Once a month, my friends and I try a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant in Madrid. It’s a great way to meet friends to catch up, and at the same time, treat ourselves to a nice lunch. Usually, whoever can go in our group will just go. For this particular restaurant, only two of us could meet up.
Ensaladilla Rusa 
Bacalao
Location: 5/5
La Maruca Velasquez has a really nice location, right smack in the middle of Barrio Salamanca, in Velasquez Street, no less, though their restaurant was a little bit downstairs. You can’t get any more central than Velasquez Street. You’ll definitely have no problems finding this restaurant.
Interiors: 5/5
La Maruca hhad really nice interiors. They had different types of seatings that gave a variety of textures. They had booths and regular dining tables. It even had this really cool sign that was showing the time in words. The interior decoration in this restaurant was spot on.
Service: 3/5
Time is of the essence when eating here. You’re only given a 1.5-hour window to order and finish everything. In fairness to them, we stayed more than 1.5 hours but they didn’t even ask us to leave. I remember reading reviews where some customers were asked to leave. My issue is that our server was very unattentive. Took us 30 minutes to get our bill. The server did not even explain to us what we were eating. Our server should have recommended only a half-order of Bacalao for the two of us, but I guess there was a lot lost in translation there.
When we arrived at 1pm, the restaurant wasn’t full, but it started getting filled around 2pm onwards, which was when Spanish lunch began.
Food: 4/5
We ordered a Russian salad, Bacalao bites (which was supposed to be their specialty), Pork Iberico Tenderloin, Boneless Lamb, and two types of dessert. I had two glasses of wine and my friend had bottled water, and all in all, our bill was around 100 euros. It was a lot of food for two people, but we wanted to try to see how the food would rate among other Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurants in Madrid.
Boneless Lamb 
Solomillo de Cerdo Iberico
Usually, in Michelin Madrid Bib Gourmand restaurants, the servers would explain to you your order and its ingredients so you know what you’re eating. It’s part of the service and experience. Here, though, we didn’t get much of that.
It also took them more than 20 minutes to give us our bill, which was such a long wait. We learned later when we were paying that our server was new and was actually pulled out from our table because of inexperience. (Note: It was a Filipina waiter who gave us our bill and replaced our server.)
Cheesecake 
Tarta de Limon
My favorites were the Bacalao because they were so creamy (though I think we over ordered with eight pieces for two people – you could probably order a half order) and the Boneless Lamb. Overall, it was a nice, hip place to be when you’re in the area. Happy to try other Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurants the next time, though!
