created a fun atmosphere, but also played La cucaracha, a certain banger everyone should hear within their meal. My Paloma MX was absolutely delicious. Smoky from the mezcal and sweet from the grapefruit. Bonus points for that. My final complaint comes from my single cup of black coffee. It tasted great, but again, I just wanted to see where the connection lies to call this place Mexican. I have been drinking freshly-roasted and freshly ground coffee from all over the world for many years now, and at this point can pretty much tell where it comes from from the smell alone. They served me a delicious cup of Colombian coffee, so after an overall disappointing meal, I thought, what the hell, let me ask where it comes from. I definitely was annoying enough to my server, so I asked a random bartender walking by. He said Mexico, I replied okay, but where from? He went to go ask. He comes back, and tells me it’s from Arabia. Whoever can read a label, clearly told them that the type of coffee is Arabica, however that type is grown in several huge coffee-producing countries all over the world. Sadly, none of those are “Arabia”. So I smiled, and said yeah, but where from? And so instead of bothering to come back to me and embarras themself any further, they sent another guy to start telling me they’re from Columbia, and the coffee is not Columbian. Only issue, I worked with Columbians super closely in LA, some of them are my best friends, so I immediately switched to the Usted form they would consider the only acceptable one. My guy, not only didn’t catch that, but entirely lacked a columbian accent, further proving this place is okay lying to my face. I may be white, but I know and can cook real Mexican food. I learnt from very average cooks - grandmas and mothers, and their kids carrying on their tradition, and this place would have them all running for the door. Atmosphere is great for a drink, and my service was extremely polite and well-paced. I wish Ricardo Ruiz was there tonight to make sure the food was on par, as it left me truly disappointed. There are better places with exorbitant prices in the...

TL;DR: Horrendous service, ok food. Would recommend the Torrija de Tres Leches.

I’m visiting Madrid on a solo vacation, and a friend of mine recommended Barracuda Mx as an upscale take on Mexican fare. I had made a reservation for just myself for 8:30pm, a little before dinner rush.

When I arrived, the gentleman directed me to stool at the corner of the bar, where other people were waiting to be seated at a table or booth. After a few minutes, instead of being directed to a table or booth, my server arrived and set a plate and silverware in front of me. It wasn’t until then that I’d realized I had been relegated to the bar.

I was fine with this until I noticed that when I asked for water to drink, instead of the waiter opening one of the nearby bottles of water sitting in an ice bath as was offered to every other guest, I was given tap water from the bartender. Again, not ideal, but I could adapt.

After about 20 minutes of sitting there waiting, the server finally addressed my presence took my appetizer order. I requested the Memelas (they were decent but lacked a bit of acid). Honestly, I think my waiter forgot about me since it took an inexorable amount of time for him to come back for the entree order (the Arrechera al Carbón - decent; the jalapeño chips added a freshness).

Finally, after about two hours of back and forth to get my waiter’s attention and ultimately defaulting to the bartender, I ordered dessert - the Torrija de Tres Leches. This dish was very tasty! I ordered a latte to go along with it. The vanilla ice cream with the passion fruit sauce complimented the tres leches well, and the floral notes in the latte pushed it over the top.

All-in-all, I would not go back. The service made me feel isolated and forgotten. Half of my order I had to pass along through the sympathetic bartender because my waiter was busy tending to his actual tables and cracking jokes with the manager in the green blouse. Unfortunately, the dessert dish alone is not enough to justify a...

Hugely disappointing. Reading some of the reviews today, that I read avidly before going.. and I find it impossible that anyone could write them about Barracuda MX. People can differ in opinions, have different tastes. But the 5-star reviews for this restaurant do not match this experience at all. I had been to Punto MX (owners previous restaurant) and expected this to be pricey but to be delighted. But unfortunately no….quite the opposite. I have been to Mexico 6 times, business and pleasure, been to hundreds of Mexican restaurants in different parts of the world, and am a huge fan of Mexican cuisine and culture and I sincerely hope no one thinks this is a decent representation of Mexican cuisine. I should have sensed disaster as soon as they told me they had no Mexican beers on the menu. First course: octopus ceviche. I love ceviche and love octopus so was looking forward to this dish.. But the octopus was chewy and hard, and the ceviche had a very disagreeable taste. We were on the verge of sending it back. The tacos: very average. We had the wagyu tacos and they were absolutely tasteless. We were told by the waiter to be careful ordering as some dishes would be too spicy and it was not at all spicy. If anything it lacked spice and taste. The venue itself was very nice and in a posh area, so obviously one must take into account that the bill will be higher than in other areas, but in no way was this meal worth 80€ pp. Our waiter was a delight but he was the only positive thing about the place. If I had paid 45€ I would still be unhappy. But at 80€ a pop, we were extremely unhappy at the price-quality ratio. We were hungry when we left but after the four dishes we ordered at the start, we certainly weren’t going to waste time and money ordering another. There are excellent high-end Mexican restaurants in Madrid. But this is not one of them. Unless you want to throw your hard-earned money away, do...