Restaurante Vinoteca García de la Navarra — Restaurant in Madrid

A modernized version of the traditional Basque/Navarrese place. At the entrance you find a bar, with a large pizarra showing the bar menu, and a reasonable number of customers, taking into account location and that it is Saturday today (so no possible quick working lunches). At the end there is a corridor leading to the restaurant rooms. We are warmly received, including several intimate questions to my son, who answers appropriately: “Tú debes de ser del Real Madrid, ¿verdad? ¿O eres del Atleti?” (“Soy del Real Madrid”), and “Ya decía yo que parecía que te gustaban Casillas y Cristiano Ronaldo” (“No, Casillas NO”), and “Claro, ya me parecía a mí que a ti los que te gustan son los que meten los goles, o sea Cristiano sí, ¿no?” (“A mí me gustan Cristiano Ronaldo y Xabi Alonso”).

Service is very nice and the only negative could be the perception afterwards that, maybe due to the restaurant being completely full of people this afternoon, they are a bit slow today. And in particular they have significant delays (twice!) to bring the beer, which is something that you can imagine I am particularly sensitive to. So it is not a 5/5, after that, even if I must recognize that they smile a lot and joke with the kids (in a place where probably they do not receive so many).

As it happened with La Manduca de Azagra before, the place intends to be a modernized version of a traditional Basque – Navarrese restaurant, more specialized in wines here (vs. vegetables in the case of La Manduca). So decoration is quite different from the one at a classic asador. Here you have white walls with modern, abstract art pictures, and no full tablecloths (but small, individual ones). This contrasts with a deliciously looking jamón ibérico that they are cutting to serve the raciones, and a mountain of impressive tomatoes that look at you from the corridor as you enter the restaurant. There is a lot of artificial light, so you do not miss sunlight (that in any case is scarce today).

And customer base looks also different from a traditional joint, with more variety and a lower average age, even if in most tables you find families with some fiftysomething individuals sharing lunch with younger generations (but there are also thirtysomething couples and groups of fortysomething friends). Tables are not so close as in other places, so it is not so noisy for a place with so many tables of more than four people (that typically may be celebrating things).

Food is really nice, as one would expect of a place that takes care of raw materials. I particularly enjoy the Croquetas (both the jamón ones, which are listed in the menu, and the txistorra ones, a day special), and then the Ensaladilla Rusa is not bad (maybe a bit dull, but nice & easy). Fried fish (both my Rape and the children’s Merluza a la Romana) is lovely (the Rape is even crispy), but would benefit from an additional amount of patatas fritas (not bad but not in my favorite cut here, because I tend to associate these cubes / pyramids with albóndigas and things of that kind). Lubina a la plancha (another daily special) is fresh and tender, but it is a small one (“Lubina de ración”).

Being quite good, this is not actually at the level of La Manduca de Azagra (although Croquetas are much better here) or the more creative La Cabra that we recently visited. I would see it more like a very good, high-level bar. Home made desserts, a cuajada that my partners says is “normal” and a tarta de queso which is more like a (small) flan de queso, do confirm that impression.

All this, including one caña and one doble (Estrella Damm, regretfully), one glass of red Rioja (Club Lealtanza 2005) and two bottles of water (one sparkling and one still) comes at around €40 / head. Not cheap at all, but probably justified by environment plus quality. And many others seem to agree on that (because the place...

As wine geeks, by far this is the best restaurant we have been to anywhere in the world, even better than 3-star Michelin & World's Best restaurants. There are other wine-focused restaurants that have even longer wine lists but what makes this place stand out is 1 of the owners, Luis Garcia de Navarra, 1 of Spain's most known & respected sommelier. He explained each of the 4 wines that were served to our group, talking about the vines, the winery & winemaker, the grape varietals, the terroir & winemaking process. His knowledge is amazing. And the prices of the wines are very reasonable. The Rioja we had was just a few Euros more than in a retail shop we saw the same wine. The steak was so delicious, the fat tasted like butter. The service, from Señor Luis to each wait staff, was warm & friendly, never hurried. Definitely a must for any wine lover in Madrid. Muchisimas gracias, Señor...

Desde el momento en que cruzas el umbral de Vinoteca García de la Navarra, te embarga una sensación de acogida. Ubicado en el corazón vibrante de la ciudad, este excepcional restaurante es un verdadero paraíso para los amantes del vino y la buena comida.

La atmósfera de Vinoteca es tanto íntima como sofisticada, haciendo honor a la calidez de los hermanos García de la Navarra, quienes personalmente aseguran que cada visita sea memorable. El interior, decorado con un gusto elegante y clásico, invita a los comensales a relajarse en un entorno donde la pasión por el detalle se refleja en cada esquina.

La carta de vinos es un sueño hecho realidad para los entusiastas, con una variedad impresionante de referencias provenientes de los mejores viñedos locales e internacionales. Pero el verdadero protagonista es, sin lugar a dudas, la experiencia de maridaje que los entendidos Pedro y Marcos García de la Navarra han perfeccionado. Sus recomendaciones son acertadas, asegurando una armonía sublime entre cada plato y su acompañamiento líquido.

Hablando de placer culinario, la cocina de Vinoteca García de la Navarra celebra los productos de temporada con una destreza que deleita al paladar más exigente. Desde las entradas hasta los postres, cada plato es un testimonio de la dedicación a la auténtica cocina española, con un toque contemporáneo que sorprende y satisface. No cabe duda de que la calidad del producto es la estrella, con una presentación que encanta la vista y un sabor que perdura en el recuerdo.

En especial, no se pueden dejar de probar sus platos icónicos, como el lomo de buey o las alcachofas en texturas. Son una muestra palpable de la magia que ocurre cuando se combina la tradición con la innovación. Además, el servicio es impecable: atento, conocedor y genuinamente interesado en proporcionar una experiencia excepcional al cliente.

Vinoteca García de la Navarra es más que un restaurante, es un destino imprescindible para quienes buscan celebrar la vida con cada bocado. No es de extrañar que se haya convertido en un referente gastronómico en Madrid. Ya sea para un almuerzo de negocios, una cena romántica o un brindis entre amigos, este es el lugar donde la excelencia es la norma y donde cada visita promete ser tan buena...