Anglophones say "location, location, location": where your business is located determines its success.

Well, frankly, we can't think of a

better "location" in Madrid

than the Plaza de Colón, in the shadow of the statue of the discoverer and the huge flag of Spain, inside the Cultural Center of the Villa and with your entrance located door with door with the Fernando Fernán Gómez Theater.

Also, on the roof above your underground facility a huge sign bears your name: Papua.

That name clashes a bit: Nueva Guinea and Don Cristóbal have nothing to do with it, but we already know that with the wave of

exoticism

that invades us ... The fact is that this

new site draws attention

and seems to enjoy all the

conditions

for be a hit.

And yes, it must be, we say to ourselves as we try to reserve a table for two at noon through their website.

Either there is no table that day, or they only reserve for four, or at very rare hours.

The bomb, come on.

We imagine people lining up.

We finally managed to communicate by phone, and they told us that they could reserve that table for us, but only at one or three thirty in the afternoon.

Well, nothing, go ahead: at one.

And they add: "They should leave it no later than a quarter past three."

There was no queue outside the Papua.

Caramba.

Yes there was, inside, a

huge and richly decorated place

with palm trees in that tropical style that, by now, we have already seen in Madrid.

Of course, with the sculpture of an orangutan to remind us that this is not just

any tropic

.

And, the most curious thing, all the tables were empty.

Two more arrived, and the three of us were there until two, when a couple more - privileged, no doubt - joined in.

So there were four tables left when we left at twenty past two.

No comment.

Readers will say: What about food?

Well, as you can imagine, it was not the most shocking.

Little exotic, uneven

, a little industrial.

As an aperitif, a leek cream with romescu and peanuts, edible.

The prawn ravioli "like Joël Robuchon made them", with thick pasta and not prawns, but cheap Indian shrimp.

Chard

stalks

with

meunière

of toasted fruits, correct.

Veal sweetbreads with herb oil, not very tasty but acceptable.

Monkfish meatballs with green jalapeño sauce and sour cream, so salty they had to be returned.

"It is that they carry Iberian ham."

"Well, put less ...".

Finally, our star dish: an original

payoyo cheese cake

and violet caramels,

very rich

.

Special mention deserves the wine list with the most misprints and spelling mistakes that we have come across in a long time: 'suaveignon blanc', 'rieslin', 'Celler Battle', 'Castillo Ygai', a gewürztraminer from Chablis, 'Valle del Aconagua '.

And 94 Parker points to a wine from Guadalajara that in

The Wine Advocate

we see with 88. Bah, minutiae ... Of course, out of the chaos came a great (and cheap)

El Molar 2018

from Casa Castillo.

The prices are not very high, in any sense.

For quality they are, a lot.

More information about Papua

  • Colon Square, 4

    • 91 576 68 97

  • Opening hours: Does not close

    • Official Website: https://papuacolon.com/

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