B'FST, Madrid styley II

Now would you look at that. I have reached the big "5-0"...in posts that is! I'm rather happy with what I've achieved on my wee blog which is 20 months young. To celebrate I'm letting you in on this little gem...Bar Tomate, an all day diner in the Salamanca district. Olivia te Cuida was definitely a hard act to follow but Bar Tomate is a sure fire winner. Sure, it has been featured in Condé Nast Traveller & the NY Times no less, but the glowing praise rings true. 

Stepping through the glass walled atrium/entrance, I was surprised to see the size of this space. Laid out in an L-shape, a more casual dining area with booths and benches abuts the main restaurant with it's charming book lights....literally Source: Te veo en Madrid

At a very early hour (by Spanish standards) we were seated on a bench that we could lounge comfortably on. We took the liberty of laying out our Madrid map on the table to plot our day's itinerary (NERDS!). We were practically the only people there to begin with. After the obligatory café con leche order we tentatively made our way to the banquet/bar where there was laid out the most glorious spread of breakfast muffins, croissants, sandwiches, freshly squeezed OJ and cake (heaven forbid). It was like breakfast heaven no joke. Not quite sure how to proceed (err, what's new?), the staff kindly helped us put what we liked on a plate. Reminded me of a refectory (old school)!

Okay, so it was horrifically dark in there but we made do. The coffee was watery *sigh*, I am starting to see a trend here. Is it that the milk is not as good in Spain? Maybe it's just the ratio being a bit off, who knows. Anyway, the freshly squeezed orange was magnificent (as juice can be anyway). We finished the jug of it ourselves...whoops!

Here was the selection of freshly made mini sandwiches available. Akin to a breakfast 'picnic' or tapas sitting this is exactly what we needed (after having churros overload). The one on the left had creamy slices of brie + black olive tapenade (unusual!), the right thin slices of mushroom 

The potato frittata: the perfect antidote to a winter's day. Gives me the warm and fuzzies!

I probably went back to the counter a good 3 or 4 times for refills, 'samplers' and the like. It was pretty much irresistible, lain out like that! After we had gotten through they had to downsize the buffet size. I'm a bit embarrassed about that to be honest! They were probably thinking, "They're coming...batten down the hatches!" It ain't far from the truth ;)

The CHEESECAKE. You must be thinking - huh?! At breakfast?! Umm, yeah... Contrary to how it looks the cake was quite light (like a Japanese cheesecake) and the slice was the perfect 'slither'. The smidge of strawberry jam on top was manageable (I usually scrape it all off) 

I had a jolly good time here and left a very happy camper.  And with the wealth of breakfast options available (not necessarily healthy, which I'm okay with) I left full and grinning ear to ear. And all that for just €33,50 for 4 people, I almost felt guilty afterwards! Almost.

Thanks for reading!
xGourmand