Gofio - Madrid

Detailed and gastronomically remarkable experience. Discreet service and dishes that take you to the most authentic flavors of the islands. I recommend the tast... read more Detailed and gastronomically remarkable experience. Discreet service and dishes that take you to the most authentic flavors of the islands. I recommend the tasting menu (intermediate.) as a recommendation not to fall in the snacks outside the menu.

A wonderful restaurant. We took the longest tasting menu and we loved it. everything was very good, difficult to decide which dishes I have more. I have a lot o... read more A wonderful restaurant. We took the longest tasting menu and we loved it. everything was very good, difficult to decide which dishes I have more. I have a lot of the red tuna particle, the lemon fish to the panty and the gnocchi of sweet potatoes with smelts, but the whole menu was great. the wines also loved me, the white taboos surprised me very funnyly. the very friendly and professional service. the place is small, with few tables and cozy. highly recommended.

Experience that we have been defrauded and we could say that hungry. of all the star restaurants we've visited is the only one we can say this. well made dishes... read more Experience that we have been defrauded and we could say that hungry. of all the star restaurants we've visited is the only one we can say this. well made dishes, some amazing. high price for a menu of select snacks

People, this restaurant is a scam! The menu does not provide information about the selection of products used on the day of the reservation. They request to pro... read more People, this restaurant is a scam! The menu does not provide information about the selection of products used on the day of the reservation. They request to provide information for intolerances, allergies or food restrictions, but not in relation to the dishes. When I sat at the table, I had to wait 25 minutes before the waiter came to my table. He told me about this evening's composed menu. The entire menu was composed of pork and the main course was chicken. I don't eat any of the boar/pork and I don't eat anything with chicken either. I made it clear to the waiter that I didn't want to eat any of this, and I wanted to leave. The waiter didn't let me go and told me that the chef would prepare something for me. How can he propose that, without fresh products being purchased. The only thing I could imagine was that the chef would take something out of the freezer. I didn't accepted that, and I said again that I wanted to leave. The atmosphere became aggressive, and I stood up. At the bar-entrance he asked me for my credit card, and I told him I didn't wanted to pay. He was not satisfied with that, and I proposed to pay 20 Euro as compensation, but he refused to accept. It went more aggressive, I felt a bit afraid. Not wanted any further trouble, I left the restaurant. A few days later my credit card was charged with 50 euros. I think it is pure theft, and I have considered reporting it. But I think it is better to express my dissatisfaction in this way via TripAdvisor. People beware of this series of scandalous practices with menus that are composed on the day of the reservation, and the customer has no prior information about the composition and the products. Gérard Lasés

If you believe you’ll have the opportunity to dine here in the next years, skip the review and simply go. The joy of exploring their cuisine is part of the expe... read more If you believe you’ll have the opportunity to dine here in the next years, skip the review and simply go. The joy of exploring their cuisine is part of the experience and I don’t want to steal that from you with the following clumsy description. I found myself in Madrid. Work had brought me to Europe for two weeks which forced (and I use the term loosely me abroad for the weekend on the company’s dime. The trip began in London but I did have (and did in fact exercise some control over the journey. I chose Madrid for the weekend given the fact that I had spent considerable time in the other continental destinations I would traverse during the work week. Food and culture would be my focus (given the jet lag and fatigue and stress of the week, modest adventures seemed more appropriate . Without planning (a brave confession on my part spontaneity is something I measure worse than most of the seven original sins I managed a table at Gofio. A trip (via cuisine to the Canary Islands. To slice off such a delicate and unique slice of Spanish gastronomy thrilled me, particularly given my ignorance of the place. I intuited a Spanish influence and that an island suggested seafood and a volcanic one suggested very mineral rich wines but my intuition ended there. The location is central. The winding central calles of Madrid. An understated entrance that you could walk by and be corrected by google maps and walk by again and turn three times on the wrong Calle before finding it. But I speculate. A warm greeting. A starting drink. A simple menu a few variations on the governing notion that they will take care of you and at the end provide a menu of where you went. I dine early by my standards and at a time that most Madrilenos would describe as Jurassic. Spanish roosters were still on their first coffee. A fully bilingual staff (at a minimum…I suspect they expertly handle all dialects . With my dozens of Spanish words, I’m more fluent in Spanish than most trolls of Hogwarts so I insisted on Spanish only, which they obliged. Their patience and my confusion was a feature not a bug. We set sail and the adventure began. A tart overflowing with a creamy foamy top. A very thin crisp base and a taste of surf. Pine nuts and crispy vegetables paired with some shellfish either born in tiny bites or carefully trimmed to that size. A recognized the bubblegum tuna on the next course immediately. It sat on an ovoid of similar color and cover as before. Tuna on a hard boiled egg covered with Mayo and stuffed with potato salad. But it was perfection. Calling the Mona Lisa a portrait of a lady is correct but misses the mark. Third a croquette. I thought I heard iberico in the description. I think I was wrong. A crispy fried base held a return to potatoes and on top a carefully cared for egg yolk that oozed to unite the dish. A volcanic cider. So apples grow there. No obvious carbonation. No obvious sweetness either. I taste a few times. Why does it seem like a Sherry? A shrimp and partner dish arrived. A big beauty of a gambas prepared whole and barely cooked (the proper fate for it . Fleshy clean and tasty. The partner was some crisp bits with avocado cubes and three grey green globs. The chef has taken all the rich shrimp essence out of the shrimp and condensed it into those globes. Why did the cider taste like Sherry? Because Apple and shrimp don’t pair but Sherry and the sea do. Fantastic. A soup. In a thick rough black bowl. A small piece of pork with its skin. Baby corn and corn nuts. On the side are onions and queso and a powder I can’t identify. The server recommends it (I’m enforcing my avoidance of English which they accept . I taste it. Subtle. Not pork floss or the such. I complete the dish by jumbling all the onions (I’m a bachelor this weekend and queso and half the powder. A rich yellow white wine from Diego island. Subtle bouquet. Tears nicely. Dry. Apparently if you are looking for sweetness on the Canary Islands, it isn’t in the fruit. Pescado arrives. That means fish. Sashimi style in this case. I might have heard a warning about spice? I see a bit of chili oil but it doesn’t intimidate me. Delicious. I relish the fish and conquer the chilis. I have battled mouse droppings chilis in Thailand, cried my way through Sichuan dumplings and wrestled vindaloos in Mumbai so I know what it is to fail in a spice battle. These chilis are accompanied by something rich and earthy that I love but can’t identify. A fat fried pepper arrives on a field of battle lost by various bones, bark and dried fish on a silver chalice. I believe my instructions are to take only the pepper. I’m uncertain. I eat the pepper. A perfect shade, thin and crisp and stuffed with a melange of cooked fish and texture. The delicate fried rim falls into the bowl and mixes with the sauce and serves as the final taste. But what of the rest of the dish? I glance about me. I can always follow the cue of an expert. Alas I sat first and my zeal (coupled with being without company means I am ahead. I wait without commitment and the servers take it away efficiently and I detect no scorn. Success. A glass of red. From Santiago island? I smell. A nose of rich volcanic soil and more. Leather follows. What leather! A barnyard of leather. My God did Noah’s ark crash on the Canaries? The taste is rich and full of tannins and luckily lacking the biblical menagerie. Shaved truffles! On a yellow broth. Boats carrying them must journey to the canaries I suppose. What are the ingredients? An earthy corn broth (not a variety bred for an easy life of rich soil and tender care? with small soft boiled eggs (not chickens? and the truffles. No messing around jam just those taste buds with the strongest signal. No sweet corn here. Another course. More Spanish Dorado. That’s a fish. Venezuela. That’s a place. Arepa. That’s food. I see a splash of guacamole. The fish is perfect. Swimming (for the last time on a delicate broth. The guacamole is guacamole. This must be a comfort dish. The arepa. A second glance (see wine list above and apply it to my current faculties reveals it is attached to a chicken foot. Not a prediction I would have made. I bite in (arepa side first . Fluffy crispy corn flavors (I’d spent time in Caracas decades ago so grasped it right away . Perhaps some chicken broth played a role? Or perhaps shaking hands with poultry while dining clouds the mind. And some sweetness on the corn ! Red wine now gives way to new glass of a dark Cherry hue. The fragrance reminds me it’s time to bathe my pet duck but the taste is smooth. Pork and a rich green adobo? Potato chips on the side sprinkled with paprika. I use my knife for seemingly the first time. The pork is rich and textured and smothered in that heavenly sauce. I vacuum it. I move to the chips and discover the base of that dish filled with the sauce…an amazingly thoughtful treat. I check the rest of the table and find no more sauce to reeds my selfishness. A menu arrives at the end now rather than the beginning. I see a leche dish there so know dessert is coming. Corn again is in charge. It won’t relent to sweetness but pleases with texture, flavor and balance. Some ice cream, some cream, cinnamon and sprinkled sugar close the meal. It’s nice to be reunited with them but arguably I’ve been keeping better company. I leave with a blessing for the fishermen off the canaries and their rich hauls and the farmers and their steep harsh slopes. And a prayer for their dentists whose business suffer on a country that seeks culinary pleasures apart from those that rot the teeth. I sailed their seas and hauled in tunas. I plied their bays and netted crustaceans. I climbed their slopes and plucked their hardy grapes. I was invited into their homes and sampled their kitchens as abuelitas coaxed another bite. All within a walk from and a stagger back to my hotel. A reverse Columbus i had discovered a new world from where his journey began. It will linger in my mind for years.