Finding good paella, or arroz as it’s often called here, is no easy task. Just about every restaurant on the tourist route throughout Spain advertises an array of paellas, but most of them are about as palatable as a Big Mac, and in some cases less so. This is too bad, since it should be a revered dish, the same way that risotto is in Italy. In Madrid one of the places we’d recommended for paella and its siblings is the Albur Restaurant in Malasaña. The Albur is still relatively cosy despite having almost doubled in size a few years ago, and the service is usually pretty good, if a little hectic.

A range of Paellas, usually including Paella de Marisco (seafood paella), Arroz a Banda (rice cooked in fish broth), Arroz negro (rice cooked in black squid ink) and Fideua de Mariscos (similar to paella but made with small macaroni like pasta), are served for lunch on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The place gets very busy after about 14:00-14:30.

If Paella is not your thing the Albur has plenty of other good choices, including the highly recommendable “Morcilla” de León (black pudding from Leon).

Albur

Manuela Malasaña 15
28004 Madrid
Spain

915 942 733

Albur locaton on Google Maps