The best taco in Madrid

Taquería Mi Ciudad. Photo by casasroger

Taquería Mi Ciudad. That’s what the sign said.

It wasn’t in a guidebook and it wasn’t on a map, but I saw it while walking towards the Opera metro and decided to give it a shot. I’d eaten some tourist-ready, drab Mexican in Madrid before, yet this near-dive joint looked promising. In the way that only near-dive joints can.

Inside? Transformational, life-changing tacos.

OK, so maybe that’s a bit much, but that’s how the food hit me. Why? Because somehow the concept of a cheap, simple taco has become bastardized as the recipe goes around the world. These were the real thing, not a Spanish approximation of what a Taco Bell-eatin’ American would like.

There were only three filling choices as far as I was concerned; a thick, smoky Pollo Mole, a spicy/sweet Rojo with pumpkin seed and one hell of a Cochinita Pibil (a citrus-soaked pork). I’ve since had those three tacos five times, making excuses to use Madrid as a hub on trips through Spain. I have gone to surprising lengths to have their taste sensations put my buds in a sleeper hold.

Simple, amazing tacos. Photo by Sergi Depazos

The>Madrid’s best bargains. The €5 margaritas are freshly prepared and not from a mix – they rival the food in authenticity.

Taquería Mi Ciudad
34 608 621 096
Calle de las Fuentes 11
Madrid, Spain

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Tom Gates travels and eats. He’s managed to find authentic italian food in Bangkok and is rather opinionated about pizza . He has a history of binge eating, as documented in pieces about Berlin and Buenos Aires.