Set inside the Dear Hotel, a chic hotel with Scandinavian-inspired decor right on Gran Vía, Nice to Meet You has great views over Plaza España, Gran Vía, the Casa de Campo park and the Royal Palace. It is located on the 14th floor of the hotel and includes an indoor area and outdoor urban terrace, packed with leafy, green plants – the perfect place to unwind with a cocktail and some nibbles.
Mercado de San Antón, in Chueca, is a traditional neighbourhood market that has been renovated into one of Madrid’s most buzzing gastronomic spaces. The ground floor is packed with fresh produce, while the second floor is lined with stalls selling freshly prepared food from both Spain and around the world. It’s up on the top floor, though, where visitors get an impressive view over the barrio’s rooftops from the Cocina de San Antón, the market’s rooftop restaurant. With a kitchen open from 12.30pm onwards, it’s a great stop, whatever the time. Menus range from shareable snacks like croquettes, jamón and nachos, to lunch and dinner options.
Michelin-starred chef Ramón Freixa is at the helm of Ático, the sixth-floor restaurant in The Principal Hotel, Madrid. While the decor is sumptuous, with velvet curtains, sink-into-them soft sofas and marble floors, the food is accessible and a more laid-back offering than Freixa’s other restaurants. The main attractions of the cuisine at Ático are the quality and freshness of the ingredients in dishes that include duck confit wrap with foie gras and truffle, Roast Iberian suckling pig, and flame grilled sea bass with mango, quinoa and marine algae.
This cool, off-the-beaten-track café is a great pit-stop for those visiting Madrid Rio, the city’s excellent riverside park. Locals love to come here at weekends to stroll, run, rollerblade and cycle, and after all that activity, a relaxing drink and something to eat at Café del Rio’s lovely roof terrace is the perfect way to wind down. The restaurant’s wide-ranging menu includes pasta and rice dishes, sharing plates like croquettes and grilled octopus and plenty of meat and fish dishes. The terrace looks out over the Royal Palace, just across the river.
On the ninth floor of the Corte Inglés department store is the Gourmet Experience, a gourmet supermarket and food court with a wrap-around terrace. Grab some food from the Basque, Mexican, Burger or Japanese stalls and take a seat on the terrace, that has fantastic views across Madrid, from Gran Vía over to the Royal Palace and the Casa de Campo beyond.