Yerbabuena in Madrid

Last I left off, we were enjoying some down time back at the hotel.

Madrid isn’t that big – we ran into Ethel and Alene as they returned from Toledo.  This gave us some time to plan out our evening.

We decided to meet for drinks at an Irish pub my dad had been eyeing the entire vacation called Ulysses.

Standard.

After a round of beer (and some salty nuts) we said goodbye to Ethel (who left us for a hot date) and we walked around the corner to a vegan friendly restaurant called Yerbabuena.

This was the second vegan restaurant we went to in Madrid and just like the first…it. was. epic.  I am so impressed with the veggie scene in Spain’s capital.

The place was totally packed upstairs, but they had a table downstairs that could fit all six of us.

There were so many things I wanted on the menu, it was nearly impossible to choose.  Laura had just as much trouble narrowing down her options.  The best part was that the menu noted which dishes were vegan and which could be made to be vegan, as well as which were gluten free.

I made my selection based on the fact that the “cheff” recommended it (ok, so translations aren’t their strong suit).

It was such a good decision though.  Mmmm…

Crispy, savory, and delicious.

The waiter said a total of 3 words the entire night, but he did bring us little nibbles at the start of the meal.  I love when restaurants do that.

It tasted like avocado soup.  A little weird to drink out of a shot glass, but whatever.

The bread was also about the size of a baby watermelon, which even satisfied our pan-loving group (a nearly impossible feat).

Ready for entrees?

My mom & dad split two items.  First up was the vegetable lasagna (vegan and gluten free) with layers of vegetable pate with tofu, mushrooms, rice noodles, and vegan cheese.

They also got the spinach crepes (below).

In addition to spinach, the crepes had quinoa, seaweed, and green asparagus (plus a bunch of other stuff that you can read from the menu below).

They weren’t vegan, which I’m thinking is due to the creamy mousseline sauce on top (I just googled it and found out it’s similar to a hollandaise).

Laura got arroz negro with seitan.  It was both vegan and gluten free, and was loaded with everything from veggies, soy beans and white beans, to seitan and algae.

It’s hard to tell from the photo, but the portion was enormous.

Alene was rather boring with her order, sticking with a traditional (non-vegan) pizza.  Marie on the other hand got a vegan pizza.  She too has an overly sensitive digestive system, particularly when it comes to dairy, so I know she enjoyed the absence of GI pain following this yummy dish.

I got the scalloped seitan in a green pepper curry sauce.

This dish was so good.  The sauce was fantastic and the seitan had a crispy crunch with a soft inside.  Love!  As for the side dishes, the potatoes were a miss (they were oddly sweet and it took me a while to determine if they were actually potatoes or apples), but the vinegary cabbage was a hit.

We got side salads with our entrees, too, but I’m not sure any of us ate more than a few bites because the entree portions were so generous.

The check came with this box of random candies.

Nobody had much interest.

We all enjoyed our food, although both pizza gals had 1/2 of it remaining at the end.  Marie left her doggy bag at the restaurant and realized she had forgotten it when we were already half way home.  Lucky us got to walk back, thus enjoying the riots in Puerta del Sol not once, but twice (sarcasm).  It was good to walk a bit after dinner though, since we were eating on European time and the last thing I feel like doing after stuffing my face is rolling into bed (so uncomfortable).

I hate to say it but I think Al Natural got trumped by this place (at least in my book).  I very much recommend to vegans visiting Madrid.

Here are some photos of the menu for anyone considering going.

[appetizers]

[salads]

[soups, creams, & rice dishes]

[mains]

[mains, cont.]

For the recommended courses see above.  As you can see the prices are totally reasonable and the options range from vegan specialties (seitan) to Spanish staples (paella).  There’s something for everyone!

A few more FYI details:  It’s located just off Calle Mayor (a quick walk from Plaza Mayor) or a longer stroll from Puerta del Sol.  The closest metro stops are Sol and Opera.  They accept credit cards and are open from 11am-12am.