El Buti — Restaurant in Madrid

The reviews of this place are interesting and diverse. Here’s our experience.

First day in Madrid and my wife and I stumbled into this small cafe while out wandering looking for a little lunch. Turns out, we didn’t communicate very well with our waiter - hey we’re not in the USA - that’s on us. We did manage to get across that we liked fish and left it up to him to choose.

The beer is tasting good and he returns with these yummy scallop dishes (in picture). We enjoy them, are thinking that it was a nice, light lunch and getting ready to move on, when, instead of the check, our waiter delivers a large cast iron dish with a very generous portion of fish and potatoes!

My wife and I look at each other and shrug - I guess it’s dinner time and set to work! In short, the food was delicious, the atmosphere quiet and fun (for us), the service friendly, and the bill a little more than anticipated - but not unreasonable for what we were served.

To me, having unexpected experiences is what travel is about. Loved it - and had enough to take home for lunch the...

The wife and I ate outside and the atmosphere was peaceful and inviting. Initially, we told the waiter that we wanted the Pork Paella with ribs (€17.00) and he told us that it's good for two people. That's great, we said and then ordered the Gambas al Ajillo (€14.50) and Steak Tartare (€28.00), along with a Coke and a Nestea.

The gambas came out almost immediately, and the steak followed not too long after. We ate most of it while waiting for the paella which took an inordinately long time to be served. After a while, we inquired about the state of the paella and the waiter was a bit surprised and told us that it's too big, too much for just the two of us - considering that we ordered other food.

The waiter was absolutely right - the wife and I were already stuffed with the steak and gambas, but if you want to make sure your order was received and understood well, you'd have to communicate better than we did.

TLDR: a bit of a communication mishap, but the waiter's instinct...

This is a great place! The service is friendly, professional and helpful in explaining the menu. The staff works hard to make all of their guests feel welcome and enjoy the experience. There are several daily specials which add even more to the already great menu. We could have easily chosen 4-5 different entrees as each sounded better than next. We were craving a rice and went with the chicken & thistle paella; it did not disappoint. The flavors were wonderful and the socarrat plentiful. A well executed dish. We also had the gambas as a starter with bread to soak up the delicious garlic oil from the cast iron pan. We shared a bottle of wine that paired well with our meal. Our waiter was did a fantastic job helping us select a wine that would be suitable for our entire meal. The prices are reasonable for the quality and quantity served. We definitely would come back to explore other areas of the menu or have the...