Restaurante Viridiana por Abraham García.

I found Restaurante Viridiana through my usual yelp search with filters and am so glad I did! Everything was amazing from the ambiance to service to food and drinks! Jesus took care of us, and his English was a huge help. I can speak some Spanish, but he was able to tell us about the menu and wine in English and guide us to the best courses for us which we enjoyed tremendously!! We started with the "snail stew" which was like escargot and phenomenal. They brought us out some complimentary starters that were amazing. I was allergic to some of their free starters so they brought me other options that were just as good that I could enjoy! I am so glad we found this spot to try in Madrid and highly recommend it to anyone from the city or coming in as tourists. Everything we had was amazing, and we didn't want for anything. Jesus made sure we were happy and had all the food and drinks we needed! The value for price was also incredible. We would have spent three times as much at least in the states for what we enjoyed at this restaurant. 10/10 when we return to Madrid we will go to Restaurante Viridiana again!

Wow. I had heard about this famous place, but it was almost impossible to get a reservation. The originality of the menu, the attentiveness of the staff, the incredible taste of the food, and world flavors without missing the touch of Spanish cuisine. We asked them to choose a set of appetizers for the table, and then we would each choose a main course. Appetizers were impressive, and for the main course, the winner was the ravioli filled with pear and gorgonzola with a ragu sauce on top... wow, wow, wow... for dessert, they were all great... I absolutely loved the place!

We made reservations at 8:30pm. My family and I got to the location about 40 minutes early. While waiting we see one of the restaurant staff came out and asked if we need reservations. We told him we have reservations but we’re early. They got us in early, ( restaurant opens at 8:30) staff was so friendly and hospitable. We settled and our host/waiter came in and rest of the night was just amazing gastronomical experience. The egg with truffle is a must try! The squid with curry sauce amazing, and none if us eat curry. That’s how balanced this dish was; Iberian ham! Yum! Must try! And the cheesecake!! The salad with tomatoes, olives ham… the beef.. seriously words are not enough to describe the food. You must experience it yourself! Thank you chef, Abraham García! Food was amazing! And thank you Jesus for your hospitality!! Really great ending of our time in Madrid.

Absolutely fantastic experience. Pricey but Michelin stars don't come cheap and no complaints about food, drinks or service, all were at the highest level.

I KNOW WHY I came to Viridiana first time back in 1994, since then until today. In this 24 years it has all changed, the country, my life, my family, gastronomy .. and I have always asked myself how could Viridiana survive in this restaurant turmoil. Now I know the answer, it keeps being as honest and with the same superb cuisine than then. I have tried the arenque salad with vodka that was incredible, the fish tiradito (lemon fish, salmon and Mediterranean tuna) that is fantastic and on the house we have got croquettes (very smooth), and pumpkin cream that was great. I should get back for more

Great place and the service is amazing, the cheff it self will tell you all the dishes from the day, the food was delicious and you will have all the options with espectacular presentation. A must if you go to Madrid

Very good food at a not very expensive price. If you go to Viridiana, try always the daily specials off the menu, they are usually really good. Perfect for a calm but tasty dinner, cook always explains what is “ in the fridge”. Really good

Good food friendly staff yet they speak no English was hard to communicate. Big portions

Wow , solid 5 stars for so many reasons. Great ambiance, every table filled but still quiet enough for conversation. The maitre d was very nice , and made sure the whole restaurant was taken care of, service was really , surprisingly fast, which was great., very very attentive waiters, just top tier place and servuce OK, the food was DELICIOUS ! I had him order for me , it's local cuisine , I didn't see any hamburgers (I'm american). The starters were unreal, lentil reduction with prawns in spices, strawberry gazpacho, croquettes, absolutely unique and delicious. I had a meat / cheese / tomato / olive salad and fried eggs in truffle sauce . I've never heard of this, but I was not disappointed in the least. All the dishes looked amazing , excellent plating as they say. I'm coming back tomorrow , for sure .

I found Restaurante Viridiana through my usual yelp search with filters and am so glad I did! Everything was amazing from the ambiance to service to food and drinks! Jesus took care of us, and his English was a huge help. I can speak some Spanish, but he was able to tell us about the menu and wine in English and guide us to the best courses for us which we enjoyed tremendously!! We started with the "snail stew" which was like escargot and phenomenal. They brought us out some complimentary starters that were amazing. I was allergic to some of their free starters so they brought me other options that were just as good that I could enjoy! I am so glad we found this spot to try in Madrid and highly recommend it to anyone from the city or coming in as tourists. Everything we had was amazing, and we didn't want for anything. Jesus made sure we were happy and had all the food and drinks we needed! The value for price was also incredible. We would have spent three times as much at least in the states for what we enjoyed at this restaurant. 10/10 when we return to Madrid we will go to Restaurante Viridiana again!

Fine dining in great location for tourists. Adjacent to the Retiro Park, a stroll before dinner is a great idea to build the appetite for such generous portions. We made a reservation online and received a call to confirm that morning, in English. Server was charming as she listed the many specials. We enjoyed the egg dish and croquettes to start and then shared the steak and a fantastic meatball dish. Extensive wine list. Everything was great.

We stopped by around 9:30 on a holiday eve (Epiphany) without a res and were seated immediately upstairs. Our waiter, Raphael, took excellent care of us. The service was impeccable and the food was absolutely fantastic. We will definitely be back.

What a wonderful restaurant! Our absolute favorite meal on our trip to Spain this year. Jesus was the perfect host, (and speaks English fluently) the food was fantastic, and the whole experience was relaxed and comfortable. It was a treat to meet the chef and his wife as well. We highly recommend this restaurant, and will be sure to revisit it when we're back in Madrid.

Amazing meal! In typical Spanish style, expect a couple of additional dishes on the house. Tonight it was a gazpacho appetizer with green onion served in a tomato. Sardines in Nikki sauce. Also a wonderful lentil dish. Needless to say, I was then quite full following a mix of mushroom croquettes and cod croquettes. For my (two) mains I did the Octopus al Fuentes and also I ordered the deer. Both excellent! The chef walks around signing. His English is minimal, but his staff can converse well with a foreigner. It all adds to the small, intimate restaurant environment. Look forward to returning.

Amazing food and service ... the sea bass and lentil soup are insane Not crazy about the herring salad The olive oil bread is amazing

This place is amazing if you are looking for a 5 star restaurant experience, but looking to be cheaper than a Michelin starred restaurant. I wanted a pork dish, but they were out and suggested a venison dish in its place. It was the absolute best venison I've ever had and seriously one of the best dishes I've ever had. The experience is great. The wait staff is great.

Incredible food and experience! The chef I amazing. He comes out to all the customers and talks about dishes he is cooking each night. He explains the ingredients, why he is cooking them, his personal relationship with the origins of these dishes, etc. this makes the experience of eating amazing food even so much more enjoyable! I would definitely recommend it to anyone! It will be a memory builder for sure!

So, I have never written a review on any of these sites...yet I check them often when traveling to a new place. I always wonder about other's reviews as I know everyone has different tastes. I am a lover of good. It does not have to be expensive (often times the low cost meals are much better than the expensive...It just has to be great for what it is). Anyhow...we were recommended Viridiana by the concierge at the hotel, looked it up online and saw that the prices were up there...but really only as a result of the crappy exchange rate with the dollar. We ultimately made a reservation and I'm very glad we did. It's annoying to be forced volumes to find out whether a restaurant is good or not. So... In short: Awesome awesome food. One of the best tasting meals I've had in a long time. The flavors and were amazing and the presentation was fantastic . The servers were really nice in their own reserved way. Very laid back ambiance that needed some prodding to get going (I'll explain below). Cost: 217 Euros including (2 vodka martinis, 1 delicious Swedish herring special appetizer that we shared, 1 great bottle of Spanish red wine, 1 perfectly cooked and flavored grilled steak main course, 1 amazing stewed ox-tail corn tamale wrapped in banana leaf main course, 2 spectacular desserts (mango panna cota and a chocolate custard), and 2 cups of coffee). I would recommend to any good friend. Here's the long version. Leaving our hotel at 10:30 pm, we hoofed it up a slight hill and found Viridiana. As we walked into the intimate space with about 10 small 10 tables, we were immediately hit with a furnace blast of hot air (though no one seemed to notice as most of the men were eating with their jackets on). Thinking that maybe it was us (having just walked uphill in the cold) and not them, we tried to push away the impending freak out and waited for our body temperatures to normalize. They took our coats and sat us near the window at a really cute bench style table and poured us water immediately. We ordered two dry vodka martinis (one dirty) and they were made perfectly. After a few minutes, we realized that it was not us and that temperature was out of control. However, the crisis was easily averted after we asked the server (with broken Spanish and hand signals) if there was any way he could lower the heat. Rather immediately, it cooled to a normal temperature. We scanned the menu and realized that appetizers were the same price as entrees at around 30 euros, so we decided to split one and make it up on the desserts. We ordered wine and our main courses. It had begun. We were glad we only ordered 1 appetizer as they soon brought out a couple welcome dishes--two small copper pots of the most delicious soup I have tasted in recent history: cream of asparagus with pancetta. They also brought us these great cheddar popover bread balls. This was in addition to the offering of rustic bread rolls with olive oil. The Swedish herring appetizer special was beautifully presented on a bed of shaved beets, some really flavorful coulis and some frisee. It was also served with a traditional shot of iced hard alcohol. We asked for another plate so we could share, This was about the time that I realized that it was oddly quiet in the restaurant..with only the din of muted conversation. We asked the server if there was music and with an "Oh yes," quickly tunred to the kitchen, flipped the music switch and the ambiance immediately went from sterile to perfect with some traditional spanish guitar music. The main courses came next. The steak was presented quite nicely with a baked potato cake. My oxtail tamale (which was not called this, but what it was) came to the table wrapped and tied in a banana leaf that the server ostentatiously cut and unwrapped for me. It was served with a spectacular side of mole. Delicious. We ordered two desserts from a list of ten. Both had fantastic flavor combinations of fresh fruit and berries, chocolates in various forms, vanilla and fruit coulis. Coffee was great (hot, bold and the server poured steamed milk at the table). The service was great in every way. The timing was perfect...neither rushed nor too slow. We always had full glasses of wine, yet never realized the server filling up our glasses. In summary, the food was amazing. If you can successfully communicate your wishes to the very friendly staff, they are more than willing to accommodate. Price (217 Euros plus 20 euro tip) was well worth the experience.

We decided not to eat here. We arrived and it was mostly empty. They seated us downstairs where it was very warm and next to two other English speaking groups. The menu was more limited than we had seen online and it just didn't seem like we'd enjoy so we left.

A friend from Madrid suggested this restaurant if we were carrying around some extra cash. Yes, it is quite expensive. More so than places we normally go, though we do indulge once in awhile. I think people will fall into two camps on Viridiana. Some will think that the menu is brilliantly creative, while others will find it a bit fussy. We tend to fall towards the latter. That said, the cooking itself is unquestionably top notch. Further, the service was absolutely flawless with a couple of exceptions early on when the head waiter, one of the finest waiters we have encountered in many a year, got pulled away to do seatings while in the middle of taking an order. The rest of the service staff was equally as professional, though not necessarily as genial as the head. Customers receive two dishes on the house: a parsnip soup with potatoes and ham, which was perfect in texture and taste, as well as a white pork with various side ingredients. The pork was an interesting concept, and the pickled cucumber was heavenly, but it seemed like a lot of effort for a fairly insignificant side dish. The 6 mushroom risotto was out of this world. One of the top 2 or 3 we have ever had. Plain and simple. A chick pea tortilla filled with Ropa Vieja was a very interesting concept, but very large portion coming on the heels of the house dishes and risotto. The tortilla itself was very light, and the Ropa Vieja avoided a lot of the extreme spicing or over-preparation one often finds in the dish. An accompanying baked apple was a nice though some what incongruous complement, but the cactus seemed a bit extraneous. A chocolate panacotta with berries was a perfect way to round out a very satisfying, though at times slightly precious, meal. Still, the best meal we had on our trip to Spain and very highly recommended if you have "extra cash" and can negotiate some of the culinary whims of the otherwise top chef kitchen.

Phenomenal food ("fusion" Spanish of the HIGHEST quality!). The staff were incredibly friendly and accommodating of non-Spanish speakers. The chef is delightful and told stories about his food and wine the whole night (and his staff all translated). Most memorable night of our vacation. Highly recommend any raw fish offered that day. We ate mostly daily specials and could not have been happier.

I liked this place but didn't love it. He's done a pretty good job of mastering a bunch of different cuisines but not a perfect one and some of the dishes seemed forced. A good example is the squab tajine. The breast was braised and really lost its distinctive squabby taste. I would have made a squab sauce and seared the squab and served it with it. A beautiful restaurant with great service but the food is not consistent enough to be great.

Great appetizer or starter I would say. the meat is just ok. worth to try, if you are sick with tapas :)

We had a great time here in the lovely, quiet basement setting. Attentive English-speaking service, very good food. A nice change from tapas. Contrary to other reviews here, we did not think Viridiana was so expensive. If you travel to New York, London, or Paris, you know that you are going to pay up for a quality meal. This place was at a very fair price point relative to other restaurants in Madrid, and less expense than even "very good" restaurants in those other cities.

Dinner started with an amuse bouche and a delightful strawberry gazpacho with Iberico ham. As appetizers, we split the egg boleta, a farm-fresh fried egg served in an iron skillet with porcini mushroom mousse with a generous table-sized shaving of black truffle, and the maple smoked duck foie gras with bitter orange chutney, in a silver serving dish shaped like a duck, which was serverd with a gewürztraminer from the Rhin region (Othegraven, Auslese 2002). We had a bottle of Albarino with dinner and shared 2 entries of Galician hake cheeks in a touch of Albarino wine in some sort of green sauce, and the deer loin from Toledo in a wine-reduction sauce that had the consistency of chocolate but tasted like vinegar, and served with potato gnoche , sprockets, and a delicious salty red cabbage. For dessert, we split the bison gras sorbet with vodka, and then chocolate truffles and peaches in raspberry sauce were served with the check. Everything was delicious, although the gazpacho and the appetizers were our faves, followed by the deer loin and dessert. The hake was cooked well, but too fishy for our tastes and the sauce made it a bit watery. The chef greeted us at the door, but spoke to the other tables about the dishes; given we didn't speak fluent Spanish we weren't really bothered by it. Our waiter spoke very good English, and recommended a nice reasonably priced wine. The meal was pricey, but we thoroughly enjoyed it and the ambience. I would definitely recommend it, we very much enjoyed the meal and the playfulness (without the over-the-topness) of the flavors and the presentation.

Food was beyond excellent here. I like pigeon and this place did it up right: Dijon sauce with plums, a healthy bed of "arepa" that felt more like polenta, and a perfectly cooked, very tasty bird. Makes me want to catch and kill a street pigeon back home in NYC! The rest of the party thoroughly enjoyed their dishes enough to order dessert, which was also good (though not mind-blowing). Service staff were very good and spoke enough English where my grad school Cuban Spanish didn't need to rear its ugly head. I will be back the next time I am in Madrid.

Two stars for the eggs, zero for the meal and service. Given the prices, I expected an excellent dining experience. The service was novice at best. Dishes clattered, the bill was garbled, our neighbors were choked by a campy creme brûlée experience that prompted my husband to comment that we seemed caught in an Ab Fab episode. The food was variable - excellent meatballs in a gloopy soap- tinged Thai sauce worthy of United's new business- class service. Burned almonds. Excellent fried eggs, served with a fantastic mushroom sauced, finalized with a ride shaving of truffle that covered the dish, the table, and our laps. Oh well, we've eaten so well elsewhere in Madrid that it's a nice foil.

Excellent food, atmosphere downstairs is a quieter, romantic dinner; upstairs is lively, brasserie feel. Equally lovely. Go hungry. Staff speaks superb English, and willing to help if you want to use español. Highly recommend.

Viridiana is first and foremost a tribute to the great film-maker Luis Buñuel and his masterpiece Viridiana (1961). The chef and owner, Abraham García is a film fanatic as well as a highly acclaimed chef and author of food books. The restaurant often appears in guides (Zagat included) with highly enthusiastic reviews and high ratings. Some regard it as Madrid's favourite. I went with an enormous excitement with a colleague and we had a seven or eight-course tasting menu. Although two or three of the dishes were inspired, we were very badly let down by one, and therefore the whole thing became unconvincing. However the service was very friendly and the place is relaxed and convivial. This was possibly the star dish: Huevos de corral en sartén sobre mousse de hongos (Boletus Edulis) y trufas frescas (Tuber Melanosporum). The egg was amusingly presented in a classical Spanish pan, in a delectable mushroom mousse and shavings of black truffle. Brilliant, funny and sensual. The disappointment was Carrillada de cerdo ibérico estofada al whiskey de bourbon con tomates verdes fritos y risotto de vainilla. The ibérico was OK, but really nothing special, the bourbon sauce was like ordinary gravy, the fried green tomato a disaster - tasteless and shallow, and the risotto was hurried, the rice wasn't soft or plump, the vanilla was imaginary and I didn't detect any sort of cheese. Moreover, the whole thing didn't get together conceptually. It was mediocre and pretentious. So all in all, a very mixed bag. Pity that one or two dishes were practically world-class and another one was terrible. I recommend it, but expectations should be kept relatively low.