Tapapies 2019, enjoy more than 130 tapas in Madrid

INDEX:
Tapapies 2019, enjoy more than 130 tapas in Madrid

Introduction

Amores Berros

L' Italia in un boccone

Ajoblanco with salted mango sorbet

Kurma chicken with palou rice

Red pesto lasagne

Caribbean polentona

Vincigrassi

Tropical cod

Tinga de pollo

La pistola

October is a month lovingly marked in the calendar of all foodies in Madrid since Tapapies 2019 is held, one of the largest tapas contests in the city center. This year you can enjoy more than 130 tapas of different types of gastronomy. We'll show you all the tapas we've tried in this event!

Introduction: What is Tapapies 2019?

Tapapies is the largest tapas contest in Madrid. It is held from the 17th of October to the 27th in Lavapies, one of the most vibrant neighborhoods in the city, and offers a variety of more than 130 different tapas from around the world. That's why it's no wonder this is their ninth edition! 

If you are a lover of good tapas and gastronomy, do as we do and do not miss one of the most important events in Madrid. If you want to know which tapas we have tried and which ones we recommend, continue reading this post.

Amores Berros

Amores Berros is an ecological fruit shop in the San Fernando Market, one of my favorite places to have some tapas, where you can find these vegan burgers. Although they have not been very creative with the name, the tapa is called "Amores Berros", they have been with the combination of flavors. Beetroot mayonnaise is the highlight of this dish, as it gives it a delicious sweet touch.

Although this dish was nice, in my opinion, lentil burgers are a bit dry, so I don't include it among my favorites.

L’ Italia in un boccone

In the last edition of Tapapies we tried the tapa of the Finocchio Restaurant and we loved it. Therefore, this year became a mandatory stop on our way. One more time… The dish they prepared for this event was delicious!

Although it wasn’t as tasty as last year’s tapa, this little wheat cake stuffed with pesto of tomato and basil with a mozzarella pearl has become one of our favorites because we love pesto and this kind of cheese. We liked it very much!

Ajoblanco with salted mango sorbet, one of the most surprising tapas of Tapapies 2019

When I see the tapa offered at El Quixote Bar, I knew it was a must. This summer we have been touring the coast of Malaga, where this dish it’s supposed to be traditional but we have not been able to find it. Who would have thought that the first time we were going to try it was going to be at Tapapies? Not us!

The ajoblanco is a cold soup of almonds, this time served with pomegranate and olive oil, served with a salty mango sorbet. What an explosive combination! Although the texture of the ajoblanco has seemed a little strange because you could almost chew the small bits of almond… the taste has amazed me.

I recommend mixing some ajoblanco with the salty mango sorbet in your mouth. You will discover a whirlwind of sweet and savory flavors with very pleasant balances. Without a doubt, it is one of my favorite tapas of this edition.

Kurma chicken with palou rice

Indian cuisine is one of the most present in Lavapiés, so we went to Shapla II Restaurant to try its tapa. We were amazed by the large number of people who, like us, had approached to try this chicken dish with a sweet sauce served with rice.

On the one hand, the tapa was quite large and the sauce was very tasty. On the other hand, there was too much rice and only a little of sauce and chicken. Although it wasn’t a bad dish, in my opinion, it was a bit tasteless. In these types of events you can see who participates to show off their kitchen skills and who does it to make money. Sadly, this restaurant falls into this second group.

Red pesto Lasagne. The winner of Tapapies 2019

Lavapies is a multicultural neighborhood where you can find restaurants of any kinds of gastronomy and the Italian, one of the most famous of the world, it couldn’t be missed. When we saw that the Restaurant called Bresca, offered a red pesto lasagne, we didn’t hesitate to try it.

Despite the fact that the tapa was tasteful, it seemed to us quite small and the way it was served, at first make us wonder if we had made a good choice, it wasn’t very attractive.

In my opinion, if they had improved these two points, surely they could be fighting for the first positions of the contest. It’s a shame that a so tasty dish was stained by other different aspects than its flavour!

Caribbean polentona

We all have a dish remembered with love because we used to eat it a lot when we were child. In my case, it’s the polenta. Luckily, we found it like a tapa in Café Viralata, the winner of the 2018 Tapapies edition.

We found this dish very balanced considering its flavour, its size and its appearance. The stew of vegetables counteracted the strong flavour of the cheese and the polenta gave firmness to this tapa.

I don’t know if they are going to be the winners again but, to us, their tapa was pretty good. I have no doubts about telling you that this tapa was one of my favorites!

Vincigrassi

I’ve known this little restaurant called La Rostellería of the San Fernando Market for a long time because of their delicious handmade pizzas. This time, thanks to Tapapies, we tried their lasagne.

Although it was a very big tapa and its presentation was quite attractive, we found it tasteless. Maybe, with more salt it could had been perfect. Even so, it was good. Sincerely, we would like to try it again.

Tropical cod, one of the most delicious tapas of Tapapies 2019

Mercadillo de Lisboa is a little bar inside the San Fernando Market. It can go unnoticed unless you know it. But it’s worth giving it a chance! All the times we tried some of their dishes, we found them really tasty.

This time, they surprised us with a delicious tapa. Among its ingredients, we could count cod, black olives, red and green pepper and coconut milk. The dish was so good that we found it small because we wanted more and more! In my opinion, it was the best tapa I could try in this edition of Tapapies.

Congratulations! It was my favorite.

Tinga de pollo. The winner of Tapapies 2019 inside San Fernando Market

This was our first time trying the food of La bici verde. Without knowing what they offered, we ordered some tapas and, in the end, it turned out to be a Mexican dish. It’s awesome to find such a nice tapa made with only a few ingredients.

Although the waiter told us that it wasn’t spicy, it was. Luckily, it wasn’t enough spicy to avoid us enjoying its flavours and textures. I especially liked the contrast of the fried tortilla and the shredded meat. In spite of not being the tastiest tapa, we liked it very much.

La pistola. The sweetest tapa of Tapapies 2019

All the times we go to San Fernando Market, we have some beers and tapas with our friends. That’s why we never tried anything of La pistola until now.

Its tapa consisted in a kind of custard with mango served in a wafer covered with chocolate. Although I’m not fond of mixing beer with sweet flavors, this sweet tapa was delicious. The fruit gave it a really fresh touch which was very pleasant. To me, it was the best way to end this edition of Tapapies.

Sadly, this edition of Tapapies has ended but it always remains with good memories. Especially all the new places we discovered. We’ll visit some of them very soon! I hope you enjoy like I did with this tapas review.

Who knows? Maybe in a near future I could try to cook some of these dishes! Meanwhile, you can take a look of my last recipe clicking here. Bacalhau a bras.