Bistronómika
Carlos del Portillo ages the big fish at Bistronómika for a week at one degree and very low humidity.
Why go
Del Portillo runs this fish restaurant on calle de Ibiza, by the Retiro, with Silvia Manzano in the dining room.1 He told Guía Repsol in 2024 that the doneness of the fish is Bistronómika's best ingredient.
3 He ages the fish so they lose water, the fibre breaks and the fish's own fat starts to work in.
Then he halves them and grills them skin side down over Cuban marabú charcoal, turning them only at the end.3 He told Directo al Paladar in 2024 why he also cooks sauces that take days: A grilled kokotxa is very good, but put it on a veal-hand stock that takes four days to finish and a pil pil and it goes from exceptional to incredible.
2
Order what comes off the grill and out of the pot. Isaac Agüero ate here in March 2026 and marked the lamprea a la bordelesa (Bordeaux-style lamprey) Outstanding
: The flesh is soft and unctuous, falling apart with astonishing ease.
1 He called the pochas (fresh white beans) with a pil pil of grilled turbot a real great dish.
1 Miguel Ayuso of Directo al Paladar had pochas topped with a grilled kokotxa in February 2024 and captioned them a brutal stew of pochas.
2 The turbot Agüero ate was a seven-kilo fish from Malpica on the Costa da Morte, reddish at the bone, a sign of freshness and of precision on the embers.
1 Alberto Chicote, who started catering school on the same day as Del Portillo, told Guía Repsol in 2024: He's a great cook. He nails fish.
5
Del Portillo put his own average ticket at 100 euros a head with drinks in February 2024, and said he could not go lower.2 He offered a cheaper route: you can eat a stew, six small plates, and we swap out the fish, and it doesn't come out so expensive.
2 Agüero wrote in 2026 that the high prices in line with the produce
can make it a special-occasion restaurant.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: the grilled turbot when there is one. Isaac Agüero (2026) found a
very meaty texture.
1 - Order: the gilda, which Guía Repsol (2024) calls
a version of the traditional Basque pintxo
: kalamata olive, piparra pepper, anchovy mayonnaise, red tuna and a grilled pickled French onion. It is the one dish that has stayed on since 2016 (¡Hola!, 2024).4 - Order: the flan, made with two whole eggs and 18 yolks, goat's milk and cream, in a slow bain-marie (Guía Repsol, 2024).3 Isaac Agüero, who was given it by the house in 2026, found it
creamy, but at the same time it has body.
1 - Avoid: the anchovy on beef fat. Isaac Agüero (2026):
On the other hand, the anchovy with beef fat did not convince me.
1
What locals & experts say
- Guía Repsol (2025):
Carlos del Portillo handles the grill with as much mastery as affection.
6 - Carlos del Portillo, to ¡Hola! (2024):
When people come to Bistronómika, we try to teach through fish.
4 - Macarena Escrivá, El Español (2019), after a visit to the new room: the best of it was
the gilda and the grilled fish.
7 - Award: 1 Sol Guía Repsol, first given in 2024 and held in 2025.6
Good to know
- Where: Calle de Ibiza 44, in Retiro. The restaurant moved here from Barrio de las Letras in 2019.7
- Timing: shut on Monday (MICHELIN, 2024). Call 910 60 72 40 to check the other days before you go.8
- The menu: there is no fixed carta. Del Portillo told ¡Hola! in 2024 that the kitchen makes it up each day
from what arrives.
4 - Tasting menu: Pleamar ran seven passes for the whole table at 85 euros in February 2024.4
- Wine: Silvia Manzano keeps about 120 wines, mostly single-varietal and from small growers (2024).4
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "Jose Andres rec"
Verdict
should-visit — Go for the fish Carlos del Portillo rests for days before it meets the charcoal, and for the stews beside it. Expect about 100 euros a head, the cook's own figure from February 2024.