After a long trajectory including a “chef of the year award”, 2 Michelin stars at Sant Pau Tokio, Michelin stars at Club Allard, Madrid and Tierra in Valdepalacios, Catalán chef José Carlos Fuentes returned in May of ‘25 to open his own project.
Barbudo sits on Príncipe de Vergara in the Barrio de Salamanca.
Here he is accompanied by the maître, sommelier and world class mixologist Juan Lizárraga, who worked in tandem with him at the now closed Señor Pepe.
Barbudo consists of an upstairs Bar-Budo with an interesting wines + champagnes-by-the-glass and tapas menu (bikini de rabo de toro con queso comté y rúcula, brioche de steak tartar de picaña madurada, Brittany oysters), and downstairs, after passing a painted greeting of Papa Hemingway, one finds an elegant, serene dining room, with well dressed tables, comfortable seating, soft lighting and background music.
Downstairs the chef pulls out his heavy artillery!
There is much we liked here of his rich, filling dishes (prepared with lots of soul and lots of chupchup):
first: 3 separate complimentary welcome dishes (aperitivos) cheese filled balls topped with anchovy slices, garlic soup with a grape and smoked sardine, plus a small platter of salchichón, then
starters of broken eggs with Huelva Iberian ham & a medley of 3 wild mushrooms over a Robuchon potato purée,
the mains: venison meatballs and creamy octopus and cuttlefish rice (Diamante from Molino Roca), along with excellent, crusty Vienna la Baguette warm bread and Patio de Viana (Jaén) picual EVOO plus the coffee service comes with ample petit fours. Unfortunately we couldn’t find room for the chef’s signature dessert, his pedacito de cielo, a torrija de brioche (pain perdu) with Ruavieja liquer ice cream.
The best of all: every table receives the personal greeting and warm smile from the chef at the end of the meal.
All of this for a very reasonable price of 60/person.
Barbudo’s motto: “Barriga feliz, alma feliz” (Happy belly, happy soul).
It’s both. We dined a la carte, but the chef also offers a tasting menu.
We’ve booked for Valentine’s Day to try his special menú de San Valentín.
And if for those staying at the Heritage at the corner of Príncipe de Vergara/Diego de León, it sits just a short walk away.
That’s where we’re staying. We haven’t stayed there before. We usually stay at the Orfila but we got an amazing rate at the Heritage and imagine that since it’s the same ownership, it will also be nice. Looking forward to trying Barbudo, and happy there’s an a la carte option.
Just to reassure you about the Heritage (I know it)-----the service, according to friends who have stayed there, is every bit as attentive to detail as its sister, the Orfila.
And both Relais Châteaux properties have their catering serviced by the Sandoval brothers of 2 Michelin-starred Coque.
We actually spend considerable time in that neighborhood (Lista) of the Salamanca district.
Two other casual favorites for a very good value lunch, La Raquetista on Juan Bravo (a 5-minute walk) and the newish and stylish Bar H Emblemático, a 7-minute walk, owned by the venerable Restaurante Hevia on Serrano since 1964.
For grilled meats, you also have Carbón.
That’s great to know.
Ita is around there, too. We went there last time around and really enjoyed it-- it is run by such a lovely couple from Venezuela, and the food was excellent. Thanks for the other recommendations!
@ssinny95,
Thanks for the reminder about Ita. El País calls it a great little restaurant with a great price to quality ratio, and I must add it to our rotation in that neighborhood!
Yet another addition to my impossibly long Madrid list.
Ssinny95: I’ll be VERY curious as to how the Heritage compares the Orfila; sometimes it’s interesting to be situated in a different neighborhood,a thought eh two are not very far from each other. And I’d love to be able to walk to HEVIA..that’s been on my list for so long…
My inside info is that both Relais Chateaux properties, same owners, offer the same high level of service.
We spend a lot of time in that specific barrio of Salamanca and lots of time on Príncipe de Vergara.
The Salamanca district is composed of 6 barrios (wards). The one where the Heritage is located, at the corner of Diego de León and P de V is very upscale.
Dining within a short walk from the Heritage:
Bar H Emblemático,
the new casual spot of Hevia that we like very much
Tragabuches by Dani García,
his least expensive outpost in Madrid, Andalusian
Rocacho Plaza,
where one can have El Capricho buey and individual rice dishes at the bar
Taberna Cazorla,
a typical Andalusian tavern, always packed on weekends
La Raquetista Juan Bravo,
where we go often, `part of the Aparicio brothers small group
Ita,
a charmer
Cañadío,
the replica from Paco Quirós’ Cañadío of Santander, open on Sundays
Barbudo,
also open on Sundays for lunch
Haramboure,
the French-Spanish Basque from former chef of Fismuler, Patxi Zumarraga
Yes, it’s only a 10-minute walk from the Heritage to Hevia.
2 photos of the interior from our recent lunch there–a very classy place
I’ve know it since the late '70s, around the corner from where I used to live. It still caters to “the carriage trade”, opened in 1964.
@erica1, it was a difficult decision for me to commit to the Heritage because we love Orfila so much. But when we booked several months back, we got such an amazing rate that it would have been stupid not to book it. Since they’re the same owners, I felt like I wasn’t taking all that much of a risk, but I’ll definitely report back.
Our recent black rice garnished with alioli at Bar H Emblemático by Hevia at Castelló 3–note that for Madrid chefs, the rice is always the star. The rice should shine above everything else
That’s really hard for me to answer. I have dozens and dozens on my master 6-page Madrid dining list that I could easily repeat but… that depends on one’s personal preferences and on one’s budget as well.
Hevia is classic, elegant old school, like Rafa. And for the atmosphere and given the location on chic Serrano, it’s still a solid value.
Barbudo doesn’t have the elegant dining space at all of Hevia because the chef is off on his own without the backers that he had when he maintained the Michelin star at the now closed, classic Club Allard. He also won a star at the hotel Valdepalacios but no longer has the backing of a luxury hotel.
It’s just a solid value with accomplished cooking, catalán style, in the unpretentious space he has to work with.
I would look at the photos, the menu, the prices, the Macarfi reviews and decide which works best for your personal taste/style.
Because I dine out in the city so frequently, I need to seek out places also with a solid RCP (relación calidad/precio) and don´t splurge weekly on wonderful dining like that found at Desde 1911. If only… Twice a year at Desde 1911 though is nothing to complain about.
I haven’t been to Haramboure this year. Some don’t like the simple atmosphere but enjoy his dishes.
I think I will stick with Barbudo. Thanks. I don’t really care that much about the elegance of the dining space, and I also look to quality/price ratio. One thing I wondered is that in your photos and the ones that Tigerjohn posted on the other thread, the place looks empty. One thing I do not like is eating in an empty restaurant. We generally do dinner at 9:30 or so, so we don’t go super early. How is the crowd there?
ssinny95,
The place looked empty only because we were the first to arrive and I wanted to snap photos before it became filled. On our first visit we were also the first diners and it filled up around 3 pm, the typical time that madrileños go out for Sunday lunch. On Valentine’s Day lunch it was completely filled, and I believe that on tigerjohn’s latest meal it was also filled.
We arrived both times at 1:30 because of unforeseen reasons.
For lunches we usually arrive between 2 and 2:30 but on Sundays we go as late as 3-3:30.
For dinner, it depends…at La Catapa to avoid the bar area crowds, especially Thurs-Fri-Sat, we have to go at 8:30 (but stay until 11:30), as all the tabernas in the Retiro district get completely jammed on those nights. That’s the only reason we don’t arrive there at 9:30, as we used to do. And Thursday night is the new Friday in the Retiro district!
I don´t like to dine in an empty restaurant either.
ETA
I appreciated that at Barbudo the price of our wine was only 6 euros above the price at the winery. Again, that’s me and seeking out a good RCP.
