Freedom Cakes Vegan Obrador (Restaurant is closed, pickups only) — Restaurant in Madrid

I've been a customer of Freedom Cakes since they opened their first store close to Plaza de la Luna some years ago. As someone who has been vegan for 16 years and bakes a lot at home, I tend to be demanding with vegan food, but even with that into account, in the beginning, their products were nice. The cakes were moist and not bland, and the frosting and general taste was not overtly artificial, even though they always offered a very particular type of cake and desserts.

However, with their move to their new location, close to Sol, I started observing a general decrease in quality, both in terms of service and product, with smaller portions and, all in all, worse cakes and sweets, but over the last few months it has become incredibly apparent that the quality has just gone downhill: minuscule portions, exorbitant prices, dry tasteless cakes and scarce frosting, which honestly I think it may even be a good thing, because now their frosting and cream have a very artificial excessively sweet (almost plasticky) flavour and weird texture.

Overall, I am just disappointed, I can understand expanding a business and price changes due to location, but if it is at the cost of quality, which keeps on going down while prices go up, I feel something should be reconsidered. I assume the restaurant/bakery will keep making business out of new customers chasing the novelty of vegan food or aesthetics, because I cannot imagine long-term vegans, who know how many options are available and how good vegan food/cakes can be, going back. Honestly, the new cakes and sweets do not cut it. It's a pity, but I think they went from a nice and somewhat unique concept to providing a subpar very artificial in feel product priced as an artisan and luxury one. Sadly, it is not worth it and I do not recommend it. I hope they go back to their previous service and quality, but after several blatantly bad experiences, I cannot say I will be waiting for...

I had high hopes for this diner. I had seen photos and videos recommending their food and specially their waffles, which I was particularly excited about since it has been 7 years since I’ve had one. I waited over 30 minutes for the first dish of my meal deal, the chicken and waffles. When the dish came I was shocked to see that the waffle was cold and dry after i took a bite. I asked for it to be sent back only to have a new plate in front of me after 2 minutes with a new waffle. That one was cold too and seemed like it wasn’t defrosted properly. I was extremely upset and called the waiter again to which he offered to get it redone. I declined because not only was I upset, it was ridiculous to give me cold food twice, so I left. They claim their waffles aren’t frozen, but making them in advance and freezing them is still serving frozen waffles. There’s no way the waffle was freshly made in the two minutes it took the kitchen to remake my dish and still be cold. I hope this is something...

This place blew my mind! I'm quite picky about my vegan cafes and restaurants, and have learnt to spot the ones that are just including half-arsed options to tick the 'vegan-friendly' box on their menu. Freedom Cakes is absolutely NOT that.

It is such a friendly place to be, they accommodated for a minimal ability to speak Spanish, by including an English menu, and the man behind the bar spoke English very well.

The prices were good considering the quality and portion-size of the food. Not only that, it is very close town centre of Sol, so you can easily slot it into a day of exploring the city, and the inside decor is absolutely beautiful. Very modern, and they're clearly a company that looks to the future.

If you're willing to sacrifice a substantial piece of your daily calorie consumption in one place - THIS is where to do it. I'm probably going to come back to Madrid at some point in the near future, and I know one place I'm absolutely going to...