A Chinese Treasure

A Hidden Gem, and a Diamond in the Rough.

 Hannah and I set out in search of what is said to be "the best Chinese food in Madrid...if you can find it"

This restaurant is said to be IN Plaza de España, when in reality, its UNDER the Plaza. To get there, you must enter through the Parking garage. We weren't really sure where to go, and unfortunately this is off your mobile devices GPS system. So without a map, we used our noses to find the buried treasure.

Once we went down the stairs, we could smell the sweet, decadent smell of chinese take out. My heart fluttered.  I have not eaten chinese food since at LEAST august of 2010. Mainly due to my fear of eating chinese food outside of America. I just had a feeling it wouldn't be good... like Mexican in Spain (that search has also been conquered)

Once we arrived and confirmed that this underground chinese restaurant was the one we were in search of, we joined the line outside of the door. We were handed a menu that was written in English and Spanish. We peeked in through the windows to see what others were eating, portion sizes and if rice was included. All looked promising, except the rice included part.

We chose Chinese Vegetables and Chicken and Vegetables. We waited about 5 minutes outside the restaurant until someone came and took our order while we waited. Once we were seated 10 minutes later, we were handed our food within the next 3 minutes. Perfect.

We chowed down happily fulfilling our craving for comida china. But then there was a problem.... it was ALL GONE! And it was TOO GOOD! We looked over at our neighbors on all sides of us, eating dumplings.... or empanadillas chinas.... and we looked at each other with that look that says 'are you thinking what im thinking?' and 'if you're in, im in'.... and we ordered a plate.

The Holy Grail of Chinese Food

Within  3 minutes we were handed a plate of about 8 dumplings a la plancha.... we each dipped one into the sauce and popped it into our mouths... at first a taste of sweet tanginess... then the savory beef flavor with the dumpling noodle.... Pure Bliss.

Hoping to eat these for breakfast.... too bad we ate them all!

The best idea we had all week.