I don’t know about you, but when I travel it’s crucial that I find a good cafe. This means delicious coffee and healthy food, good environment with free WiFi access, and nice people and location. Getting to be in Madrid twice this January, this coffee-addict was thrilled, and relieved, when we discovered El Azul de Fucar. It lives in my favorite part of the city – Barrio de las Letras quarter in the Cortes district. As you may surmise from the name, it can be spotted by its azul exterior, which draws you in any time of the day.
As entrepreneurs who work remotely, we still work on many of trips. So on our second morning in Madrid we headed out from our hotel on El Paseo del Prado and across from the Prado Museum, and began to search for a friendly cafe with free WiFi. We wondered for a bit, which became precarious because this was all pre-coffee. Then we found it – its soft blue building-front framed by a quaint bay-window and a glass door. We were greeted kindly and encouraged to of course use the WiFi, so we settled down. All was confirmed as the perfect place when we ordered from the great menu and enjoyed our food and drinks.
Their breakfast menu is easy to understand and simple, with a great variety of the traditional Spanish breakfast of toast with different toppings of either marmalade, tomate, cheese and/or jamon. Eric and I had the pan con tomate and it was delicious and perfectly toasted. To get caffeinated, I savored a fresh hot cup of Americano and Eric enjoyed a delicious mug of cafe con leche. Since we were there for a while working, I later devoured a generous slice of their homemade carrot-ginger coffee cake – it was delicious. Since we were both fighting sinus colds, we had them make us Hot Toddies as well. Those are fun to teach people and bartenders in Spain to make, because they aren’t really a thing there. By the time we left, people were filling the place up for lunch and we saw that their lunch menu looked fantastic as well.
The interior of the cafe is quaint, right along with the crafty lamps that hang overhead, a simple wood bookshelf hanging high along one wall, varying styles of tables and small chairs, and a colorfully tiled bar where you first walk in. Towards the back, benches were fitted along the walls with cushions and more tables. Natural light flooded in beautifully and it has an energy of fresh openness and lightness. Their kitchen looks to be small and simple, yet efficient and putting out not only amazingly fresh and tasty food and drinks, but also healthy cuisine. Their menu comes complete with natural fresh squeezed juices and smoothies made in-house.
Later that night we stopped in after dinner because earlier we saw some unique bottled beers that we wanted to try. Sure enough, the place was packed and we began to realize that we should have had dinner there. The plates that people were savoring looked amazing. We still had a great time, enjoying the magical transformation of the place into an evening wonderland and drinking some great local Madrid beers for our first time.
On our last few days in Spain, we were once again in Madrid and of course, we headed right back to El Azul de Fucar. We enjoyed our usual breakfast and also had one of their large fresh-squeezed juices made of orange, strawberries, and mint. Upon my request they even added a good amount of fresh ginger root, which blew it out of this world – best juice I’ve ever had!
What more can I say? This is my new favorite cafe in Madrid. Their environment and people are so inviting, the food is healthy, fresh and delicious, the prices are affordable, and it’s a great spot to work from. Better yet, it’s there to delight and indulge its visitors, regulars and tourists, at all times of the day. I look forward to returning when next in Madrid.
Connect with El Azul de Fucar on their Facebook Page and when you visit them, tell them AmaliaVida sent you 🙂 ~ https://www.facebook.com/ElAzuldeFucar