Mercado de San Miguel

Mercado de San Miguel near Plaza Mayor is sure to be one the first places that you'll hear about if you're looking for a "foodie experience" in Madrid.  The newly renovated market was reopened in 2009, much to the delight of Madrillenos and tourists.  The concept is an open market where visitors can wander from booth to booth while trying out all sorts of treats.

Entrance to the Mercado de San Miguel, near Plaza Mayor.

A cheese plate.

Mushroom Croquettes

Other reviews of the Mercado suggest that this is a place to buy your special groceries to take home, but we found it to be more of a total food experience for people to wander through and explore.  On our visit, we had two glasses of cava (4 euro each), two mushroom croquettes (1.50 euro each), and a cheese plate (6 euro for 2 fancy ruffles of cheese and bread).  It didn't seem like the easiest place to have a full meal because was crowded, even on a weekday.  Seating was also limited, so practice your standing-while-eating skills before going.

After having done more exploring in Madrid, we've visited several authentic markets where it seems like regular people do their normal grocery shopping.  If that's what you're looking for, then Mercado de San Miguel shouldn't be on the top of your list.  But, the Mercado de San Miguel is worth a visit, as long as you bring a wallet, some patience, and (possibly) plan on having a full meal somewhere else!

Delic

Delic cafe bar in the Lavapies & Latina neighborhood area gets a lot of buzz, and there's good reason for that: the food, coffee, and above all, the sweets are great.  We went by on an early Saturday afternoon after doing some Moroccan carpet shopping at nearby Berberia, also high on our list.

At 1:00 pm, Delic was not crowded.  The atmosphere was friendly. The staff was sitting in the back room cleaning/chopping mint, so it smelled great.  We chose a delicious salad with walnuts and blue cheese.  It was perfect for sharing.  We also had tostadas, but admit that we can't remember which kind because we were so focused on the carrot cake.

Delic takes a slightly different approach to the carrot cake.  Theirs is moist and smooth with a nice, mild cream frosting.  We're not typically fans of chocolate toppings on carrot cake, but this dark chocolate drizzle worked well.  The coffee was great too.   And we loved the round packages of Swedish hard bread above the register even if the cashier told us they bought it a Ikea!.  We will go back!