jeepneyjinggoy: Spain

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The Puerta del Sol square with the statue of the Charles III of Spain aka the El Rey Alcalde at the center.

Madrid was cold and wet the day we arrived, not a good welcome for first time tourists, but nothing three paellas can handle. The next day was a complete opposite though. A bright and sunny day met us when we stepped out of our hotel to head to another food stop. Nice.

But it’s not always good to fill your mind with food all the time, even on a food tour. Not only do I feel like I am already raking in the calories and gaining weight long before the food touches the palate but also miss out on the nice attractions as I make my way to the restaurants of the day. Case in point, I never knew I was standing on one of Madrid’s famous sites on our way to lunch.

I never knew I went past a most important “entryway.” Honestly, it seemed like one of those busy crossroads that we come across all the time (smack on the forehead!), and where the fan store was. Luckily, it was the same route we took heading back to the hotel.

The plaza was one of Madrid’s important portals called the Puerta del Sol aka the “Gate of the Sun” (yes, quite timely for us as it was a sunny day), named (and decorated with the rising sun) as such because the original gate faces the east where the sun rises.

Puerta del Sol was one of the entryways of the walled city of old Madrid. Having the Post Office in the area, it was considered a very important meeting area since it was where the latest news from around Spain and elsewhere would be received and emanate.

The House of the Post Office building is used today as the office of the President of Madrid.

The area was made even more interesting to the masses who gather at the Gradas de San Felipe (the steps to the Saint Philip church at the square) and listened or take part in the news delivery/exchange of opinions (speculations, rumors and gossip included), making it one of the most prolific mentideros de la Corte (more appropriately translated as "places of the City where people buzz about other people").

The scene hasn’t changed much today. The place is still one of the busiest spots in the city, only with more people. The Post Office building is still standing and used as the office of the President of Madrid, the head of the regional government of the Autonomous Community of Madrid. On the ground on the northern side of the edifice is the “kilometro cero” plaque serving as the symbolic center of Spain and the basis of the numbering in the Spanish road system.

City streets radiate from the Puerto del Sol, two are visible from this shot of the square.

In the square are some of Madrid’s famous landmarks—the clock that chimes to welcome the new year, and in turn, mark the traditional eating of the Twelve Grapes; the statue of Charles III of Spain aka the El Rey Alcalde (the mayor king); the heraldic symbol of Spain—the Madreño tree and the bear; and the statue of Mariblanca.

Mariblanca’s statue stands where the old fountain of the square was.

I won’t keep you hanging. With the high traffic in and around Puerta del Sol, trade and industry has grown with it. Shopping establishments are bountiful in the area including several El Corte Ingles department store buildings, a bevy of cafes and restaurants, and nearby, bars and dance clubs that will keep you up until the sun rises.

Interesting characters appear at the square Captain Jack Sparrow & Rafael Nadal (their lookalikes, at least)

For more travel & lifestyle stories, visit http://jeepneyjinggoy.blogspot.com/ and http://apples-and-lemons.blogspot.com/

Published in the Sun.Star Davao newspaper on August 21, 2014.

From Casa Botin to Sobrino Botin, the restaurant stands at the same address since its conception making it the world’s oldest running restaurant.

Ahhh Madrid. You were officially a gastronomic destination for these tourists, a designated food tour visit, everything else—the exploration of attractions, will had to be listed second.

This we knew from the start, the moment the European sojourn was planned. Though it would be everyone’s first time to visit the capital city of Spain, it was the cuisine that my foodie group was more interested in. Having listed the food and the restaurants of choice, we had to consider ourselves lucky to gaze upon the beautiful sights in between food stops.

We were lucky enough to have stayed at t the Centro, where everything around us proved to be interesting and walking distance to where we wanted to be, the next item on the list included—Restaurante Botin.

Bucket listed restaurant

As luck would have it, it was a “productive” walk to the lunch place. We got to check out the Puerta del Sol, one of the most popular plazas in the city and where the shop for the Spanish fans the ladies wanted was.

Shopping for Spanish fans at Puerto del Sol on our way to Sobrino Botin.

Along Calle Mayor, we stopped at a few shops to get jamon, sweet treats including turones in different flavors, and got to sit, people watch and shop for more fans at the Plaza Mayor, where one of the nine exits led us to our destination—Restaurante Sobrino de Botin.

Too cute to eat. A pastry shop along Calle Mayor

Irresistible shop. Had to buy jam on.

Stopover at Plaza Mayor. A nice place to people watch…interesting super heroes pass by occasionally.

It was originally Casa Botin founded in 1590 by a Frenchman, Jean Botin, at 17 Calle de los Cuchilleros, the street of “Cuchilleros” (cutlers) in Old Spain. The business was eventually passed to Candido Remis, Jean Botin’s sobrino, or nephew, who renamed the restaurant to Sobrino de Botin in 1725.

One of nine gates of Plaza Mayor. This one exits to Calle de los Cuchilleros where restaurante Sobrino Botin (brick wall/yellow wall after yellow awning) still stands since 1725.

The restaurant still stands on the same address since its conception in the 16th century making it the oldest restaurant in operation in Spain, and according to the Guiness World Records, the oldest restaurant in the world.

This proves it--the official citation from the Guiness World Records as the world’s oldest restaurant.

Maybe Botin’s longevity in its venture already makes it a must-dine in resto, or that the celebrated Spanish artist Francisco de Goya worked there as a waiter while waiting to get accepted into the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, or that literary legend Ernest Hemigway was a regular client and mentioned the place in his novel “The Sun Also Rises,” or that Spanish Royalty, political figures and cinematic celebrities from across the globe have dined in its halls. However, for us Pinoy foodies, it’s the buzz about the house specialty—the Cochinillo de Asado aka the roast suckling pig, that that got us curious about the oldest eatery.

Botin's house specialty- the Cochinillo de Asado

Though the reviews we’ve come across about the place and the food was mixed, ranging from “too touristy” to “locals’ favorite,” from “bland” to “average” and even “poor,” we wanted to check it out for ourselves and come up with our own. After all, growing up with lechon on our tables (almost all the time), our evaluation can be deemed reliable (or so we think. But of course, taste is subjective).

Botin is charming, very old world— the floor plan very labyrinthine, the structure in dark hardwood and bricks, cement-tiled floors in checkerboard pattern; interior wall details come in a mix of wooden panels and painted porcelain tiles adorned with oil paintings and a few of the restaurant’s gastronomical awards and citations; very narrow wooden stairways; wrought iron chandeliers and wall sconces; daylight streaming through glass paned doorways that open up to balconies on the upper levels; and a “very prohibiton” vibe at the cave-like, windowless bricked cellar still used as a dining hall. “It’s where you get the feel of the original restaurant,” said one of the Pinay crew as she ushered to our tables topped in crisp, white linen.

Botin's bar area by the entrance.

Bright & sunny. The third level dining hall.

Charming setting: painted wall tiles, checkerboard cement floor tiles, glass paned wooden doors that open up to a balcony.

Very "prohibition" vibe dining. Where one can get the feel of the old Botin, the cellar.

A peek into where the house specialty is roasted.

Looking out to a view of the "cutlers" street.

Charming wall treatments.

Narrow wooden staircases connect the different levels of the restaurant

Yes, there are Filipinos in the place, lots of them, because “the owners love the Pinoys and how they work.” Getting to know them gives us the “perks” like getting a quick, warmer accommodation from their team, tips, bits of “inside stories,” and access to the holiest spot—Botin’s Forno, manned by no other than, Pinoys as well! We were looking forward to good lechon after knowing this.

Pinoys in the house! Official roasters of the restaurant, Celso Salisi & Roel Alim.

Now, the food. We enjoyed the tapas of Croquettas de Jamon and Morcilla (blood sausage. Complimentary, perhaps, as it was not reflected in the check) while waiting for the dishes we ordered:

Croquettas de Jamon & Morcilla

the Ensalada Botin (a tasty mix of asparagus, olives, potatoes, tomatoes, eggs and ham drizzled with olive oil, Euros14.25++),

Ensalada Botin

the Gambas Ajillo (which was fantastic that we had 4, at Euros24.25++ each),

Sweet dreams are made of these- the Gambas Ajillo, the taste of Botin that truly lingered in my taste buds.

tried the very pricey Angulas (baby eel at Euros102.6++ an order and for us, it was nothing to go gaga over),

The pricey Angulas.

a whole cochinillo (a bit too much for the 7 of us to finish, at Euros24.40++ per person. Though it was tender and roasted well, my Pinoy palate found it bland having gotten used the local recipe with a bit more salt and hint of lemongrass),

A whole Cochinillo de Asado for our group. Looks delicious!!! …and I am not referring to the food server.

the Surtido de Postres Botin (a nice dessert sampler)

Surtido de Postres Botin

and a couple pitchers of Sangrias (cool and refreshing, at Euros 12.55++ per pticher).

A pitcher of cool and refreshing Sangrias

With no reservations allowed, it was a good move for us to arrive earlier than the lunch crowd rush. We were about done when the Botin started to get full. “It’s always this way,” said our server, and the restaurant in open 6 hours a day (Lunch at 1-4PM & Dinner at 8PM-12AM), everyday.

The Pinoy foodies out to “eat Spain.”Cheers!

Ticked off the bucket list, we had a few hours to burn the calories we took in before the next meal. Leaving the famed restaurant, the flavor that lingered on my tongue was that of the Gambas Ajillo and not the cochinillo. Oh well, that’s the kick I got from the “World’s Oldest Restaurant.”