Cervecería Jacinta — Restaurant in Madrid

I already know you’re reading the other reviews. “Tourist trap - don’t eat in Plaza Mayor”. Ignore those reviews. Let me tell you why.

After a long first day in Madrid, we wanted to eat somewhere close where we could walk and get some churros & chocolate. We decided to venture to Plaza Mayor and hearing all of the bad reviews to NOT eat in Plaza Mayor - I was hesitant at first. But our hunger and need for a meal in Madrid needed to be fulfilled and Jacinto looked like the only place to serve food that didn’t have “pictures” on their menus.

It also catered to my wife who isn’t the biggest seafood fan.

We were sat down promptly outside. It was definitely a little chilly out but the aerial mini space heater was doing its best job at keeping us warm.

We started off with ordering the calamari and croquettes.

The croquettes are very chewy and soft. They aren’t your typical “fried croquettes” you would find in the Caribbean & South America. After some research I understand that the croquettes they serve in Spain focus more on the “bechamel sauce” which is a mixture of flour, milk, butter & olive oil. This creates a very mushy texture that nearly falls apart to the touch. We were taken aback but realized that this is just how croquettes in Spain are made.

The calamari was squid forward. I enjoyed that. It’s nice to see that the breading took a backseat to the freshly fried squid. Smaller portion, but great flavor.

My wife ordered the Spanish Omelette Sandwich and enjoyed it. It had multiple flavor profiles and the bread complimented it well.

The star of the show you ask? The chicken & green bean palenta. This dish was astonishingly good. The rice, green beans, vegetables and seasonings took this to the top. They made a great job at combining all flavors and not be overwhelming with salt. Very happy to see that the chicken (while not plentiful) was tender and literally “fell off the bones”.

For the first night in Madrid, we were pleasantly surprised to see that this Plaza Mayor staple impress so much.

Guess that goes to show - don’t trust all generalities. If we did, we would have missed out...

I arrived exactly as they were opening, and they were finalizing their cleaning. Everything was pristine, smell clean including the bathrooms which are down a long flight of stairs with no handicapped access. I was attended to rapidly by a very polite waitress. I ordered a half portion of calamar, then a half portion of pimientos padrones. The calamar were under seasoned, but the biggest issue was that the outer membrane had not been removed period because I was cutting it into pieces? I was able to manage most of them. However, the very first one that I ate I nearly choked on and had to pull the entire membrane out of my throat. After finishing I let my waitress know, and asked for my bill. The owner /or manager brought me my bill. I showed him the membranes on my plate i urged him to ensure that the staff cleaned off the squid properly. He responded by saying that the squid do not need the membrane removed and immediately began to raise his voice ,had pressured speech completely preventing me from speaking period I responded in kind as I am not wont to be bullied by anyone especially at 67 years old. At no point had I asked for anything to be comped, and I already had my money out to pay. The most alarming part for me is the abject dismissal of the safety issue opposed by the improper preparation and the boorish cavalier response of a person entrusted with the service to other people. I have photos of the membranes which I will...

Food was ok - very average. Maybe vegetarian cuisine is not their forte. Service was average - understand it was a bit busy. We wanted to try their veg paella but couldn't as there was an hour long wait for paellas.

But what was unpleasant was that when we pointed out that the bread was stale, one of the server became hyper defensive, pointing out that you ate half the bread, and telling after that. Really!! This is how you respond to customer feedback? I have never seen such an attitude. He behaved like we were complaining to save money and he has seen many people "like us". Pathetic!

Coming to dishes - The Mushroom and garlic was ok, very oily. Grilled vegetables again super oily and half the veggies were more like boiled than grilled. Veg spaghetti with tomato sauce was the only saving grace, it was decent to have. Anyway, by now we had dropped our expectations and I wouldn't have bothered to even review. But the rude service behaviour called for this poor review.

Later, their server who only spoke Spanish, so we couldn't understand what he was saying completely - but from what I got, he ed to explain that the bread wasn't stale and that it was fresh, and it was the nature of the bread that we had. It would have been fine if this explanation was...