But for mostly everything else there is a photo. There is slightly less eating out places here than you might expect for a week but I did pick up yummy summer fruits from the market, some popcorn, and I also had breakfast included with my hotel so all that kind of removed the need for eating 2 meals out most days.
SANISSIMO
As has been a standard, I arrive somewhere and checkin to my accomodation, and then I go find something to eat. It was no different in Madrid. Sanissimo popped up on my Google Maps “Vegan Food” search and was the closest place to where I was staying. So I headed there. I am so glad I did. This was super tasty! I needed this in my body so much, I didn’t even know it.
I opted for the Yogi. A Black focaccia covered with spinach, hummus, slices of baked potato and sautéed artichokes! DAYUMM! This was good. This meal was setting the bar high for vegan in Madrid. After Bilbao and Barcelona mind you, the bar for vegan options in Spain had already been set rather high! I also just got a lemon and ginger kombucha for something different.
Santa y Pura (Pura Vida Vegan Bar)
The waitress at this place was lovely! She was super friendly and helpful. In Madrid it was pretty standard that menus were all accessed via QR codes (used to this with Melbourne), however here they make a point of letting you know the wifi password. I ordered the breaded burger made with chickpeas and mushrooms with sweet mustard sauce. It was delicious. The chickpea and mushroom burger was lush! It was so moist and tasty. I feel like that I forget that I am hungry until I start to eat. Then once I start to eat, it all tastes so good it just disappears.
I had been trying to increase my Spanish speaking over the last few weeks so attempted again to say that it was great tasting food. After I poorly pronounce things and they repeat it back to me, or correct me we get there. It’s nice though getting to try to practice putting some words out there, as stupid as I might feel. The speaking a language is always the hardest part. Sure a lot of people speak English, and are happy to – but it’s another privilege that I have English as a first language. It’s refreshing putting myself into the space where so many other people I have spoken to in my life have been attempting to speak in a language that isn’t their native. It’s a reminder.
Anyway, this meal was great and when the waitress asked if I wanted dessert I was satisfied and didn’t need anything else. But then, she had planted the seed of dessert telling me they have 3 great cakes. I ended up grabbing her attention a few moments later before she finalised my bill to ask if they did take away as I would take a cake to go. She excitedly told me the cake options and I chose the chocolate, peanut one. When she returned with my cake and the bill she let me know that I picked her favourite cake so she was sure I would enjoy it.
I did. I ate the cake later in my hotel room with a cup of coffee while I sat there and did some work. It was nice to have it when I did. I am glad that she suggested it. She was a good sales person.
DISTRO VEGANO
After wandering around the Rastro Markets it was time to stop for a bit to eat. I spotted this place on Google Maps nearby and decided to check it out. Pretty much just google mapping vegan food where I am and seeing what’s within a 10 – 15 minute walk seems to be working.
I decided I was in the mood to try their nachos out. After the last nachos I had at the Vegan Junk Food Bar in Barcelona I was ready to see what someone else could offer up on that front (and hoping for better).
It was! This was epic. Even from the pictures I think you can tell this one had more flavour and substance to it. The colours looked great and the ratio of toppings was perfect. I took my time enjoying my way through the bowl and only ended up leaving about 4 super soggy corn chips sitting in the bottom of the bowl of vegan cheese sauce.
Chill Cafe
I came here on my I’m not doing much day. I had a slow morning, did some work, and then felt like popping out in the afternoon for a coffee. I had a look over their menu and just opted for a little snack. A piece of sourdough with their homemade hummus. I had no complaints about this. If I was hungrier, I might have wanted another piece, but this was actually perfect for my state at the time.
STREET & SOUL – TOLEDO
This is the bonus vegan food place as Street & Soul was actually in Toledo, which you can get to in 30 minutes from Madrid (by fast train). They were just about to open as I was exiting the witchcraft museum so I slowly made my way over and arrived just as the tables were finished getting set up. The guy here was great, slightly more English than I have Spanish and man did he end up busy! So it looks like it’s a popular destination for one of the tours (Indian?) to book for their group lunch as they arrived just as I was finishing up. It was that moment I realised that running a vegan/vegetarian restaurant in tourist places and building relationships with certain cultural tour group promoters was a fantastic business model.
Anywho, while I was here I ordered their couscous with vegetables infused in saffron water, Ras el hanout, chick peas, aromatics (mint and dill) and soy yogurt with Harissa sauce. So good! It was soo good. This was another one of those times I didn’t realise how hungry I was until I started eating. Or it’s just that the food is that good that I want it in my mouth.
When I was looking at the menu I spotted that they did a vegan tiramisu. I can’t even remember the last time I had a tiramisu. I thought that if I had room at the end I would take the time for dessert also. Well with how well that Tajin went down and it had been a few hours since I had last eaten, I got it. It also went down very easily. It was good. It was also something that I don’t need all the time, but I enjoyed this experience.
VEGA ALAMO
I came here for dinner between getting back from Toledo and heading out to watch the opening of Veranos de la Villa 2022. This place have their wifi details up on the wall in led neon lighting. So far this has been the coolest way I have seen this information presented. Mind you I only figured that out because I overhead someone who asked about wifi being told that was what it was.
I ordered their Mexican bowl. The veggies in this were amazing! I didn’t realise just how much I needed to taste a fantastically ripe tomato. This was so fresh and I liked the small tortilla strips for some added crunch. For eating this the bowl did not stay as it is presented in this picture. I smooshed everything in together for a super tasty treat. Hmm, am I meant to take a during/after photo of this stuff? I have no idea. I don’t really read food blogs.
