Prada a Tope

José Luis Prada founded the company Prada a Tope in 1972 as a small store selling cherries in aguardiente liquor and roasted peppers. Now the company has a chain of Bierzo product ambassadors spread throughout Spain, including this branch in Madrid’s Barrio de las Letras neighbourhood.   

Inspired by the typical taverns in León, the restaurant recreates a unique rural atmosphere thanks to the exposed wood of its walls, to its slate floors and stone columns. Its menu features hand made products, prepared following ancient techniques from the region of El Bierzo. Worth noting are dishes such as the cecina (cured meat), the morcilla (blood sausage), the wood-roasted peppers, the stewed omelet, the empanada, the boiled pork knuckle with potatoes, cabbage and sautéed vegetables with chorizo and, of course, the succulent “Botillo”.

The wine list includes all the wines from Palacio de Canedo’s wineries, the most typical being the carbonic macerated red wine. Furthermore, it is impossible to leave this spot without trying their star dessert: lemon cream with chestnuts.

Prada a Tope sells some of the ingredients it uses in its kitchen, such as tomatoes, peppers, different jams, chestnuts or cherries in aguardiente, as well as its wines.