CHILA — Restaurant in Madrid

On the last night of my Madrid trip, I decided to chow on some Chinese food which I’ve been craving for days. Who would have thought CHILA, a Hunan style restaurant, would taste so good in Madrid!

The restaurant ambience is pretty casual with spacious tables and seats. They open late, so I’m very happy to be able to dine in especially at 9PM. As for the service, the ordering process is self service via qr ordering, so be prepared to use your phone with their free wifi.

Their menu has a good variety, yet most of their items are out of stock by this time of day. It’s not a problem since some of their best dishes (Organic Cauliflower and Stir-fried Diced Chicken) are still available to order. There’s also a good selection of drinks to choose from.

Hunan cuisine is known for its spiciness. If you’re into spicy food, you’re in for a treat (or opt for no spicy)! Their Stir-fried Diced Chicken is fantastic. I love their sauce, and their abundance of chicken and peppers makes it a very spicy and savory dish! Couple it with their Organic Cauliflower dish, and you have yourself a great combo. The cauliflower is cooked just right, and again I love its sauce. As for the Sautéed Pork Intestine, it’s a little salty. Otherwise, it’s not a bad dish!

Overall, I highly recommend CHILA especially if you’re craving for spicy Chinese food. Hunan cuisine is pretty rare to see in Madrid, so definitely give...

Summary: Some of the best Chinese food I've eaten in any country. If you are Chinese and need a Chinese fix, OMG... you will have to fight the urge to just eat here every day.

Atmosphere: So cute. Beautiful, clean, and modern decor. They have mainly 2 and 4 tops. If you are with a bigger group, def reserve a table during high times. It gets busy cause the food is delicious, but I think they can totally take care of you. Oddly, though it doesn't get super loud in there, so you can have a real conversation in here.

The Food: OMG... YUM town!!! This was the most authentically Hunanese food I have had in a while and they had my favorite Se Gua (Loofah). SOOOO yum!! They have specials, so if you love cauliflower, that dish looked amazing. I think every single thing is done exactly as it should be, but actually Delicious and perfectly executed.It's not like some Chinese restaurants who have a gigantic menu, but the chef only does a few of the items well.

Service: They were so great. Attentive and thoughtful. They speak English, Chinese, and also Spanish extremely well. I really like that when my friend - who is a habitual over-orderer, was not encouraged to do so. Instead, they politely just mentioned, the sizes are good portions, would you like to maybe order the 4th dish after you see how you feel from the 3 you already ordered. SOOOO polite. Also, food came out...

We loved CHILA in Barcelona but this location fell very short of our experience there, mostly due to service and atmosphere.

The atmosphere is so boring. Literally everyone in there was staring at a phone. It was like being in some cult. Even tables that had more than one person sitting at them were silent and scrolling on their phones. It was just very strange. This isn't the restaurant's fault and they can't control it, but it really made the whole vibe feel a bit uncomfortable. If you are addicted to your phone though, you'll be very comfortable here! :)

Service was friendly but forgetful and insanely SLOW. It felt like we waited an hour for some of the dishes. Kinda unacceptable for a Chinese restaurant. We had to constantly ask the server, and I think he forgot one of the dishes as it came so late into the meal and only after asking about when it was going to arrive.

The flavours were familiar and decent, but maybe it was the overall vibe, but it just didn't hit the same way as when I've been to CHILA before. Good heat and it was nice to have a on a cold day, but it fell below my expectations. There are better Chinese spots...