Unexpected mergers in Madrid

It's the crown jewel of the Sr. Ito group, which specializes in Japanese cuisine with Asian influences. Here, they go a step further, and in the somewhat rustic space that housed Mario Valles' original Hortensio restaurant, they offer a fusion of grilling and Basque traditions with culinary techniques and typical accompaniments from countries like Thailand, India, Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, and, of course, Japan. As for ingredients, they work with Galician meats, Atlantic fish, and vegetables from the gardens of Navarre and Aranjuez. With these ingredients, chef Eduardo Marco creates surprising (and, generally, well-executed) dishes such as crab pad thai in the San Sebastián style, grilled hamachi talo with tartar sauce, jalapeño, and katsuobushi flakes, pork shoulder marinated in bulgogi, and pantxineta mochi.

India-Cantabria at El Hombre Pez. Located in the heart of the Salamanca district, El Hombre Pez boasts a vibrant and colorful interior, one of its main attractions. This restaurant belongs to the Kazhuria Group, which has five other establishments in the capital (four Indian and one Mexican, all with similar characteristics and in the same area). Another draw is its terrace. The menu is divided into two sections. On one hand, there's a traditional Indian menu, though not extensive, featuring chicken, beef, and vegetable curries, biryanis, and naans, all with just the right amount of spice. On the other, there's a more extensive menu dedicated to the fusion of Indian and Cantabrian cuisine. Tuna tartare with tikka masala, fried calamari with mango sauce, hake with coconut curry, grilled octopus marinated in spices, Reinosa sirloin steak… As with any self-respecting fashionable restaurant, there is no shortage of cocktails (including the Indian Mix&Cantabrian).

Middle East-Madrid-South America at JAM

Caio Abbud, a Brazilian of Syrian and Lebanese descent, has teamed up with the owners of Bucólico Café in Chueca, also Brazilian, to launch an original project last June in the tiny, traditional space next to the Reina Sofía Museum that for decades housed the La Berenjena tavern. Its name is taken from musical jam sessions: the idea is that each meal is a kind of improvisation, different from any other. They've taken Middle Eastern cuisine as a base and tweaked it with many Madrid touches and some Brazilian and Argentinian influences. For example, they prepare the hummus with cod or chistorra sausage. The chancliche features Arabic cheese with oil and za'atar, roasted peppers, and onion. Their version of the gilda, aptly named "It's Not a Gilda," is made with pastrami, mint, pickled onion, Kalamata olives, and piparra peppers. And the chorizo ​​criollo is grilled with hummus, Arabic chimichurri, and tabbouleh. For dessert, the malabie is a "flanacotta" (a mix of flan and panna cotta) with almonds. They also offer Middle Eastern-inspired cocktails. PD Jam doesn't have a phone and reservations are only accepted (almost essential, especially in the evenings, given the tiny size of the place) via Google Maps or their Instagram handle, @tabernajam.

Asturias-Peru at Ronda 14. In 2011, Peruvian Mario Céspedes and Asturian Conchi Álvarez embarked on a groundbreaking project in Avilés, a city with a gastronomically conservative tradition. Their restaurant fused Peruvian Nikkei cuisine (already a Japanese-Peruvian fusion) with Asturian cuisine. Their success led them to try their luck in Madrid in 2015, in the exclusive Salamanca district. There, their menu, featuring dishes like mackerel ceviche with ají limo tiger's milk and squid, Creole gyozas filled with beef and pig's trotters, wagyu nigiri-burger with rocoto pepper and blue cheese, and baby squid and anchovy rolls, was an immediate hit. Céspedes and Álvarez have since expanded with two more restaurants, one in Málaga and the other in Pozuelo de Alarcón. In addition to Ronda 14, the couple also runs Cilindro in the capital since 2018, where they serve Creole cuisine with Asturian touches, inspired by the Peruvian cilindro, a tool for working with charcoal that here is replaced by a more practical josper grill. Must-tries include the crispy tortos filled with oxtail, the Asturian roll, and the octopus with olluco stew.

Asturias-Mexico at La Xida. Opened in early 2024 in the northern part of the Salamanca district, La Xida combines two of the world's most renowned and hearty cuisines: Mexican and Asturian. The restaurant features two distinct atmospheres: a casual bar reminiscent of Asturian cider houses and a dining room that evokes the Riviera Maya. And how do these two culinary traditions merge? Without hesitation: cachopo tacos with refried beans, tortos with Mexican picadillo and free-range eggs, onions stuffed with cochinita pibil, mole negro with free-range chicken… The fusion extends even to the cocktails, such as the tequidra (cider and tequila) or the apple margarita. In addition to the Aztec-Asturian fusion, there are also traditional dishes from both territories, such as the governor's tacos, palm heart and mango ceviche, chorizo ​​in cider or, when it's cold, a classic fabada.