Asador Ansorena, Madrid

I was in Madrid for a couple of days and took advantage in going to this Asador, which I've heard is one of the better Basque Asadores in town. They specialize in Chuleton, which is th reason I chose this place, since I was craving for a good piece of meat. The meat used is Galician Beef, which according to Rafael, the owner of the restaurant, has the best beef in Spain.

As soon as we sat down, we were served a huge piece of bread and a few pieces of Chistorra, typical Chorizo from the North of Spain.

We then ordered our Starters: Cogollos de Tudela


A delicious plate of Pimientos....

Alcachofas Fritas (Fried Artichokes)

All this washed down with some light and refreshing Sidra...

Now on to the serious stuff...the meat here being grilled. Look at all that salt!!


But before the main attraction, we still had some space for Bacalao al Pil-Pil, another specialty of the Basque region. This was very well prepared and the Pil-Pil, cook to perfection.


Back to the Beef...before serving, I had a chance to talk to Rafael, the owner. He found out we were from the Philippines, he became so nice to us. Apparently he has some 'Pelotari' friends in Manila (Jai-Alai) and had visited them some time ago.


At last, the Meat is served!! a huge piece of meat (I'd say approx 1.3 kilos). This was charred on the outside and medium rare on the inside. I would have preferred this to be a bit more rare, but in any case, the flavors were spot on.


It was full of flavor, intense, a but nutty..this was just one hell of a piece of meat. I felt like I was in the olden days, when the barbarians would eat huge chunks of meat with their bare hands. Delicious!

If I did have to complain, it would have to be the very limited wine list. I initially asked for the 2001 Prado Enea Gran Reserva, which was not on stock, so we ended up with a 2004 Cune Imperial Reserva. Not the wine I would have wanted to eat with this meat but it was good enough.

Definitely this is one of the better places I've had Chuleton, although I still prefer the ones in San Sebastian, which are dry aged, which gives them more flavors. If you are in Madrid though, this place is highly recommendable.