Juan Montagudo open in January Ababol 2022his first restaurant, and that same year, with the unusual speed that Michelin inspectors have shown recently, he already obtained a star, the only one in the city of Albacete.
one year … he later won the prize for best kibble in Madrid Fusión, a circumstance that gave it more notoriety than the “macarrón” of the red guide. This encouraged him to open, also in the capital of Albacete, a second housea relaxed gastronomic tavern with more affordable prices based on recipes from La Mancha but with many nods to foreign cuisines. For her, she chose a name closely linked to her winning croquettes: Béchamel.
Today, a few weeks ago, he decided to try his luck Madrid retaining the name and reproducing a very similar model although with obvious differences in the menus from one to the other: simpler and more La Mancha than that of the Spanish capital, with fewer exotic touches. The setting chosen for Madrid is a small and unassuming place on the street Prince of Vergaraalmost on the Plaza de Cataluña, with uninterrupted cuisine in the afternoon.
Half of the space is occupied by a bar and a few high tables where you can nibble on famous specialties. ham croquettes (3.50 euros), worthy of the price they received, to some successful fritters of pringue with garlic and piparra (4), passing by the Albacete version of the Murcian marinera in which the salad is replaced by atascaburras (6), frankly good, or a muffin from old clothes (9:50 a.m.). These same tapas can be enjoyed as starters on the half-dozen low tables, dining room style, which occupy the other half of the premises. Tables, moreover, dressed with tablecloths. An example that informality is not an excuse not to wear them. A large terrace On the street, it allows the interior space to ventilate.
As we noticed while snacking at the bar, the popular cuisine of La Mancha, judiciously updated, is very present in the offering at La Béchamel. There we find the good ratatouille with fried eggs (2:50 p.m.), who has useless cubes of potatoes left; the pastoral crumbs also with the egg, or the excellent almorta porridge with mushrooms and torreznos (15.50), the best dish on the short menu. And there is the marinated red partridge from La Mancha in an excellent bean stew (32).
The spoon also appears in some verdinas with simply decent cod meatballs (17.50), or in the Manchego game gazpachos (30). less interesting the call ‘tomato split 2.0’ (12:50 p.m.), a salad of different tomatoes (green, fresh, dried) with tuna and a slightly faded salmorejo base in a rather confusing whole. It’s not up to par either. Iberian loin marinated with pickles (27) in which vinegar predominates excessively.
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Address:
Príncipe de Vergara, 197. Madrid. Such. 664 10 11 23. Closed Sunday and Monday. Terrace. www.labéchamel.com -
The best:
Dishes from La Manche. -
Average price:
50 euros. -
Qualification:
6.5.
Finally, a good and powerful cheesecake Manchego cooked (8). Competent room service and a not very long but well thought-out cellar, with wines from Castile-La Mancha in the spotlight, complete the package. good overall impression.
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