Nina

Monday, July 16, 2007
Dinner with Lowell

I came across Nina in Lonely Planet Spain as a 'hot' restaurant in the Malasaña neighborhood in Madrid. The reviews were positive and pretty accurate in describing it as New York loft-like.

We had a drink around the corner at La Comercial on the corner of the plaza by the Bilbao metro station first. Malasaña is a really nice neighborhood and the most liveable place that we saw in Madrid. A lot of cute restaurants, bars and shops with tree-lined, cobblestone streets off the main roads.

Nina was empty around 9pm, but quickly filled up with a young-ish crowd. We had a bottle of Rioja, and started with an avocado and palm hearts puff pastry and a grilled foie gras. For dinner, I had a very good duck with an orange, sea urchin sauce. Lowell had a very small lamb, and we shared a coconut milk dessert.

While I liked Nina for its atmosphere and interesting dishes, as Lowell put it, they "are trying too hard to be too fusion... one too many flavors in every dish." While the dishes are good, there is a little too much going on some times. Worth it though, €70 total for the both of us with a bottle of wine, starters and entres.

Calle de Manuela Malasaña, 10, 28004 Madrid, Spain
91-591-0046