Beyond the guacamole and the aguachile, the menu runs to dobladita de changurro, a Baja California crab specialty, roasted bone marrow with red tuna and avocado, pork trotters in a light escabeche over crispy tortilla, tongue tacos with green tomatillo sauce, and shrimp tacos al pastor. Alongside the dining-room carta there's a Barracuda MX x Tequila Don Julio menu and a liquid list of cocktails, micheladas and mezcales.

Barracuda was born out of the pandemic. When Ruiz and his team imagined their next restaurant, they decided that what people wanted from eating out had changed: fewer master classes, more rooms to meet friends in and eat well. So Barracuda turned away from the fine-dining format of Punto MX toward what Ruiz calls a down-to-earth, generous Mexico, and he says it was the first restaurant to open in Madrid after lockdown. Guacamole with chicharrones and grilled bone marrow have been among its constants since, with room always left for local Spanish product, and Ruiz has said he's happy without a star.

Roberto Ruiz arrived in Madrid in 2005, discovered the richness of Spanish produce and folded it into his vision of Mexican cooking. In 2012 he founded Punto MX, which he presents as the first Mexican restaurant in Europe to earn a Michelin star, followed by Salón Cascabel, Mantarraya MX and the UMO liqueur, with further projects in Lisbon and Bogotá. Barracuda MX, opened in 2021 beside the Puerta de Alcalá, is his most personal project. It is recommended in the Michelin Guide and holds one Repsol Sol.

The cooking travels the almost 8,000 kilometres of Mexico's Pacific coast, from Sonora and Sinaloa to Nayarit, Jalisco and Baja California, a coastline shaped by exchange with Asia that gave rise to techniques such as fish zarandeado or a la talla. Tortillas are made daily from freshly nixtamalized corn. The carta runs from three guacamoles and Yucatán or tropical oysters to corvina ceviche with passion fruit, prawn and hibiscus ceviche and vuelve a la vida, then huitlacoche quesadillas, cochinita pibil panuchos and tacos of wild king prawn, baby squid, rib-eye, Ibérico al pastor, pork shank and prime rib, with most dishes between €16 and €23. Larger plates include butterflied sea bass a la talla, Monterrey-style charcoal-grilled sirloin and bone marrow with seared red tuna.

On weekday lunchtimes the Selección Pacífico set menu (€39) gathers some of the carta's best-known dishes with dessert or coffee. Group menus start at €70 with Menú Pacífico. There is a Barracuda MX x Tequila Don Julio menu, and the bar pours cocktails, micheladas and mezcales from a list built around agave spirits. A reduced carta runs between 16:00 and 19:30.

The space, designed by Cousi, is built around a big central bar and three different areas for different moments, with a young, festive feel. There is a terrace.

Barracuda MX is open every day from 13:30 to 00:30, with the reduced carta between 16:00 and 19:30. Reservations are essential: book online through its site or call 911 08 89 99.