Lakasa runs a strong wine-by-the-glass programme, and most dishes come in half portions, built for grazing across more of the menu rather than committing to one plate. The cooking is market-led and seasonal, with game one of César Martín's calling cards.

In the cold months the game list reaches wood pigeon, woodcock and venison, and other dishes regulars look out for include candied artichokes with ham and the Wellington, made to order. The suppliers, mostly small and sustainable, are often named on the menu and on the restaurant's social channels.

César Martín has run his own kitchens since 1996, including La Abacería de la Villa, and cooked at Balzac, building a reputation above all for game. He opened Lakasa with his wife, Marina Launay, in 2012, and in 2016 moved it to a larger space on Plaza del Descubridor Diego de Ordás in Ríos Rosas, by Calle Santa Engracia 120. Martín runs the kitchen and Launay the dining room. Lakasa is recommended in the Michelin Guide and holds two Repsol Soles, and it has kept its prices within reach of the neighbourhood.

The carta, which the restaurant spells Lakarta, is built for sharing, and most dishes come as a full or half portion, so you can graze across more of it. It changes constantly with the season: in autumn that means game, wild mushrooms from León, Extremadura and the Sierra de Guadarrama, stews, and fish coming in or out of their best moment. As the restaurant puts it, a carta at Lakasa is never finished.

The Idiazábal fritters have been a house classic since 1996 (€24, or €12 for a half). Recent plates include Hazas anchovy gildas, a house cold cut of callos, a Breton pâté de campagne, steak tartare (€38), roast sea bream en papillote, veal-meatball blanquette, roast wood pigeon with blackberries, and a charcoal-grilled red-meat loin for two or three (€95). The Solomillo Wellington (€43) is served only at Friday and Saturday lunch. Desserts run from French cheeses aged by the Antony family to a sheep's-milk flan and the house lemon meringue tart.

Lakasa also runs seasonal set menus built around its key suppliers. Until the end of June or July, the Gadira & Sapiens menu (€82, drinks extra) paired wild almadraba bluefin tuna from Barbate with fruit and vegetables grown in Madrid by Sapiens, with an optional extra dish for €9. Pa'Kasa, the restaurant's shop, sells some of the kitchen's signature dishes to finish at home, and a monthly newsletter, El Noticiero, follows how the carta changes. There is a strong wine-by-the-glass programme.

The list is broad, coherent and fairly priced, mixing the classic references, Rioja, Ribera del Duero and Jerez, with small producers, many of them organic or minimal-intervention, and a strong choice by the glass. Sherry has long had a special place here: back in 2017 the Jerez regulatory council counted Lakasa among Madrid's temples of sherry, for how naturally César Martín's cooking fits the wines.

In September 2020 Martín and Launay opened a second restaurant a few doors along, Fokacha, at Plaza del Descubridor Diego de Ordás 3. It's their take on popular Italian cooking, seasonal like Lakasa, with fresh pasta made in-house every day and pizzas raised on natural sourdough and baked in a stone oven brought from Italy. Fokacha opens Tuesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner.

The kitchen is open continuously from 13:30 to 22:45, Tuesday to Saturday, with no afternoon break, and the restaurant is closed on Sunday and Monday. Book through the reservation link on the restaurant's site, or call 915 338 715 or 626 933 081. The email is info@lakasa.es. Lakasa also sells gift cheques through its website, and publishes a recipe section and blog there.