Breakfast in Madrid

21 October 2010 By Vera Ciria 0 In Delicious Food and Restaurants, Life outside Barcelona

I love breakfast. I love breakfast at home and especially out. I love searching out breakfast places on holidays. I will always bemoan the lack of really good breakfast options here in Barcelona; thank all heavenly things from above that don’t exist, that Café Federal offers excellent options for the most important meal of the day. Madrid caters to those in need of a good wake-up call and every time I go, I manage to find more and more places dishing out really great breakfasts.

Although Le Pain Quotidien is a bakery chain, there is nothing fast or sloppy about this place. This is what Buenas Migas tries to be and doesn’t even come close. Yes, the first is a bakery and the second is a focacceria, but there are certain similarities, although Buenas Migas doesn’t come even close to the quality of Le Pain. First opened in Belgium, this place is slowly starting to open more joints around Europe. The croissants are probably as good as they get, there is a vast selection of bread, sweet confections for sugar cravings and a good variety of warm and cold options throughout the day.

I had a pain-au-chocolat, which was absolutely perfect with dark, bitter chocolate. Not the sickly-sweet chocolate napolitanas that are so common here in Spain. I had an organic apple juice with ginger, which they made on the spot, lovely and cloudy. The coffee comes in bowls and there are jars of jam and organic olive oil to take home. Why won’t they hurry up and open one here in Barcelona?!

The Beauty Bar at Hotel Abalú was the other gem that I came across this time in Madrid. Channeling a certain Parisienne air, the black and white tiles, iron-wrought chairs and chic lighting all combine to present the smallest and cutest nook ever. Certainly tending towards a far amount of girlishness, the breakfast options range from toast and jam to salty sandwiches, cakes to yogurt and fruit. Astonishingly, the price is very good, with several breakfast deals and extras included. I’d love to see what the hotel rooms look like!