El Caldero

I was really debating on posting but I am honestly surprised by all of these high reviews. I read that the grilled calamari and paella were recommended, so we ordered both. The calamari was good with this tasty tomato topping. The paella though, was way too salty and the rice was a bit undercooked. I could not finish my plate and had to wash it down with water. Also, it’s fairly pricey since they charged 18.50€ per person even if only one person wants the paella. I cannot confirm if this is true, but the aioli trio plate we had looked like it had been sitting out for a while (ours did not look as “fresh” as some of the pics I’m seeing here) and I saw the waitress dumping some old aioli back into the container bowl - I went to the bathroom and when I came back, I could see the 3 bowls of aioli just sitting out on the counter, no cover. That’s not very sanitary to me, but I guess no one has gotten sick. Some of the reviews also mentioned this, but I don’t like that we were charged 1.90€ per piece of bread (that we didn’t ask for!) and it was hard and stale and difficult to eat. There were only two other parties there when we came, so we were attended to pretty quickly. The service and atmosphere were great though. Maybe the other dishes were good, but don’t waste your money if you’re looking for good paella, which was what I was specifically looking for and was quite disappointed. As a big foodie, I am happy to pay for good food, but this was not it

We have been in Spain for three weeks and have had amazing food in every corner. However, El Caldero is the only place we went to twice. Fabulous food and service, especially thankful to Juan and his team for the attention both nights. He made us feel welcome and had insightful recommendations.

September 2022 - I forgot to post this review. After a day of wandering around the city, visiting museums and more, we stopped at this restaurant for dinner. Good quality/price ratio, tasty food even if the presentation was not the best: especially seeing the spaghetti that were cut.

Went here because it was recommended in a few publications. I ordered mixed seafood paella with chicken and some starters. The paella was cooked just right as i am not a fan of overly wet versions. Ham croquettes and salad were good. The dessert cheesecake was surprisingly light and delicious. Staff was very responsive and honest even if I did not speak any Spanish. Our waiter actually told us to remove one dish because we ordered too much for a party of 2 people. I just recommend that some windows be opened so that natural air can freely flow in. Also, I hope you can consider parties of 2 just ordering 1 order of paella so that we can order more starters.

A peaceful and attractive restaurant where you can actually hear yourself think and don´t need to shout! And it was full on a Tuesday lunchtime. We shared some nice spicy 'patatas bravas', which here in Madrid are normally pretty insipid, and then had the El Caldero rice with shrimps, cooked in and served from an iron cauldron (see photo) with 3 types of mayonnaise. Lots of carbohydrates but all very tasty. On a future visit we would ask to eliminate the bread and aperitif at an extra 1.90€ per person! It was a reminder of a cookery class I attended when El Caldero celebrated its 40th Anniversary over ten years ago and I learnt the secrets of El Caldero rice in this Madrid showcase for the cuisine of the southeastern region of Murcia.

I was gently chided for not ordering their paellas , having mentioned my love of Valencia. " We make good paella too" ,I was told.. They certainly looked delicious. But I had my eyes on their version of cordon bleu which turned out to be delicious, the frites of the side side perfectly fried. My wife was more than satisfied with he main of expertly roasted vegetables which were beautifully sauced. The Murcia salad was fine though I suspect when tomatoes are properly in season it is much better. We had a shockingly good bottle of Alabariño for less than 20 Euros which we very much appreciated. Excellent service and comfortable ambience makes this a great choice.

We got the sea bream (la dorada) in salt and the garlic prawns. The fish was good but the presentation could have been better (more veggies) for the price. The prawns were okay too but too salty. It took a long time for them to get the dishes out, even though it was past peak hours. They gave us a basket of bread rolls which we didn’t ask for, and then they charged us for them (€3)!! When I mentioned this to the waitress, she said it was written in the menu, but I couldn’t find any evidence of this, either in the English or Spanish version. Overall, it was a pretty average experience. Not terrible but nothing special either.

Great restaurant with very friendly staff. We had one of the seafood rice dishes which was excellent. Our dessert, raspberries with white chocolate cream was also great. They brought out the best ice cold caramel liqueur at the end.

Pretty good place. The staff is quite nice, and they are very cleanly and on top of bussing tables and getting you clean silverware. The food is pretty good as well. The calamari with squid ink was a cool dish and The paellas we're pretty good as well. Some bits were a little salty but most was great.

Mindblowingly good! Run, don't walk here! My neighbors back in the USA traveled to Madrid 5 years ago and still remembered this restaurant and told me I had to go, so my last night in Spain I went. It's food from the Murcia region of Spain and was absolutely delicious. I ordered the squid ink arroz and it was excellent. I traveled solo and they were able to make a portion for one although it was definitely enough to feed two! They charge per person regardless but I didn't think the pricing was too bad. It was absolutely delicious, one of the best arroz dishes I've ever had - although I didn't see myself in the mirror after eating and realize when I'd finally got back to the hotel my lips were all black haha. So do a check before leaving! Also, they serve the arroz with three aiolis on the side and I definitely recommend mixing in all three. I paired it with a sangria that was very tasty. For dessert, I got the paparajotes, a traditional dish from Murcia that is fried dough around a lemon leaf covered in powdered sugar and with sides of chocolate, strawberry, and caramel syrup. They were tasty, not overly sweet, and has a great lemon hint in the flavor. The restaurant also gives you a complimentary caramel vodka liqueur to finish, a great touch. The service was excellent and helpful. I'd absolutely recommend stopping here if you're a tourist!

Meh, slight touristy feel with decent paella and veggie dishes. We ordered the Arroz Negro-tasted like any other squid ink paella outside of the three homemade aioli (how can you go wrong with aioli?). The roasted veggies leaned on the saltier side, which was surprising given all other Spanish dishes we've had thus far. The one irk I have was the bread and olives; while we enjoyed it, it came without asking making us believe it was courtesy of the house. Not $$ but I can imagine some being taken back by it. Oh yeah the vodka caramel...not my cup of tea but appreciated the gesture

The food was average. The restaurant had a nice ambience , however the servers were unwelcoming and cold. We tried the eggplant starters and lemon fish which was decent, however the paella was extremely salty as many other reviews have pointed out and spoilt the taste. The bread was awfully hard. They charge for water and do not give the option of tap/unbottled water. At the end , they served some aperitif shots, we thought it was complimentary, but they charged €7.60 for it. We left with a poor impression and will not recommend this place.

This place is incredible! Do not miss!! The staff is beyond amazing and kind and the food is to die for!

We were searching for a good paella restaurant in Madrid and this showed up as highly rated in yelp. They first served some aperitivos which we thought was free but later on showed up on the bill. They were good so we didn't mind paying. We ordered 4 portions of paella mariscos and a pitcher of sangria. Overall, it was a good paella! It had lots of seafood bits and enough big seafood pieces per person. After we were served table side, they took away the pan...I wanted to shout "hey, I want to scrape the best part which is the socarrat" but it was too late :) They served us a dessert caramel-flavored liqueur, also complimentary. We enjoyed our meal here and wished we had more time in Madrid as we wanted to try their paella negra and their arroz a la banda.

We were told this was the best paella in town. While it was decent it was certainly not the best we've ever had. The service was good and the place is quaint. This resto is a short walk from Plaza Mayor and shops.

El Caldero, classy place with great ambience. We went for the paella based on the yelp recommendation. We had made reservation in advance because the restaurant is so popular. We started with the Complimentary olive and bread,followed by the house wine. Finally we waited for a while to get our paella. Presentation was really good but the taste was not as expected. Paella was too much on salt side and we were unable to finish it. Overall the experience was good but food could have been better so 3 stars for that.

Since my last posting, I had two other families from the U.S. we know tell me they had the identical experience. Is this due to some anti-American or anti-tourist sentiment?

Was looking for a nice real spanish paella place when we were in Madrid, and El Caldero seemed to be at the right location for the day. Was very happy for it! We arrived around 12:30, relatively early for Spanish lunch, so it's quiet and slow. The food was good and the place was very pleasant. Although it is marked €€€, their seafood paella was barely 10-20% higher than what you would got for any restaurant on the street, and it was deep and delicious. Definitely recommend it.

Sadly, disappointed. It wasn't packed at all during lunch (for Paella being a "lunch" food). We ordered the squid ink paella, it was okay. the aiolis that it came with were more exciting. Also, it seemed like they were filming some sort of commercial for the restaurant while we were there.. so that was more of their concern than us... there was only 1 other table with customers at the time while we were there..

Delicious! The best paella we tried in Madrid! My husband loved the octopus, and said it was the best he had ever had! Reservations are recommended. Casual atmosphere. Loved the caramel vodka shots to finish the meal! White sangria is a must!

Wanted paella. I guess this place is known for it. Four of us walked in, got seated. Noisy and hot in here. But the food ruled. The basket of bread was so welcoming after a day of walking Toledo. Served with olives and fish paste. We ordered grilled octopus to start. And paella as a main. They were very accommodating for our shellfish allergic table. Everything was great. Dessert was ok. They also had other cool rice dishes I would have loved to try. And the paella a coming out looked spectacular, seafood looked amazing.

Food seams to be well prepared. We had Jamon croquet, typical tomato salad and the Special Paella. Paella wasn't to my taste but I can't complain. The old waiter that serviced us was rough and unwelcoming which ruined the experience.

My first yelp review. After researching seafood and paella in Madrid on a short stay here we ended up in El Caldero - First of all a basic grasp of Spanish is almost essential in nearly every restaurant, in El Caldero they have the options written in English so after some pointing and broken speaking we managed to order, Ordered the squid to start - would recommend, nice flavor, nice touch that it's cut into slices by your waiter and then served, The seafood paella was next - again very well prepared and served, overall a nice meal, possibly would come back but wouldn't crave it. El Caldero earned a solid 3 stars as I'm sure there is better out there but the service was good

El Caldero is a classy, seemingly local-favorite restaurant. This place served the best paella I tried in Madrid. First, we started with an order of fried eggplants -- delicious eggplant chips and bread with some goooooood ass olive oil. Then the waiter brought out the paella and let it sit for a few minutes to finish cooking (or to tease us..who knows). When it was ready the waiter served it to us and it was devoured in a few minutes. -One thing I noticed that was popular around the restaurant was a huge cauldron of rice that was brought out and hung on a tripod to cook at your table (hence the name "el caldero"). So, you may want to give that a go. The service was good, but the only problem was our waiter had to cover all the tables in restaurant! There were a couple other people that looked like they could have helped but they just stood around the opposite side of the room. I didn't understand why!

We traveled around in Spain for over 2 weeks and had paella 4 times and this was, by far, the best paella we had (the worst was a place in Bilbao that made me think I was eating a salt lick). The restaurant itself is lovely--the staff was attentive (although I think the pour on the wine could've been a bit more generous and they charge for the bread and olives they bring out, which I think should have been made clearer). The paella itself (for 2) was absolutely delicious -- we got the one that was cooked in seafood broth with the seafood presented on the side. We also ordered the fried eggplant (on the recommendation of another Yelper) and it did not disappoint. Although we were too full for dessert, we did get complimentary glasses of caramel vodka, which really packed a wallop!

We went here for paella on the recommendation of a guide book. I think the experience here will be hit or miss. It sounded like the people seated next to us had great service, with a friendly, attentive waiter. Our waiter was rude and made it clear he would rather we not be there. We don't speak Spanish, but do try to order in Spanish. The paella was very underwhelming. It was overly salty and tasted like fried rice with some chicken and seafood. No saffron and no flavor. Much better food elsewhere.

One of the things I was really excited to try in Spain was authentic paella. While I've had my share in NYC, I feel the version I had at El Caldero blows everything I've had here out of the water. The seafood was fresh and the rice was aromatic and flavorful. Although the grilled vegetables were a tab bit expensive, they were expertly done and a great complement to our paella. The service was spot on, except they were rather slow with giving us the complimentary shot that everyone else seemed to get with their check. Yes, I do have table envy. It was also cool to order the wine on the iPads. It was a lot easier to read about the different types of wines and where they hailed from. The decor was also very clean and classic. Definitely enjoyed my experience there!

El Caldero is a small, classy yet casual restaurant. Decorated in seemingly dark colors (orange walls with dark wood) it has its characteristic beauty and ambiance. I ordered the morcilla (Im a fan of black pudding) and the rice with clams. The waiters seemed to rush but they served a large clientele. Trying to get their attention was somewhat of a challenge, however, not impossible. Their signature dish is the arroz en el caldero (rice in the cauldron), which is served in a large cast iron pot hung on a tripod: a real nice rustic touch. At the end of the dinner, the house offered us home-made caramel liquor. It was very delicious and a nice end to our dinner. We did not feel rushed to finish and leave. It may be a bit pricey, but everything in Europe is. Overall, we had a great experience and I would definitely recommend this restaurant.

the best restaurant i have had in Madrid recently. We ordered Paella ，Grilled Octopus and pork Jaw. All of them have the exellent quality and taste. Service r nice too. really recommend this restaurant if u want to find one of the best Paella in Madrid.

Real nice place. paella is the better menu option but overall all is good. You might need to wait to get sited. The place is real busy. Perhaps a call to put your name on the list would help - we did not think of it and had to wait for 45 min. Some Spanish helps the order process. The menu has everything in English so it is not hard to figure it out .. and we had the daughters with us to help :-) All in all we would come back if we had the time.

Lovely restaurant just off of lovely Plaza Santa Anna. Charming ambiance w traditional Spanish service. Sea bass was lovely. Presentation was lovely. Desserts by American standard were not too sweet. Wonderful evening had by all.

you need to understand that sepia is my favorite seafood... and anytime i'm in spain - it's a requirement that we hunt down the best sepia we can find. not only was this the best sepia of the trip... this sepia a la plancha was the best sepia of my life. tiny charred bits and the thick pieces of sepia just melt in your damn mouth. and that was just the appetizer!! we also ordered paella alicantina for two and it was wonderful with clams, shrimp, squid and chicken. they put the paella on your plate here - no scraping the bottom yourself (which is something we typically love to do) but i also noticed when he was making the plates - that there really was no crusty rice at the bottom that we were missing out on in this particular paella - so i guess it all worked out. at the end of the meal - they brought a baby carafe of caramel vodka. beware. this doesn't taste like vodka. at all. so you'll start to treat it like "not vodka." we started having a shot here.... a shot there.... finished the carafe... and it knocked us on our asses. i went right from this meal to bed for an hour long nap to recover. this place is magic. go eat here.

Nice restaurant on Huertas (an otherwise party street) and is a decently priced paella. Overall quality is good, make sure you get the caldero itself (the namesake of the restaurant) which is a slightly soupier paella/risotto style. My friend ordered a giant steak! (Lomo de buey) which was also good. Other things we had were all nice too: - fried eggplant - roasted artichoke - deep fried lemon leaves for dessert. (Weird but good!) - and the always favourite cava and lemon sorbet (better here than most other places in Madrid). The staff is very friendly and accommodating.

I would've given 5 stars if they hadn't charged an extra fee for "seating us" without mentioning anything. It's already a relatively pricey place so it felt slightly deceiving. The paella alicantina is fantastic.

Rick Steve recommended this paella restaurant. The seafood paella's are very good and the ambience is pleasant. The vegetables roasted on a hot volcanic stone was the best part of our meal. The desserts we're fabulous. The service is great.

Very nice ambiance and kind staff however the food left much to be desired. The bread was hard and the paella salty.

The food was very good. The restaurant is famous for paella, but we've had paella elsewhere that was equally good. Unfortunately, the abrupt and even surly service left a bad impression that pretty much negated whatever satisfaction we should have taken away from the meal. It began with the waiter talking to us in Spanish even after we said we only spoke English, so his curt explanations of menu were not much help. I had looked forward to eating there for days, so I'm especially disappointed that it wasn't a more positive experience.

What an amazing place for paella! And amazing restaurant overall. We loved our experience and considered going back again before our 7 day trip was over. Service was good. Prices were fine, however bread and water is not complimentary. The paella price is per person even though the minimum is for 2 ppl. Overall, a great gem!