La Fabrica, Madrid

Sunday June 14

Our work in Tarragona done, we rode off into the sunset for Madrid.

First, tapas and a jug of Sangria at Lateral, which is apparently the chicest spot in Madrid these days. We had to sit indoors, but that turned out to be a good thing, as it was hot and noisy out there in Plaza Santa Ana. And amazingly, the place had really good food: excellent albondigas ternera, tender little meatballs in sauce; and a good standard tortilla Espanola, with potatoes.

Then dinner at La Fabrica, a hole-in-the-wall recommended by the guidebook. We walked in past a lively crowd of neighbors watching the soccer game in the front bar, and were served by a friendly waiter in the cool, tiled back room. He confided to us that Spaniards "consumed indústrial quantities" of food, so in the spirit of the country, we had an enormous cold salad (which the waiter wrote down as Salpicón) of every kind of fresh seafood - absolutely espectacular. Then little toasts topped with white cheese and slices of home-smoked salmon and bonito.
Wine: the bill said "Real Castelo," the waiter's copy said "C. Rueda," but it may have been vino blanco "Tramoya." Absolutely delicious, very much like a Sauvignon Blanc.