Someone once said, “eat your problems for breakfast” – or something along those lines. Breakfast is the start of the rest of your day, the beginning of each day’s adventure, whether it’s a work day or holiday, a moment of sweet and savoury pleasure … Madrid is a cosmopolitan city, eternally alive with a rapid pulse maintained by breakfast in the historic centre or in underground neighbourhoods. From the classics – churros or porras with chocolate – to contemporary New York style cafés, breakfast under the sun of Madrid will always be a modern classic. We offer you a small selection of places to celebrate the first moment of the day with friends, lovers, alone or with a book. Here you have some of the essentials not to be missed.
This chocolate shop is a classic among classics and is the best place to eat churros and chocolate in the centre of Madrid. The churros are crunchy and delicious, the chocolate rich and intense.
For over a hundred years it was known as “the secret” due to its location among passageways and winding side streets, but now it’s one of the easiest places to find thanks to its glowing neon sign out front. In all of Madrid there’s nowhere else that dedicates itself exclusively to the sale of churros and chocolate as they do at San Ginés.
Photo: Marocs Ortiz
Open 24/7
Average price: 4€
From the creators of Café Federal Barcelona comes Café Federal Madrid, a new cafeteria/bar located in what used to be the sauna of Plaza de las Comendadoras. Here they’ve followed the formula that brought them success in Barcelona: a kitchen open at all hours, organic products and fresh coffee. The Australian roots of the owners are the reason behind this coffee concept.
The space is big, decorated with care and is the perfect place to spend a Sunday. The breakfasts are their claim to fame – the eggs with spinach, feta and onion could raise the dead. Not to mention the hamburgers…
Photo: Diego Exteberría
Plaza de las Comendadoras, 9
Monday – Thursday: 8am-midnight
Friday & Saturday: 8am-2am
Sunday: 9am-5pm
Found in the elegant and luxurious neighbourhood of Salamanca, Fonty is based on the concept of high class cuisine with French pastries. Pastry shops are a dime a dozen in the capital, but Fonty stands out from the crowd because they have their own workshop and the products are made in the moment by Marie Valdez, expert pastry chef.
Breakfast is their strong suit and in the menu you’ll find the ever popular, sometimes feared (because of the strong citric taste) lemon cream tart with Italian meringue – the most popular among customers. Other crowd pleasers are the blackcurrant mousse with greek yogurt inside, lime flakes on white chocolate pistachio cake, or the dark chocolate banana tart. Hazelnut, caramel, basil, passionfruit, mango, pineapple: heavenly pleasure transformed into baked goods. Marie doesn’t forget about petit fours, the small traditional French pastries like the Canelé, a classic from Bordeaux, or the spongey Financier made with ground almonds and caramelized butter. Everything is rich, tasty and filling, and it melts in your mouth.
José Carlos Capel, gastronomy critic, has marked Fonty’s croissants as some of the best in the city. You’ve been warned.
Photo: Marcos Ortiz
Calle Castelló, 12
Monday – Friday: 9am-8:30pm
Saturday & Sunday: 10am-8:30pm
Toma Café has been raising Spain’s coffee consciousness for the past three years. Independence was crucial for them when they began, as they wanted the freedom to serve whatever they believed in. So they opened a tiny kiosk on Calle Palma, which is now three times as big as when they started.
This place is without a doubt the king of Malasaña during the first few hours of the day, not only for the customers who choose it as a tranquil place to have breakfast, but also for the labourers and students who opt for take away.
Photo: Maite Ojer
Calle de la Palma, 49
Monday – Friday: 8am-8pm
Saturday, Sunday & Holidays: 10am-8pm
La Antigua Pastelería del Pozo
When talking about take away, we’re talking about one of the oldest traditions in the world: eating a good pastry in the street for breakfast. La Antigua Pastelería del Pozo opened in 1810 as a bread shop, and since 1830 it’s been a fully bakery, the oldest in Spain. The delicacies we grew up with often hide in ancient bakeries, and this is the perfect place to rediscover them.
Calle Pozo, 8
Tuesday – Sunday: 9am-2pm.
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