I must write about this food market which I visited twice, two days in a row and in a singular trip to Madrid. It says a lot when a person visits the same place more than once, what more on a holiday and within a week.

Mercado De San Miguel is opened both during the day and night and has been around for the last 100 years yet it still looks so beautiful.

There’s rows and rows of culinary offerings and I can see why this is considered a tourist trap but I’ll say visit it and decide for yourself.

Here’s what I ate there:

Bacalao

I am salivating as I write this and I wish this was available in my own city. Bacalao means cod in Spanish and it is sold from €1!  El Casa del Bacalao is a must-visit as they have ample of variety from salmon, tuna, anchovies, octopus, tuna, herring and more – all prepared in different sauces. I personally loved the cod and salmon!

Paella

I love paella and I know of a good one at first bite. Paella by Rodrigo de la Calle have a few varieties (seafood, vegetarian, squid ink, etc) and to be really honest, there was nothing too special about it. If you’re saving stomach space, best to give this a pass. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad, just not great.

Croquette

You can’t go wrong with croquettes at Croquetas Cart. If you’re looking to go round the food hall sampling multiple items, you could probably pick 1-2 of these up as it is €1.50 each. There’s plenty of options from lobster, cod, chorizo, jamon and more. 

Mozzarella Bruschetta 

If you like cheese, there’s a stall that has all things cheezy and here are some which I bought. Not bad but not my favourite. You can find these at Mozheart Mozzarella Bar.

Pastry Pie

A toasty warm good old chicken pie which can’t go wrong with a good puff pastry. There’s again plenty of options for the filling, it seems like a trendy here for a singular stall to specialize in one area and offer a variety of different options in terms of flavor, topping, filling, etc.

Mercado De San Miguel, I am missing your bacalao very much.