Our second Michelin Madrid Bib Gourmand restaurant is Taberna Recreo Espartinas. If you’ve been following our Michelin Madrid Bib Gourmand journey, we only go to these restaurants on special occasions. This time, we celebrated Mother’s Day and our 4-year wedding anniversary by treating ourselves to Taberna Recreo.
Basically, we choose the Michelin Madrid Bib Gourmand restaurant that is nearest to us.
Location: 5/5
Taberna Recreo Espartinas has an excellent location. It is in the Goya District in Barrio Salamanca, very near where my husband’s mom lives and in the same barrio we live in. It’s also in the same area of Treze Restaurant, another Michelin Madrid Bib Gourmand restaurant which we’ve already reviewed.
What can I say about this area? I love this area. This is where I usually shop because there’s a big El Corte Ingles which has everything. Aside from El Corte Ingles, it has Ikea, Mango, Zara, Massimo Dutti, Oysho, Rituals. Basically, everything is here. For this reason, Taberna’s location is 5/5.
Taberna Recreo is located just off the main road from El Corte Ingles Goya. It’s in the inner streets, but still near the main roads of Calle de Alcala and Calle de Goya. Outside, it’s unassuming. If you didn’t look closely at the restaurant, you’d probably miss it.
Interiors 
Facade 
Interiors
Interiors: 4/5
The interiors of Taberna Recreo Espartinas was very quaint and lovely. It was a small restaurant, but the interiors were tastefully decorated. The only reason I took out one star was because of the size of the restaurant, but in terms of the interiors, I loved everything about how it was decorated. It was small but pretty. It had rustic interiors, lots of greens, nice bar, cute bathroom.
Food: 4/5
I loved the food in Taberna Recreo Espartinas. It was tasty, savory, and unique. My only issue was the limited menu it offered. It didn’t seem to offer a lot of variety in terms of food, but for the food that it did offer, the taste was outstanding.
Pan with pate 
Galletita
Our food included an apertivo, pan, and a small cookie., courtesy of the restaurant. You’d have to pay for water, though. In our case, an agua grande was €4. Their menu was small, a little bit limited, and they didn’t have a menu del dia. When we came for lunch at around 2:30 on a weekday, there weren’t a lot of people.
Broccoli with kimchi and lime
We started with the broccoli with kimchi and lime for €3.80 each. Flavors were outstanding. It’s amazing what you can do with a piece of broccoli. Whether it was worth that much is another story.
Shrimp Carpaccio
We also had the white shrimp carpaccio. This was amazing. Flavors just melt in your mouth, you could really taste the shrimp flavor. Was it worth the €22.50? I’m not so sure. Maybe no.
Pigeon Rice 
Veal Cheek
For our main courses, I got the veal cheek (€20) while my husband got the pigeon rice (€21.5) . The veal cheek was extremely tender. I did find it a little bit spicy, and when you bit into the red chili pepper, the spiciness overpowered the entire dish. The pigeon rice, on the other hand, was different, unique, and good. I would say, the pigeon rice is a more value-for-money kind of dish than the veal cheek.
Tres Leches
For dessert, my husband and I shared the tres leches or three milks cake (€7.50) , which I really liked. It was unique, different, and really good.
Service: 5/5
The service in Taberna Recreo was great. The waiter was very knowledgeable and took the time to explain to us the ingredients for every dish. My husband I spent between the two of us, €86.60.
Overall, it was a good experience. I’m a little bit unlikely to go back, however, just because there are other restaurants I’d like to try. For that amount, I could get a tasting menu in La Monteria.
Now, I can’t wait for the next special occasion where I get to try a new Madrid Bib Gourmand restaurant again. Bon appetit!
