Restaurante Clos — Restaurant in Madrid

Techniques over taste (almost, non-existent). Don’t waste your money here.

My wife and I had each ordered the tasting menu at Clos for their evening service and was mostly disappointed. We had high hopes for this 1-Michelin star restaurant, but most of the dishes were unpleasant, unbalanced and poorly executed. The service was attentive, but somewhat apathetic. The only good notes from this meal was beautiful presentation of the dishes, and the desserts. For the cost (€109 per 9-course tasting menu), I would NOT recommend this meal to anyone.

Honestly I’m mad at Michelin for awarding this place 1-star. Yes, it is beautiful to look at, but with food, flavors must come first. This place overemphasizes on the use of many cooking techniques, yet fails at the basics of flavor construction and temperature. This restaurant feels like it was created by a pastry chef who hasn’t really mastered the basics skills of cooking savory food.

Here’s my review of each course: Bread & butter: the bread was cold and dry. Butter was good. Tapas: potato tapas tasted like a cold McDonald fry; the mochi cheese is smart technique, but poor flavor and monotonous texture; the salmon wrap was boring. (0/5) Squid, ham, palo cortado: over-salted, tasted mostly of fish sauce. I love using fish sauce, but this is way overdone. Squid itself was nice but I can’t get over the salty sauce. Marinated tuna tartar: tries hard to be creative, but ends up tasting bland. The sauce was watery and flavorless. Carrots added some texture, but did not make sense flavor-wise. White garlic and prawns: Yucky! Shrimps did not taste fresh, sauce was muddled and unbalanced, white garlic did not add any taste. Egg, mushroom, celery ball: this was my favorite savory plate of the evening. It was creamy, savory, had ample umami flavor. But I would prefer this dish to be served hot instead of room temp. Cocido madrileno: sauce was good, but again, over-salted, fried chickpeas and pork cubes was fine. Plate tasted unbearably salty. Seabass, cauliflower and seaweed: this was one of the only two successful entrées. Fish was cooked perfectly, beurre-blanc sauce was nice. Maybe needs a pinch of salt and pepper. Personally, I find the seaweed a bit overwhelming. Suckling pig, sweet potato and plums: this dish is catastrophic, pig was overly fatty and gamey, sweet potato was boring, cold, and did not go well with the pig. I could not take a second bite. Apple, basil and bergamot: my favorite dish of the night. This was bright, creamy, full of complex fresh flavors. I wish there was more of the ice-cream. Chocolate mille-feuille and almonds: this is a complex chocolate dessert with many components. As a chocolate lover, this was immensely fun to enjoy. But sadly, the whole dish was too sweet. Almost perfect...

My partner and I recently dined at Clos to celebrate our one-year anniversary, but unfortunately, the experience did not fully meet our expectations.

From the start, the service felt overly intense and intrusive. The waitstaff hovered constantly, rushing to clear our plates the moment we finished a bite and replacing our cutlery obsessively. While attentiveness is important, it left us feeling pressured rather than relaxed, making it difficult to enjoy the meal at our own pace.

The food was beautifully plated, with a clear emphasis on aesthetics, but the flavors didn’t quite match the presentation. The first cocktail we ordered was overwhelmingly salty, and the rice dish also suffered from excessive salt. The main courses—chicken, beef, and fish—were well-executed but fairly standard, lacking the creativity and boldness one would expect from a fine dining experience.

Another disappointment was the unexpected cost of the champagne we were offered at the beginning of the meal. Only after we had already started drinking did we realize it was €17 per glass—an excessive price that wasn’t mentioned beforehand.

The atmosphere also left room for improvement. The background music consisted of uninspired, elevator-style covers of mainstream hits. With such an effort put into the restaurant’s visual design, it would have been great to see the same level of thought applied to the music—something more immersive and unique could have elevated the experience significantly.

Additionally, while the space itself was meticulously designed, there were details that disrupted the sense of perfection the restaurant was aiming for. For example, when the coat closet was opened, it was quite messy, and we noticed a cabinet across from us covered in crumbs. Small details like these, while seemingly minor, break the illusion of a flawless high-end experience.

I want to emphasize that I recognize and appreciate the immense effort, passion, and precision that go into creating a restaurant of this caliber. It’s clear that the team behind it is dedicated to their craft. However, with more attention to the balance between service and comfort, a greater focus on flavor, and some refinements in the overall atmosphere, the experience could truly match the level of investment that has been...

Lunch on a sunny and pleasant Saturday at the Clos Madrid restaurant. The restaurant has 1 Michelin star, about which I read many good comments and at a fair price considering the quality of the aforementioned restaurant. 9-course meal for 124 EURO (not including the cost of the wine of course). The restaurant looks modest, the decor is quiet, refined and elegant, it doesn't try and pretend to be flashy. There is a sommelier on site, super helpful and professional. We chose a wine from New Zealand, a delicious, perfumed and wonderful HUNTER'S Sauvignon Blanc dry white wine. I loved the homemade sourdough bread and brioche with oregano, thyme and anise and four types of butter that looked like a painter's palette: tomato butter, Jamaican black sea salt pepper butter, black olive butter and smoked butter which I liked best. I also loved - Egg, seasonal mushrooms and celery ball puree, Good presentation and taste worthy of the Michelin star. Mix mushrooms with a poached egg, with a slight poke of a fork all the yolk drips over all the mushrooms. Earthy, umami flavors. Wild sea bass, cauliflower and seaweed - the fish is cooked to perfection, fresh, white and juicy. Chocolate and almond millefeuille - A chocolate dessert with truffle mushroom carvings on top was an interesting and tasty combination combining sweetness and saltiness at the same time. Then a box of surprises arrived with chocolate desserts, small and disgusting in taste. Bites, colors, textures - it's great! A thoroughly enjoyable visit to Clos, it was a good and well deserved meal. Overall, the dining experience met the high standards expected from a Michelin star restaurant, especially the main courses and desserts. Aesthetic looking dishes that combine techniques, textures, colors and flavors that blend together and create a magical symphony of pleasure and not just visual. Everything flowed pleasantly and politely as befits a star restaurant, from the atmosphere to the attentive sommelier and the rest of the staff. Friendly, formal and elegant service at the same time. A great end to our...