Café de l'Institut français — Restaurant in Madrid

Le Petit France in Colón Square in Madrid 🇪🇸 French cuisine is distinguished as being exquisite 👌🏻so to find a place that really understands its concept and execution it is tough to find abroad its border. No wonder why, we hit the target by visiting L’ Institute French in the Spanish capital to try their secret garden café ⛲️ The Frenchy vibe is all across the board as soon as you step into the Institute. From the mesmerizing picturesque ceiling to hearing your steps hit the hardwood floor and walk to the café area, where you will encounter yourself in a relaxed/student/boho atmosphere. You will be rapidly escorted to what would look like two French women, Rocío or Ingrid (both look very similar), to your table and will suggest you what to order on the spot, as the place is very fast-paced during the weeks due to their fixed pricing daily menu. Then they will assign you any of their friendly waiters, so you can complete your order. We were lucky 🤞🏻enough to be under Jesus' care and everything flowed smoothly during our lunch set. The fixed-priced menu is the deal here, quality and cost-effective equation put in practice to its best! With plenty of options to pick from, we hit the very best items on the menu starting with the chickpea soup 🥣which is loaded with grains and vegetables to warm you up during those ❄️ coldest days in Madrid….and the ginger 🫚/ carrot 🥕 soup that will surprise you with its bittersweet taste…..usually they serve their very famous Ratatouille 🐭 onion soup, but unfortunately this week was not in the menu, but both of the ones we tasted made us forget about this.

The entrance opened our appetite for more, and thank god because both of the main entrances were Magnifique!

The pepper 🌶️scaloppine 🥩served with fries 🍟was on point👌🏻First time that a sauce on the meat doesn’t overlap its freshness and tenderness. Pair it with a bottle 🍷 of 1987 Château de Virecourt Bordeaux Rouge and it will highlight its taste. As well as the quiche 🥮with spinach and salmon 🐠 that was creamy and consistent in terms of ingredients. Its crust was perfectly toast but not burnt. You can order it with salad 🥗 or fries 🍟or just ask them to combine them.

There is no French lunch without their sweet treats, but this time they flipped us with a classic Tartin Tart 🍎, caramelized and warm enough to indulge your sweet tooth during a cold Madrid day. In a surprising turn of events, the other option for dessert was a Latin Arroz con Leche 🍚🥛 topped with 🧱cinammon powder to style it and add more structure to it.

During our lunch, we always felt like the guests of Lumiere 🕯️and its loyal friends 🕰️ from the💃🏻Beauty and the 🐻Beast, personified by Jesus (our server) and his charismatic team (Rocio 🌹Ingrid, Kim, Ricky, Anibal, Lester), as they treated us like royalty 👑!

Merci beaucoup Café de l'Institut 🇫🇷français, you made us enjoy an exquisite French déjeuner in the...

Sorry but the classic French patisserie of a simple croissant should NOT be so bad in a place like this. Made on the premises apparently which doesn't instil any trust that the chef knows very much about French baking. It was so heavy, you could hear it drop on the plate when it was served. It looked small and badly shaped and when we cut it open it wasn't even cooked in the middle. Coffee and service was OK and the pain au raisin with a bit of custard in it was OK. I would not be encouraged to try anything else in this place. The outdoor terrace is a quiet haven but the food, not up to French...

El sitio es un pequeño oasis en la zona, que además no abundan las terrazas, es un patio interior muy agradable y bonito, merece la pena verlo. Ahora bien, el servicio es otra cosa, la encargada es la única persona agradable, te suele recibir con una sonrisa y es educada, los otros tres camareros pues depende de como los pilles, pero por lo general el encuentro no es lo mejor de la cafetería. La chica del pelo corto siempre es desagradable, la otra depende del día pero puede ofrecer un trato muy mejorable, cuando esta enfadada lo paga el cliente y el chico pues similares modales. El desayuno está bien, café + croissant o tostada por 2,70 € y un suplemento de terraza que va variando entre los 20 y 40 cts. por persona, es decir unos 3€. No se os ocurra pedir otra cosa, el otro día pregunté si tenían algo más de desayuno y me dijo que el croissant con jamón y queso, iluso de mí pensando que tendría un suplemento el desayuno de entre 50 cts. y un 1 euro más, lo pedí, no sé hasta 3,70€ pues bueno. Lo que hacen es que te lo sacan del desayuno y lo cobran independiente y desorbitado, sin avisarte claro, por lo que el mismo croissant más un lonchita de queso y un poco de jamón york pasa a convertirse en 2,85€ más 1,70€ del café más 45 cts. de la terraza se convierte en un desayuno de 5,00 € soportando encima que el personal te hable con malos modos y escasa educación. Es una pena porque el espacio es magnífico, y quería ir a cenar, pero de momento me...