Restaurante Botin was founded in 1725, which according to the Guinness Book of Records makes it the oldest restaurant in the world. Such a claim to fame ensures a steady flow of customers coming in and out its rustic wooden doors – the vast majority of whom are holidaymakers from abroad. As is the case, the Gonzalez family who keep this culinary marvel in operation could probably rest on their laurels, serve some schlocky semblance of traditional Spanish food, and still have vacationers queued up to pay just to say they’d been there. Nonetheless, the family reckons the restaurant is not just some monument to how things once were but a vital benchmark of Madrileño cuisine. Specialities include suckling pig and Castillian lamb – both roasted in the restaurant’s original wood fired oven.
Spending our morning dancing flamenco, Kemey and I had worked up a most appreciative appetite for the hardy and historic lunch that followed. Like our flamenco class, our time at Botin had been arranged through Insider’s Madrid, which offers an exclusive Botin Experience: “a guided tour of the restaurant, its history, its art and its anecdotes” along with a “Classics of Botin” menu and a few extra treats as well.
To be sure I went with the suckling pig as my main course. It was gorgeous … as was everything else (Manchego, croquetas, roasted peppers with cod, scrambled eggs with morcilla blood sausage and potato, etc) that I ate. Pescatarian Kemey went with a vegetarian assortment of dishes with roasted hake as her main. She love it. The Rioja flowed, a yummy range of desserts and coffee followed. Service was old school and prompt. The setting was ancient but far from decrepit. As filled with selfie taking tourists as it was (Chinese, Japanese, French, American and Canadian during our lunch) Botin somehow retained an authentic air. I suppose nearly 300 years ago when Botin began, the scene there would have been just as ‘out-of-towner’ as it is today. Probably even more so considering that going out to eat is a relatively modern luxury. Through Insider’s Madrid, we secured a reservation at the “Hemingway table” where the great author himself preferred to sit when he dined here. The table is upstairs and round the corner from the dining room’s main entrance. A reporter at the time covering the Civi War, Hemingway liked to sit with his back to the wall. More posts in my Did Madrid miniseries to follow soon! Botin is located at Calle Cuchilleros, 17, 28005.
Find out more at botin.es/?q=en.
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