The chalkboard menu runs small and half-portion plates: cauliflower with bacon and baby squid at €18, corvina with yellow chili and pak choi at €24, beef tendon with leek and mint at €16, duck cannelloni with chamomile at €14, and a kataifi pastry with cheese and maple at €7.50.

La Llorería was born from friendship. Carmen Alti and José Certucha met working together at DSTAgE and opened their own place out of the wish to keep cooking side by side. Alti has cooked in kitchens in Spain and abroad and helped run well-known Madrid restaurants; Certucha has more than a decade in kitchens, specialising in research and creativity on projects at home and abroad. The restaurant is recommended in the Michelin Guide and holds one Repsol Sol, and its motto is 'sin ataduras, sin complejos, con ilusión': no ties, no hang-ups, plenty of enthusiasm.

The idea came during the pandemic. At DSTAgE, the two said, they felt the people they served didn't represent them: their own families could never afford to eat what they cooked. So the plan was to democratise technique and creativity, to prove that a careful, different kind of cooking doesn't have to cost €220. They considered everything, even a sandwich bar, walked the city from Las Vistillas to Vallecas looking for a space, and found an old-school Chueca bar with granite walls and a classic counter, which they rebuilt on their own savings, with no bank behind them.

La Llorería opened in spring 2022, and by their own account the first service was a disaster: the two of them in the kitchen and a waiter with little experience. Within a month they split roles, one in the kitchen and one in the room, and brought in Encinas. Talking to guests became part of the job, which is also why each dish is named by its three key ingredients, so there's always something to explain. The house hit from the start was Coliflor-Bacon-Puntillitas, cauliflower with Ibérico bacon, raisin, a French curry and fried baby squid; another early favourite was Tomate-Miso-Noisette, marinated cherry tomatoes over a brown-butter and white-miso emulsion. The chalkboard never changes all at once; a couple of new dishes arrive every six weeks or so. The wine list leans on small producers, with a good showing of natural wines, and since September 2024 the restaurant has closed on Saturdays.

The menu is written on a chalkboard and built for sharing, with most plates available as a half or full portion. Each dish is named by its three key ingredients. The carta published on the restaurant's site includes oyster with escabeche and jalapeño, clams with vermouth and chiltepín chilli, cauliflower with Ibérico bacon and baby squid (€11 or €18), duck cannelloni with manzanilla, cabbage with onion and egg yolk, corvina with ají amarillo and pak choi (€15 or €24), and beef tendon with leek and mint, finishing with coconut, red fruits and tonka bean, or kataifi with cheese and maple (€7.50). As the house puts it, the carta will make you cry, so try everything.

The room is tiny, four tables and eight bar stools in a narrow tavern, styled like a traditional Spanish taberna but modernised. The kitchen works in the open behind the bar, so you can watch the dishes come together, and service is warm and personal.

La Llorería is open Monday to Friday, 14:00 to 17:00 and 20:30 to 23:30, and is closed at weekends. With so few seats, book ahead through the reservations page on its site, by phone on 91 210 94 11 or by email at lalloreriamadrid@gmail.com. The nearest metro is Tribunal, and the closest car parks are Escuelas de San Antón, Interparking Barceló and the Mercado de San Ildefonso.