Restaurante Lakasa — Restaurant in Madrid

Wonderful food and nice service, starring César Martín (himself) and his French wife Marina. Menu used to be kind of exhaustive but it is not anymore, and it works, probably both due to the paradox of choice plus they always have a very substantial set of daily specials, beyond main menu.

Good price for the quality makes it a less intensive in fifty/sixty somethings vs other places of this kind. It does not have the noise of La Maruca (today) but is very animated and probably (at least in weekends) more indicated for celebrations and less for intimate ocasions. It is also a good place to go with children (as Marina and César are very nice to them and do not get stressed as more stress-oriented chefs and maitres do sometimes in Spain).

As we were celebrating today (two simultaneous birthday parties, with no kids), we had a really good time, starting with a wonderful artisanal Brittanny cider and ending with a refined (for my un-educated palate) Bernard Brémont Champagne. And with the opportunity to sample house classics as the Buñuelos de Idiazábal (lovely, cheesy), and the innovative Croquetas de Calçots (I think they're even better than the ones with Bacalao Ajoarriero that they used to serve here -and we recently had at Treze in Plaza España). To this we added a very fine dish of puerros confitados (with nuts and an Hollandaise sauce) that I enjoyed even if it was made of vegetables and a fourth starter, for me an absolute wonder and a landmark since today, the Pizza de Trufa Negra.

For main I had the house special for Saturdays, a fantastic Steak Tartar that César prepares at the table and personalizes according to your taste. It was as lovely as ever.

Finally, let us just say that even if desserts are very good here (coordinated with Treze Restaurant where they are probably the strongest point), it is highly advisable to end your meal with the cheese selection that, again, César presents and explains when it is served. Beautiful.

With more sophisticated drinks than usual (cider and champagne in my case, but others have wine during the meal while I have draft Mahou Clásica), bill comes at about €55-60 / head which is not high for this level.

This is probably one of the best places in Madrid...

Very good food, very good wines, not on the main road so not too loud and peaceful vistas from the porch.

We had (in order of service with order of favourites in brackets):

Bread - yummy

(5) Veal Tripe - delicate but delicious, probably the least.

(4) Cerviche - not sure what this was to be honest. We ordered because it was unintelligible (including the Cerviche component as we don’t read Spanish) but it was delicious. We like a Cerviche and make it at home when we have nice fish. This one was perfectly “cooked” with a sauce of tomato and lime (not enough to continue cooking but a nice sauce).

(2) Razor Clams - perfectly cooked with a lovely Smokey BBQ flavour but nice and soft and nice olive oil.

(3) Amber Jack - perfectly cooked belly with crispy skin. Not sure if the tomato sauce went with the dish but that can be personal preference. The tomato sauce had much of the sweetness removes and was very concentrated so it went down well on its own.

(1) Pig trotters - like pork crackling with a bit of additional substance. Heavy but a lovely dish to end on

Lakasito 4.0 - chocolate mousse desert. Wonderful presentation, mousse and praline. Glad we ordered this with very lottle description

Would order all again.

All the wines we had by the glass were perfect matchings and great value.

Half portions of the above foods bar deserts and bread, 8 glasses of various wines and coffee for...

Traveling in Madrid alone, I wanted to treat myself to a good authentic Spanish meal and this place seemed to fit the bill. After doing some research, I found this place offered traditional Spanish tapas with a modern flair. I stopped in late, around 11pm but the place was lively. I loved the modern decor and would recommend this spot to tourists and locals alike!

For dinner, I started with the "Alubia negra de Gernika con chorizo y piparras" which was a red soup with black beans and sausage. It was very tasty with the bread that was served warm with my meal. Afterwards, I got the "Albóndigas de Buy Carbonara con Guanciale, pecorino rallado y yema de huevo" - which were some of the best Albondigas I have ever tasted. Seriously GET THEM, even if it is just to share. They were so good I wanted to go back the next night and get them again.

This would be a great date night spot or place to celebrate a birthday. The staff was extremely professional and help (they suggested I order a 1/4 portion of the soup because of the size, which was very helpful). LaKsa was pricey but I think the cost matched the experience. If I have the chance, I will...