El Anciano Rey de los Vinos — Restaurant in Madrid

I visited El Anciano Rey de los Vinos in the late afternoon for an early dinner. The dining area is exclusively outdoors, with the indoor space reserved for drinks. Although guests are supposed to inform the waiting staff upon arrival to arrange tables, many people simply occupied empty tables on their own. It's advisable to follow protocol to avoid causing inconvenience to others.

I came for the classic Spanish dishes and ordered the regalitos de torito - small portions of traditional oxtail stew wrapped in flaky puff pastry, topped with red piquillo pepper, and drizzled with savory sauce. The dish was available in full portions of four or half portions of two. I also had a side of patata ali-oli and a glass of vermouth. The regalitos de torito tasted very good, with a nice combination of meat and sauce, although the meat was somewhat dry and could have used more sauce. The patata ali-oli was a bit bland and also lacked sufficient sauce. The vermouth was refreshing.

A notable aspect of dining here is the presence of numerous birds due to the outdoor setting. The waiter advised not to linger over food to avoid attracting birds, so it's best to eat promptly. Additionally, it's important to watch your belongings and not leave them unattended on the tables.

Despite the bird issue and needing to eat quickly, the overall experience was positive, and I would definitely...

Very old place perfectly located just in front of the Catedral de la Almudena, and very close to the Palacio Real, having lots to visit before and/or after your meal. The meal started with their homemade Vermouth, followed by lovely and meaty calamares a la romana, the extremely delicious morcilla de Burgos and very good croquetas. But the star of the meal was, hands down, the "Regalitos de Torito", which basically means slow cooked bull tail meat, beautifully shredded and oven cooked with red peppers inside a phyllo dough... which basically brings you to a fulll food-gasm, also amplified when having a glass of red wine with it. To finish the feast we had the "Tarta de muerte por chocolate".. which is explained by itself. Can't wait to go back with my lovely wife and enjoy her reactions when she will try all those...

Tourist trap. Total disappointment. Tapas were pretty bad: we ordered Russian salad (you barely feel the tuna, it’s mostly potatoes and mayo!), patatas bravo were a joke, a kid can make it more tasty than what we had, cod was deep fried with the skin on it , and it tasted like recently unfrozen fish deep fried - 0 joy..: I was hungry after the excursion and our guide told us it was a good spot to eat. We sat on a terrace , and when I asked to go inside I was told that we can’t do that they are already closing .. we were rejected with tap water even though the water is good in the city, it was cold and I asked for hot water and my husband ordered and bottled water and he was told that if I order hot water again they will charge us 2 euros. Service was pretty rude as well, not welcoming no smiles… I don’t...