El Barril

Classy atmosphere, great service, top notch wine, super delicious oysters, beautiful monk fish and excellent arroz carabiñero.

One of the best in Madrid if not the best. Excellent fish. Excellent rice. Great service.

El Barril offered us the best meal we had on our stay in Madrid. The meal came with a curried lentil amuse and some of the tastiest olives we had in Spain (which is high praise). After that we started with some grilled asparagus and grilled octopus. We were really wanting a vegetable and the 14E for a plate of asparagus caused us to think twice but would do it again. The octopus was simply grilled to perfection. For mains I had the «veal cheek stew» and my wife had «special of the day hake in chef’s sauce». The veal cheek was a nicely done braised veal cheek. I was expecting a stew with veggies, but it was not disappointing (this is what happens when you have to rely on English translations in menus). Don’t know what the sauce on my wife’s hake was but it was tasty and good and the fish was nicely cooked. For dessert we did an apple tart and a crêpe both of them were great. All this accompanied by a bottle of Douro.
Now the bad news. All of this did not come cheap. After spending a week averaging about 40E for very good three course meal with wine, the upgrade from very good to excellent cost us about 100E. We would certainly go back there again.

Went here with a big group, and everything was amazing!!! The food was delicious, the service was good. Worth every penny!

Outstanding in every way. Still dreaming of the grilled shrimp two nights later. Salted and baked sea bass for two was subtle and tender and light. Experience servers. Nice layout. If you have a night in Madrid, go here.

Fui con un grupo para cenar. Pedí un atún muy bueno, pero lo que me gustó más fue la carne que pidieron los otros. Buen ambiente, buen servicio.

Another very good Unilocal find. Right near hotel in Madrid near Prado. Small Place with great bar area. House wines by the glass better than most bottle purchases. Small menu but very interesting. Not the cheapest place to get seafood in Madrid, but certainly a good value for your money. If you are staying near Prado, and want seafood, give this place a try. You will like it.

Absolutely one of the best meals I had in Spain.
To start we ordered Serrano ham that was freshly and precisely sliced by Paco — pictured. Tender and tasty. It’s a must if you like it. And if you don’t, try it, you will fall in love. I ordered grilled octopus. It was very tender and tasty. Tentacle chard and crunchy outside, then you get a bite and it is so tender you wonder «how they do that?» Mix greens with fresh lemon vinaigrette comes with it. It was very healthy! Heaven on a plate. My husband had whole grilled flounder and he loved. Again, simple just grilled but fresh and melting in your mouth.
Wine list wasn’t long but had a very nice selection of all kids and all prices. So there is something for everybody.
Ambiance, atmosphere and service was EXCELENT. Friendly and a bit sophisticated without being pompous.
If you are in Madrid, make a reservation. It’s worth the trip.

To sum it up, the service was worse than bad. My sirloin was 90 percent gristle. My wife’s cod was under cooked with little flavor and nothing else on the plate. When we arrived we were pressed to order in a few minutes and then it took 2 and ½ Hours to get our food and pay the check. We both had to send our entrees back as they were under cooked, but my steak came back cooked, but the potatoes and vegetables were served on a cold plate.
The only good item was a tuna salad, but it was served on a hot plate!
Over $ 150 for little, not good food or service.

My husband said this was the best restaurant he’s been to in his entire life. #restaurantsinMadrid
We’ve eaten a lot of places in a lot of cities, but for my husband, El Barril is bar none. It was transcendental for him; for me, it was a terrific meal. Either way, this place is absolutely worth trying.
For $ 138Euro, we had:
— Barnacles — we’d never had these before. They taste like a cross between mussels and crab.
— Leg of octopus — I usually stay away from squids because they’re chewy; this was cooked perfectly. Smokey and tender.
— Raw clams — like eating raw oysters, but meatier. So fresh.
— Seared tuna — fresh and cooked to perfection, with a side of grilled onions and garlic.
— 2 mojitos — hand-​crafted at the bar, beautifully constructed and with fresh ingredients.
It wasn’t a cheap meal, but you get what you pay for and in this case, that was fresh seafood prepared ideally for the type of marcisco and the style.
Service was fantastic. Attentive and made great recommendations.
Atmosphere is bright and modern/​industrial.

Great Restaurant. The staff here was wonderful. They gave appetizers and dessert, both on the house. The portions were fit for the price. But the quality exceeded all of my expectations. The food was amazing. Our bread was even hot. Too hot to touch at first. I had the seared octopus. It was fantastic. I have had octopus a couple times before and it was always very chewy and unpleasant. I decided to get it anyway because I heard seafood in Spain was great. The outside of the octopus was perfectly seared to a slight crisp. The inside stayed juicy and tender. With olive oil and their special sauce the meal came with, this octopus could have been sold for twice the price. The prices here were fair. Spain, in general, is more expensive than the US. But quality can speak better than words. This restaurant is a must for anyone looking for great seafood!

Our hotel recommended this place and when checking with another hotel they didn’t sound as enthused noting that they were new. I thought they were fantastic! The service is very professional as was the presentation. Our Spanish language skills led to mostly not knowing what was coming, but we couldn’t have been happier with what we got. Three of us had a different fish dish which were cooked perfectly.
We ordered one salad which they said was a single serving but it did nicely for all three of us. Everyone else in the place seemed to be enjoying themselves. Nice and quiet on our side and really just a very enjoyable adventure. It didn’t seem too expensive but it added up quickly but it was quite worth it.
I recommend it without hesitation. I can’t remember the name of the wine, but it was on the last page of the reds and it was a cabernet franc. It was perfectly suited to the dishes we had. I may update this later but it seems like it was about 40 euro per person for salad, entrée, dessert, wine and beer.