La Tasquita de Enfrente
Nothing Juanjo López Bedmar sends out of this kitchen has more than three ingredients on it.1 He buys from small producers who are at the mercy of the season. Somebody reads you the day's list at the table, and the ensaladilla changes its garnish through the year.4
Why go
Less than a decade ago López turned on his own convictions and cut everything back to the Mies van der Rohe line, less is more, applied literally.1 The plates arrive without a complex sauce to stand behind, which is a risk when the produce is the whole argument.1 You do not order much here. Time Out's advice is to trust his judgement and take what came in.4 His callos are one of the plates Pilar Salas names when she writes about what kept offal cooking alive in this city.5 The dining room is small and there is an Antonio Saura on the wall.2
Order this / avoid
- The ensaladilla rusa, potatoes, carrots and hard-boiled egg, topped with whatever the season allows. Salmon roe one week, a prawn the next.3
- The callos, which Time Out calls the finest in Madrid.4
- The sesos rebozados con alcaparras, battered brains with capers, on the plate Capel photographed.1
- Ask what came in. The card is not the offer and the daily specials are where the money goes.4
- Avoid the weekend. Closed Saturday and Sunday.1
What locals & experts say
- José Carlos Capel, in Gastroactitud in January 2025, scoring it 8 out of 10 at twenty-five years: "se aferran al valor de su despensa. A los sabores de unos productos escasos que le proporcionan pequeños artesanos condicionados por las temporadas." They hold on to the value of their larder, to the flavour of scarce things from small makers at the mercy of the season.1
- Time Out Madrid, on why the guides keep missing it:
Juanjo Lopez Bedmar's restaurant is one of Madrid's standouts, yet it's often overlooked by renowned guides and lists.
4 - Gorka Elorrieta, reviewing it for Time Out in January 2015 and giving it five stars:
You don't have to go out to the countryside to see the changing of the seasons, it's enough to just sit here and listen to the owner list off the dishes.
2 - Vivian Herzog and Andrés Galisteo, in Time Out's tapas guide, on the potato salad:
Madrid ought to construct a monument to Juanjo Lopez and his Russian salad. That's how good it is.
3 - Pilar Salas puts his callos among the dishes that carried Madrid's offal cooking through the years when the city's casquerías were closing.5
Good to know
- Weekdays only.1
- What it cost when Capel ate in January 2025: 110 euros for the tasting menu, 150 to 180 a head with wine.1
- The door is Ballesta 6, off Gran Vía in the Triball blocks.2
- It holds no MICHELIN star in the 2026 guide, which is the absence Time Out remarks on itself.6
- Hygiene: I have not read a Spanish inspection record for this room, so I have nothing to report either way.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: "one of the best in the city; favorite of chefs"
Verdict
must-visit — Capel scored it eight at twenty-five years and the guides still leave it off their lists, so a table here is easier to get than it should be. Book a weekday and let Juanjo López read you what came in that morning. Start with the ensaladilla and take the callos if they are on.