Spain (Madrid) trip, Nov 2009 - Carabiñero (The Red Prawn)

I was speaking to my Spanish clients today and I told them it is my last night in Madrid to night. I wanted to know that apart from ham (which they assured me that I already tried the best ones), what else is worth eating in Madrid.

Apparently, Madrid has a huge fish market (despite being landlocked) and the seafood is great. In particular, they suggested that I try this red prawn called 'Carabiñero'. "They are very very good" said one of the guys.

Now I have seen these prawns before. They look very attractive and yummy. But they also look expensive. There is a restaurant near my hotel which does them. However, the area surrounding the hotel also happens to be the most expensive area in Madrid (Salamanca) and the restaurant's online rating doesn't look too promising. So I decided to go back to the place which I saw it before.

I am due to chair a very important meeting at 9am tomorrow. However, I decide to forgo 2.5 hours of my prep time to travel to that tapas bar and seek out the prawn.

The tapas bar

The wall next to the tapas bar. I hope this octopus isn't having octopus tapas! :-P

When I got in, before I order any drinks etc, I asked about the prawns and found out that they are 10 euros for a pair. It is very pricey but I was determined to try it. So after 10 mins, the grilled prawns arrived.


These prawns are no ordinary prawns. The flesh is very sweet and it has the texture of crab claw meat.

It was so good that I just can't stop myself saying "Muy, muy bueno" to the waiter.


I scooped the prawn juice from the head and cleaned the plate up with bread. It was sooo prawny! If I am ever back in Madrid, I will definitely seek out this prawn again.