Estimar
Rafa Zafra told Time Out in 2025 that his kitchen at Estimar cleans just 20 anchovies in the morning and another 20 in the afternoon.
Why go
Rafa Zafra, a cook from Seville, worked in the kitchen at elBulli and ran the kitchen at Hacienda Benazuza, Ferran Adrià's hotel in Sanlúcar la Mayor.1 His wife and partner, Anna Gotanegra, comes from five generations of fishmongers at the port of Roses.2 Her family supplied the fish when the couple followed their Barcelona Estimar with one in Madrid in 2019.1 Zafra told Julia Pérez Lozano of Gastroactitud that year: We get fish every day and we use it up. The cold rooms are only for keeping it between services, and at night they stand empty.
1 El Español reported in 2020 that Ferran Adrià had called Estimar the 21st-century seafood restaurant.
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Start with the red prawn of Roses. Pérez Lozano had it three ways in 2019 and liked it best steamed, since the warmth brings out the sweetness.
1 The house's carta, read in September 2026, lists it boiled in seawater or steamed on seaweed.10 The same carta lists a carpaccio of cigalitas (small langoustines) and caramelized onion under the title Homage to El Bulli 1995.
10 Pérez Lozano found it really tasty
and wrote: It's curious how well these two sweet ingredients go together.
1 The chef Dabiz Muñoz told Gourmet Traveller in 2023: Everything here tastes fantastic, but I especially recommend anything fried the Andalusian way.
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The bill depends on the fish you choose. Pérez Lozano wrote in 2019: You can eat for 60 euros or for 600. The diner sets the limit.
1 The MICHELIN inspectors advise against going alone, because many of the fish served are large in size and these may not be available just for one person.
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Order this / avoid
- Order: the boquerones en vinagre (anchovies in vinegar),
taut, juicy, almost raw at the center, the acidity well judged, a marvel of delicacy
to Julia Pérez Lozano (Gastroactitud, 2019).1 - Order: the red prawn of Roses, steamed (Julia Pérez Lozano, Gastroactitud, 2019).1
- Order: the cigala carpaccio (Julia Pérez Lozano, Gastroactitud, 2019).1
- Order: the flan,
creamy, dense, just sweet enough, addictive
to Julia Pérez Lozano (Gastroactitud, 2019). The Sitedicenquecomí blog, writing at the Madrid opening, called itone of the most delicious sweet bites in a long time.
8 - Avoid: the red prawn served cold. Julia Pérez Lozano (Gastroactitud, 2019):
The cold spoils the tasting.
1 - Avoid: the boquerones opened, dressed with lemon and fried. Julia Pérez Lozano (Gastroactitud, 2019) found them
slightly dry from light over-frying.
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What locals & experts say
- Paco Roncero, chef (2023):
It is Madrid's seaport. Product, product and product. They combine flavors that are not usual in a restaurant that serves only fish, but here they handle them like nobody else.
4 - Time Out Madrid (2025):
The service, the open kitchen, the meticulous attention to detail, the purist approach (there are only three or four ingredients per dish), and the splendid range of techniques and off-menu options all contribute to a superlative experience.
5 - David P. Leja, World of Mouth (undated):
the seafood and fish they have here is just absolute top notch quality, which justifies the price they charge, which isn't cheap we must warn you (but we would happily pay it again).
7 - Award: 2 Soles Guía Repsol, first given in 2022 and held in 2025.2
- Award: listed in the MICHELIN Guide (2025).6
Good to know
- Where: Calle del Marqués de Cubas 18, in Centro.12
- Timing: lunch and dinner Tuesday to Saturday, shut Sunday and Monday (the house's site, October 2025).12
- Booking: book by phone on 914 292 052.2
- Price: Guía Macarfi's card gives 150 euros a head before drinks (undated, read in September 2026).11
Verdict
should-visit — Bring company to Estimar for fish from Roses, and order the red prawn steamed and anything fried the Andalusian way. In 2019 a critic put the bill anywhere from 60 to 600 euros, depending on what you pick.