Bocata gourmet XXL at La Casa Tomada
You can’t say you are a Madrileño if you don’t know La Casa Tomada, not because it is serving typical Spanish food, but mainly because you have to sit in calle San Lorenzo 9 and try the most sculptural bocatas of Spanish capital.
I’ve been hearing about La Casa Tomada since day one in Madrid, because of Instagram, because of Deliveroo, because of friends of friends and positive reviews I saw in the web.
Finally I got the chance to taste those gourmet sandwiches everyone is talking about, that red and white checkered paper that is so familiar after tens of photos I saw in Instagram.
I really enjoyed the history of the restaurant, hearing how it all began right from the founder and head of the kitchen army in La Casa Tomada.
“Hacemos bocadillos con mucho arte” is the mantra of this restaurant but I have to admit the what I really loved was talking with José Antonio, the founder, about how he loves to take care of his crew and make sure everything that comes out from his kitchen is 100% perfect. So art and perfection, Salvador Dalì used to say “Have no fear of perfection – you’ll never reach it”, because you need to be confident in order to get to that level of perfection or even better that level of quality, providing each day a high quality product.
José Antonio, who was born and raised in Venezuela, started his bocata revolution while he was at school, in Madrid, studying the art of cooking, training everyday making bocatas for his university’s colleagues. He saw an opportunity, the school cafeteria bocatas were a disaster, and started leveraging his cooking abilities delivering daily orders for all his mates.
La Casa Tomada was born in Venezuela, 2011, when he came back after the graduation in Madrid, becoming super popular, serving more than 100 bocatas every night, from his mother’s house transformed for the occasion into a street food restaurant.
Madrid calle San Lorenzo 9 arrived in 2014, when José Antonio decided to move to Madrid and started a new La Casa Tomada venture.
The good news is that La Casa Tomada in Madrid is open both for lunch and dinner, so that you can try fight the biggest bocata in Madrid at midday or midnight, I mean, there is not a real proper time for a La Casa Tomada bocata, you can have breakfast with the night before doggy bag bocata or dine with friends sharing different tastes.
Sharing is a key point of this place, if you just take a bocata it might be a pity, because the starters are massive, and if you don’t get a bocata but a salad, well, you’re a loco, even because there are meat bocatas and veggie bocatas, for all the tastes.
The delicious entrantes of La Casa Tomada, the Chili Cheese Fries is quite mandatory, like the unmissable dish of the menu, you can’t see the fries from the top, they are quite hidden but they’re super tasty, not the typical patatas I guess.
If you want you avocado dosis of the day, the Pulled Pork Fries might be a good compromise, because more than fries and pulled pork the bowl is full of fresh guacamole style sauce that matches perfectly with the pork.
Now that you are already half full with such a starter you see this huge bocata coming and you need to be really hungry and take some courage to start and end it all alone, so that sharing might be a good idea again, because trust me, half bocata is already a bocata.
I’ve heard a lot of positive reviews about the roast beef, so I chose the Fat Roast Beef, with onion, cheese, bacon and roast beef for sure, but the Teriyaki de ternera is a good choice if you love that asian sauce, or all the chicken bocatas are quite special, from the Pollo Italia with pesto to the Parmigiana Sandwich for the Grana Padano lovers.
There are more than 20 sandwiched between the classic bocata and the hotdog style, and nothing better than a fresh graft beer to sip with them.
The guys of La Casa Tomada can really help in choosing between all the different fancy bottles exposed on the window, starting from Spanish beers (from Madrid) that might be more famous like the Cibeles or less like the Moustache.
I’ve tried the Moustache which is super suave and perfect for me, but if you prefer stronger tastes the black ipa might be the right beer.
Last but not least the desserts, I will never leave a restaurant without trying at least one dessert, I don’t like the unfinished works, and in La Casa Tomada there is really good ensemble of postres homemade.
More Information:
La Casa Tomada
Calle San Lorenzo, 9, 28004, Madrid
Metro Tribunal / Alonzo Martínez
+3434915138448
