Jota Batela

He ido en varias ocasiones a tomar algo, para picar o ya directamente tapear algo y tomar unos vinos. Es de los pocos sitios en los que te ponen una buena cerveza con un poco de queso de Idiazabal, con su toque suave de aceite de oliva vasco.
Recuerda mucho a las taskas vascas pero con ese punto de diferencia que le da la decoración naval que tiene: un sextante, varios faros de señalización (verde y rojo) cabos, etc. Además, tanto la barra como las escaleras que suben a la parte de arriba recuerdan a las vigas/​palos de un gran navío de primeros del siglo XX de vapor pero construído en madera.
El servicio es correcto y eficiente, especialmente llama la atención las tapas que sirven para acompañar la bebida, si es cerveza te ponen queso o aceitunas y si pides vino te ponen salchichón o jamón con un poco de pan.

La verdad es que estuve poquito tiempo y solo picoteé, pero me pareció un sitio muy agradable, con un servicio encantador y con una ensaladilla rusa BUENÍSIMA, y yo con la ensaladilla soy muy gourmet y no me vale cualquier cosa!

After reading Suzanne M.‘s review and seeing that it was relatively close to the hotel we were staying, I decided to make a command decision and drag Brit and 5 of her coworkers to this place.
We walked up the street from Grand Via and nearly missed the place. It’s a countersunk wooden door with wrought iron adornment.
Upon entry there was a great little vibe to the place. Many people standing up and sitting at the bar area, the smell from the food was quite pleasant.
We ordered a few rounds of cervesa and a pitcher of sangria. The waiter originally brought over the menu that had been hand written on a receipt. I made a valiant attempt to understand the food listed, but required a bit more translation. When I asked him for an English menu (which I hate doing) he gladly complied and brought one over.
Our order consisted of a Russian salad — for those that don’t know it’s really Spanish potato salad. Egg and mayo with some spicy zip on the back end. Avocado and Anchovy salad which was inhaled by three of the ladies at the table. (One thing I’ve noticed in my short stay in Madrid is that there is a general shortage of greens for anything but garnish in most Spanish/​Tapas restaurants/​cafes). Albondigas — I’m convinced that these meat balls were pork and veal as the ground meat was much lighter in color and was a little gamey. The spice profile was good and further enhanced the flavor of the meat, and the fresh tomato sauce was a perfect adornment to the meat balls. We had some fried mullet, which are small little fish, and are meant to be bitten into leaving only the head and tail behind. Salty, crunchy and tasty. The whole bass was well prepared. Fileted open with fried garlic chips. The fish spoke for itself. The ox-​tail was very tasty, deep and earthy.
The price point was good with almost all (minus the bass) being 6 Euros. The one thing to keep in mind when visiting small places like this is their lack of consistency in taking credit cards. While they had a credit card machine, for some reason it «rejected» everyone’s cards. He kept handing us the cancelled transaction which led us to believe one of three things — the machine was broken, he was cancelling the transactions or he didn’t know how to work the machine. Either way, pulling together 100 Euros unexpectedly was a bit of a feat.
All in all we came back here three times across a span of two days and enjoed the place each time.
One thing I recommend any of you to do that visit this place is to head upstairs and sit at their tables overlooking the lower floor. The chairs are about 12 inches from the ground and the tables are about 2 feet from the floor. So they are tiny. One word of caution — if you stand over 6 feet you’l have to duck upstairs or you’ll wind up with a good knot on your head.

I am very excited about this place. The sign on the door and the website invite you in to try their fresh, traditional spanish cuisine dishes for only 6 euros a piece and looking in from the street you see a darkly lit, tavern-​cavern like, funky naval décor, a far out 70’s light fixture hanging from the ceiling with big black chains and customers primarily drinking beer and wine and you might easily be inclined to doubt, but, trust me, in this case tasting is believing. And for 6 euros you really aren’t taking big chances.
I first tried this place by happy accident. I ventured in because of the funky décor and because the crowd looked about my age 30s-​40s and because it was darkly lit, which is something I sometimes miss from my favorite bars back in the states. The service was immediately warm. My caña– small and properly poured and the free tapa– large, fresh and delicious. The waiter even asked me if I would like paella or something else?! That’s not usual, and as a vegetarian I really loved the «detalle». When my husband arrived he was equally impressed. We would soon return for dinner.
And we did. I was in the mood for fish and so we asked to see a menu as only a few of the dishes of the day were posted on small signs over the bar. Turns out, there’s no menu. The choices are to be found lined up in the refrigerated glass case on the bar. Along with the huge slab of beef on the counter and the ever present inverted ham leg. And… there were 6 different types of fish, and they all looked good and fresh. It looked like I’d found my fish heaven. We ordered salmorejo (andalusian tomato soup with diced Iberian ham) lacon (cooked, sauteed ham with small potatoes) and bonito (choice cut tuna).
We had no idea we were in for such a feast and such a treat. The salmorejo is the best we’ve had since we were in Cordoba 8 years ago. It’s delicious– the right amount of garlic, beautiful rich tomato flavor and color, fantastic drizzled olive oil and I cheated and had some of the iberian ham because it’s something that’s almost impossible to resist. Simply wonderful. It’s definitely worthy of the 6 euro price tag. Ditto for the lacon. The portion was huge and the husband was very happy.
And, the bonito… I almost cried tears of joy when they brought me my dish. I suddenly felt blessed. The beautiful (4 slices!!!) tuna had been only lightly grilled and dressed with lots of garlic, parsley and olive oil. I totally lost my head– it was perfect in preparation and taste.
Fish dishes range in price from 6 – 18 euros. All other dishes are the promised 6 euros. There’s also plenty of room at the bar, small tables at the front of the restaurant, additional tables in the salon at the back and upstairs. It’s a perfect place for a quiet beer or for a larger group meal.
The service is accommodating and attentive. I can’t wait to return.