The kitchen works micro-seasonally: the menu changes daily around what suppliers bring, built mostly on vegetables, fruit, cereals and legumes with fresh herbs, and only a little poultry, meat or fish. Textures stay delicate and product comes first, the plant-forward approach Montes brought back from L'Arpège.

Coco Montes trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and spent six years under Alain Passard at the three-Michelin-star L'Arpège, one of the temples of vegetable-led haute cuisine. He also cooked at Zalacaín and Azurmendi and led projects in Shanghai, Los Angeles and Sydney before opening Pabú on Calle de Panamá in November 2023.

In less than a year it had its first Michelin star. It also holds one Repsol Sol, and Montes was named Cocinero del Año 2024 at the Premios Excelencias, while the Academia Madrileña de Gastronomía made Pabú its Restaurante del Año 2025. The dining room is run by Rita González, an industrial engineer by training. The We're Smart Green Guide, which rates restaurants for their vegetable cooking, lists Pabú among its radish-rated addresses. The house also makes its own bread, pastry and ice cream every day, and mixes modern and antique art in both the kitchen and the dining room.

Pabú calls its cooking micro-seasonal: the menu is built around the exact moment each ingredient is at its best, so eight different dishes are served every day and change continuously. It works with small local producers and agroecological growers, mostly vegetables, fruit, cereals and legumes with fresh herbs and only a little poultry, meat or fish. The rule in the kitchen is that flavours should not blend into each other or hide behind aromas, with the calm reserved for the sauces.

There are three tasting menus, plus a carta of the day. Pate, named for Montes's father, is the long menu of eight dishes at €220; Pate Medias serves the same eight in smaller portions at €200; and Bubú, named for his mother, has six dishes at €180. All three include filtered Madrid water, four sourdough breads, olive oil and coffee or tea. Every menu can be adapted to allergies and preferences, with vegetarian and vegan alternatives always available, and a meal takes two to two and a half hours. Cheeses come from Fromagerie Antony.

Head sommelier Patricia García runs a list of close to 400 references, arranged in chapters from Champagne and traditional and skin-contact whites to reds, rosés, sweet wines and a solid alcohol-free section. Almost everything is available by the glass, using the Coravin system, and Coravin has named Pabú its ambassador in Europe. García was a finalist for best sommelier at the 2025 Premios Metrópoli. Corkage is allowed for up to two bottles not on the list, at €60 for the first and €80 for the second.

Montes has started taking micro-seasonal cooking outside the restaurant. In September 2026 he cooked at the Madrid Formula 1 Grand Prix at the new Madring circuit, and a week later crossed to Mexico for the Apapaxoa festival on the Riviera Maya, held at the Xcaret hotels from 18 to 23 September, where he gave a talk on the timing of ingredients, cooked a six-hands dinner with the chefs Miguel Bautista and Joe Montes, and joined 'El Legado', a dinner with 35 Michelin-starred chefs.

Pabú serves lunch Tuesday to Thursday and lunch and dinner on Friday and Saturday; hours can vary, so confirm when booking. Book through the reservation page on its site, by email at coco@restaurantepabu.com, by phone on 91 104 86 05 or 689 69 67 26 (Montes often answers himself), on WhatsApp (645 47 27 68) or on Instagram. There are no timed sittings, and the table is yours for the whole service. A guarantee is required: cancellations under 48 hours or no-shows are charged €100 per person, and there is a minimum spend of €100 per adult and €50 per child over four.

Pabú is aimed at adults, and children, preferably over 12, are welcome only if they can share the same menu. Please avoid shorts, casual T-shirts, flip-flops and sportswear. There is valet parking, and the restaurant is fully accessible, with a lift and an adapted toilet.