Dinner at Albur

The Adventure of the Leon Mains

Basics
Location
On the net



Per Person
€25-30 five dishes, 1/2 bottle of wine, shared dessert
Gratis: pacharan chupitos.
Reservations recommended for evenings.

In Short
Hopes?
A taste of Leon.
Reality?
Classy classics.
First Impressions?
Open brightly lit space, leads round to a nice dining area next door.
A USP?
The package. Location, decor, quality.
The food in three words?
Hearty. Consistent. Delicious.
Can they get the staff?
Three or so in our room. Great table attention and observation.
Service with a smile?
Big ones. Friendly, quick, reliable.
Would you take your friends?
Ideal for visitors after a taste of authentic Spain, without compromise.
Rating for a dating?
At least one in progress nearby. So doable.
Tip?
Yep.
Change one thing?
No apertif to kick things off.
Going back?
Yes. No question.

Compare and Contrast
More classic and authentic Spanish dishes in Malasaña at La Cabreira.

In Pictures
On Google Images

In Depth

Albur's been on Manuela Malasaña for over 20 years. It's doing something right, then, you'd guess.

It's doing lots of things right. We toddled in as a group of four. Albur's mission: to display some smart but still traditional Spanish dishes. A bit of simple class and quality.

Cheap, cheap, cheap, it isn't. This is serious Malasaña territory. You're going to spend €50 for two. Is it going to earn your money well? That'll be a big yes. Menu wise, there's a fair sprinkling of V-friendly options to be had, and oven-baked aubergine very nearly tempted us, but we're in Leon, in the end. So it's a meat-based meal tonight, with photos to match, just so you know.

Starting off with some polished croquettas here. All ham-led, but with a hint of homemadeness that Mama Mercedes would approve of. Goat's cheese salad with cecina came at the same time. Some might want to miss out on the dried meat, but goat's cheese with a crunch plus some deliciously dressed greens (clue: the key to using balsamic in a dressing is to aim for a dressing that doesn't just taste of balsamic) was a great way to ready the palates for the stronger flavours to come.

Palates prepared, then. It's Leonese food. So there will be pork. And it will be spiced. Hello, huevos rotos with picadillo. This is a good one. They go for poached (rather than fried) cackleberries which works superbly as you get loads of runny yolk to balance the spud and picadillo. Very recommended.

Next up, meet more meat. From oinker to mooer. When you think diced beef, you probably visualise a cube like  something you'd play monopoly with. Wronnnnggg! We're talking Professor Rubik jobs, here. We've sliced up our bits in the photo, but you get the idea. Medium rare, as you can see, but all tastes were happy with this quality product.

And, yes, that's a sizeable salad - it's no mere garnish, Jim. A proper portion of spuds came with it, along with, and hold onto the seat backs of the Enterprise for this, a Pedro Jimenez reduction. Yes, we're using the R-word. It's sweet, it's savoury, it's gloopy and black. ¡OK, it, yes, looks like something you'd expect to see squelching about in a Ridley Scott Alien movie. But it works with the beef. And we've no beef with that at all.

Secreto de iberico arrived at the same time. The only dish of the evening to score less than excellent. A decent ratatoille and more potatoes accompanied a pork escalope, deep-fried. Tricky things, escalopes. It's all down to the thickness. And it's pork. You have to cook it through, so there's the issue-potential. Escalopes will have thinner and thicker bits. At 4-5mm thickness this was excellent, but where it was thinner it was inevetiably a bit overdone. Some mustardy sauce of some sort would have helped it greatly though, I think.

Now, let's face facts. By this point, four big plates in, we were like...a country leaving an economic bloc due to an existential mid-life crisis. Well and truly stuffed. But this site is...dedicated to trying the full whack, when we can. So, we will contradict Sir Elton's wise words.

We did it. We ordered two desserts. We are h:m. We laugh in the face of late-night indigestion. At least we'd be up to entertain the insomniac cat.

It's a great big wodge of brownie. Warmed up, which is not to be underestimated in how it helps that ice-cream do its thing. Our two cholate enthusiasts finished it faster than an ex-cabinet minister accepting a non-executive directorship. Sweet. As they would surely add.

There was pudin! too. With honey, which is a nice change. And some soused raisins or sultanas added. Not at all bad, either. Think chilled bread and butter pudding sans custard.

Two bottles of joven Ribeira came in at €16 each. A cheeky chupito request wasn't turned down  by the excellent serving staff who'd looked after us all evening. An excellent dinner, in a welcoming atmosphere, which we all enjoyed thoroughly.

Well done, Albur.

We recommend it.