Trattoria Pulcinella — Restaurant in Madrid

This is a great Italian restaurant which I went to with the family. My sister-in-law called 1 hour before to reserve and they had 1 table for about an hour. When we got there the lady at the door informed us that there had been a cancellation and they had automatically reserved our table for longer if we wanted to instead of just taking another booking from another customer.

The food was great! I had the Rigatoni All'indiavolata (a spicy tomato pasta), which was beautiful but not that spicy (not a criticism) for my palate but luckily enough they had brought a spicy olive oil before. They brought a basic pasta Bolognese with rocket for my daughter who is only 2 and a half. The rest of the family had other pasta dishes such as the Spaghetti Carbonara that I tried and was lovely, especially as it wasn't made with cream but with eggs (which is the authentic way). My partner had the Tortelloni Alla Zucca (stuffed pasta with pumpkin, a creamy sauce with traces of a truffle aroma) which again was delicious.

The service was fantastic, Paola that waited our table kept coming over to ask if everything was ok or if we needed anything else as well as one of the managers (not to often to be annoying though). The place is decorated very well, dimmed lighting, a good distance between tables, Sonos speakers (I checked the brand as I have one at home and really like the sound quality) that has ambience music which isn't too loud.

I would definitely recommend this restaurant, so much so that we are going back today with my father-in-law probably to try...

We stopped into the cute little restaurant for dinner one night.

To start, we ordered the bruschette di sorrento y Parmesano. The fresh sliced cherry tomatoes were absolutely delicious with a rich flavoring of simple oil. In the center sun dried tomatoes and cheese on a small bed of greens. This is definitely worth starting your meal with.

From there, I ordered the lasagna. It didn’t look all that special considering the plating was basically the lasagna in a bowl, but the flavor was really great.

My partner got the Risotto al Frutti di Mare. The plating was really careless. The plate had 3 small shrimp and they were overly salty.

When the waiter checked in on us, we told him how salty it was so he offered to replace it since this was such a strong recommendation from him.

We went with the Rigatoni All’Indiavolata. This was a much better option. The sauce was nice and light and the guanciale gave it a nice extra flavor.

For dessert we had to enjoy the tiramisu as it’s a favorite. It did not disappoint. Although it lacked any flavor of rum, the overall taste was really great. We also enjoyed a small bottle of limoncello on the house which based on looking around seemed to be a standard.

All in all a great stop. Cute place that also had a back area so don’t be fooled if it looks full up front. You might be able to...

As an Italian, I found the food at this restaurant to be average, but not exceptional. The Cacio e Pepe was quite dry and lacked the creaminess that the dish typically requires. The lasagna was decent, though a bit too salty for my taste. However, the most disappointing aspect was the service and the misleading practices in the menu presentation.

Unsolicited bread was served automatically, and while the menu stated that you could opt out to avoid the 2.5€ per person charge, this information was not clearly communicated. Additionally, olives were served without prior notice, and no mention was made on the menu that they were a chargeable item. We were surprised to find a 4€ charge for them on the bill, which seemed unjustified. After raising the issue, the charge was removed, but it left a negative impression.

It's unfortunate to encounter these kinds of practices, which detract from the overall dining experience. Transparency and clear communication would go a long way in improving customer...