Never have I imagined eating at the world's oldest restaurant, but in Madrid, that is where we ended up. Our tour director had called ahead and made us a reservation for 8pm at Restaurante Botín (AKA Sobrino de Botín) located at Calle Cuchilleros, 17, 28005 Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1725, it is the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records..
But first, coffee!
And where does every American run to when in need of coffee? Well, we found a Starbucks. Now, I am normally against going to any American-born business when traveling abroad, but here we were. Along for this coffee pitstop and other adventures this fine evening was my best friend and an Australian from our group. The Australian informed us that Starbucks were not that popular in Australia, whereas in the United States, they are practically on every street corner. The U.S. seems to run on the popular Seattle-based coffee chain. The Australian had ordered a chai latte, noting that it was the weakest she had ever had. I love the differences in other cultures because I've never heard an American calling their chai lattes weak.
After our coffee stop, we went on the quest to find Restaurante Botín. Regardless of its notoriety, we were ready for dinner! Luckily we had given ourselves enough time to find the restaurant (2 hours) because it proved to be a challenge to find. We went into stores to ask for directions. Some people had never heard of it, others tried and led us in the wrong direction, but the closer we got to Botín, we realized how tucked away it really was. We finally walked from one end of a plaza to the other, and down a set of stairs, and stumbled upon it, arriving just before our reservation time. It hadn't even opened yet, and I had to remind myself that we are in Spain and they start things up a little later than some of us are used to.
Once the restaurant was opened, we were led down a narrow staircase downstairs, through low doorways and ceilings and to a table in a small room, which looked like it may have actually been the oven back in the day. We immediately sat down and ordered a pitcher of sangria, at a cost of 12,40 Euro for the 3 of us. Bread was also ordered. For dinner, our new Australian friend ordered the chicken with almonds, while my bestie had the cantabrian hake which came with two roasted potatoes. I got the cod with a tomato pepper sauce - so delicious and flaky! Then dessert was ordered - a chocolate mousse cake with fruit coulis on the side. Meal cost for the 3 of us was 104,35 Euro, which was not bad for a great meal at the world's oldest restaurant!
If you are ever in Madrid, I highly recommend making a reservation at Restaurante Botín - you won't be disappointed!
