El Corte Ingles, 9th floor, Plaza de Callao. Here is where you'll find me, amidst a plethora of gourmet experiences. In this major plaza next to Gran Via (a very central shopping street in Madrid), the Corte Ingles building is a major tourist spot. The top floor of this famous department store offers you not only a breathtaking view of the city (see below, and also were I snapped the pic for the label of this blog), but your choice of drinks, tapas, and entrees from many different restaurants. I give you, El Corte Ingles, Gourmet Experience.
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| These pics are from google images- not mine |
One day, about a month ago, our hungry stomachs led us to StreetXo (Xo pronouced like Show as 'X' is 'sh' in Basque, a language of northern Spain). With house music blasting and people crowded around the small, square open kitchen, this restaurant tantalizes all five senses. The chefs are young, complete with tattoos and mohawks, and they sure are talented.
Derived from David Muñoz's 2 Michelin Star restaurant DiverXo, StreetXo allows you to taste the wonderful fusion of Japanese and Spanish flavors at a more appealing price. Although our plan was to have some lunch then go Christmas Shopping, after 2 beers each and an hour or so planted at the bar of the kitchen, our focus shifted from shopping to enjoying this gastronomical show.
We tried the butterfish, the pork belly and the chili crab. All three were amazing.
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| Pork belly with mussels |
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| Chili crab |
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| Pure satisfaction. |
Above you will see the head chef chopping up the live crabs. One tried to get away, crawling over the stove in a last attempt of survival. Unfortunately, he became my lunch..
