“More Churros!”

“There’s a place over there that looks like it has churros…”

Churrería-Chocolatería Las Farolas tl;dr

• Walking Distance to Both Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor
• Around the Corner from Chocolatería San Ginés
• Other Dipping Offerings

Welcome to the land of Churros…
Madrid!

What can I say, I have a heavy sweet tooth and I just can’t help myself. With a limited amount of time and I suppose the guilty conscience that I should probably eat more than simply desserts while here, I gotta get them in where I can. With that being said, around the corner and down the street from the popular Chocolateria San Gines.

Las Farolas is a uncrowded breath of fresh air. Keep in mind, with the short amount of time, I’m juggling stomach space to accommodate my sugar craving!

First Impressions About San Gines

Walking toward Las Farolas’ address on the phone, we find this very unassuming simple venue off the main road. Walking in their was the strong  smell of hot oil and frying dough. Across the menu are all the options of all manner of things to dip into a steaming cup of hot cocoa:

• Regular Churros
• Thicker Porras
• Filled Churros
• Strawberries

After putting in our order for regular Las Farolas churros, a cup of chocolate and strawberries, I argued with myself whether to get more of their other offerings. Several minutes of internal dialogue later, I figured I’d stick to the tried and true original churros, as it is something of a standard that I can compare the other churros places.

We wander the nearly vacant diner which carried the modern day decor with old school trim. Honestly, it felt kind of like a weird mishmash of styling cues making me wonder if there were 2 owners who couldn’t decide in which direction to go in.

Waiting for our fresh churros to be made, I realized that there was a window near where we were seated. Like many places that offer a view of how things are a made, I got a kick out of watching my churros being made.

Whether that’s just coincidence or not, I’m not sure but considering that the porras weren’t available because of the time that perhaps they cook to order. A lot of places, churros and porras are made at certain times on a posted schedule. I imagine, for the discerning sweet tooth who wants their fried dose as fresh as possible.

The Churro Eating Process

The following scene will repeat in a certain robotic precision with all the passion of a kid lost in a toy store time and time again over the next few days.

1. We would find a churro seller.
2. We would order.
3. We would consume
4. And then mentally compare this to what we had before.

There was a certain method to the madness, however it was one that I never gave into since Nadia would always, without fail, pull me back from losing myself and becoming a glutton.

Taste The Churro

Slowly salivating as our order is placed onto our table, I dip my churro into the porcelain cauldron of swirling chocolate and proceed to devour it, posthaste, and burn my tongue in the process. Having eaten some earlier in the day, regardless of little differences, there’s nothing quite like biting into a chocolate covered fried stick of dough.

Tasting the bitter sweet chocolate on my tongue…
Biting into crispy outer skin…
Chewing on the soft inner dough…
While slowly mixing it all together across my palate!

Pure Sugar High Heaven!

Sadly, this wasn’t our favorite but couldn’t argue with how enjoyable it was. The chocolate seemed to have coagulated a little too quickly or perhaps it wasn’t as fresh and hot as we have had at others. Typically the cup would still be swirling with viscous liquid, never cooling to a more solid pudding consistency before being entirely used up.

The churros were hot, crispy, chewy, and everything we came to expect from a churro. Though to be fair, unlike most other places that offer sticks of churros, Las Farolas fry them up in wish bone shapes adding a novel step to the eating experience.

Last Thoughts About San Gines

While minor, the chocolate wasn’t nearly as sweet as other places that we’ve had. I did see locals sprinkle sugar over churros, so maybe I was supposed to do that. But in my heart of hearts, I rarely like to alter the way things are presented to me. I’ll eat it as they had intended, for better or for worse regardless of the cultural norms that may or may not grate with me.

Las Farolas style may not have been my ideal, it was still without a doubt tasty. Considering how cheap these churro experiences are, don’t deny yourself the pleasure of trying them all!

Churrería-Chocolatería Las Farolas

• Calle Mayor, 11, 28013 Madrid, Spain
• +34 913 66 02 44
• Street View

What’s your favorite dessert in Madrid?

“More Churros!”

“There’s a place over there that looks like it has churros…”

Churrería-Chocolatería Las Farolas tl;dr

• Walking Distance to Both Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor
• Around the Corner from Chocolatería San Ginés
• Other Dipping Offerings

Welcome to the land of Churros…
Madrid!

What can I say, I have a heavy sweet tooth and I just can’t help myself. With a limited amount of time and I suppose the guilty conscience that I should probably eat more than simply desserts while here, I gotta get them in where I can. With that being said, around the corner and down the street from the popular Chocolateria San Gines.

Las Farolas is a uncrowded breath of fresh air. Keep in mind, with the short amount of time, I’m juggling stomach space to accommodate my sugar craving!

First Impressions About San Gines

Walking toward Las Farolas’ address on the phone, we find this very unassuming simple venue off the main road. Walking in their was the strong  smell of hot oil and frying dough. Across the menu are all the options of all manner of things to dip into a steaming cup of hot cocoa:

• Regular Churros
• Thicker Porras
• Filled Churros
• Strawberries

After putting in our order for regular Las Farolas churros, a cup of chocolate and strawberries, I argued with myself whether to get more of their other offerings. Several minutes of internal dialogue later, I figured I’d stick to the tried and true original churros, as it is something of a standard that I can compare the other churros places.

We wander the nearly vacant diner which carried the modern day decor with old school trim. Honestly, it felt kind of like a weird mishmash of styling cues making me wonder if there were 2 owners who couldn’t decide in which direction to go in.

Waiting for our fresh churros to be made, I realized that there was a window near where we were seated. Like many places that offer a view of how things are a made, I got a kick out of watching my churros being made.

Whether that’s just coincidence or not, I’m not sure but considering that the porras weren’t available because of the time that perhaps they cook to order. A lot of places, churros and porras are made at certain times on a posted schedule. I imagine, for the discerning sweet tooth who wants their fried dose as fresh as possible.

The Churro Eating Process

The following scene will repeat in a certain robotic precision with all the passion of a kid lost in a toy store time and time again over the next few days.

1. We would find a churro seller.
2. We would order.
3. We would consume
4. And then mentally compare this to what we had before.

There was a certain method to the madness, however it was one that I never gave into since Nadia would always, without fail, pull me back from losing myself and becoming a glutton.

Taste The Churro

Slowly salivating as our order is placed onto our table, I dip my churro into the porcelain cauldron of swirling chocolate and proceed to devour it, posthaste, and burn my tongue in the process. Having eaten some earlier in the day, regardless of little differences, there’s nothing quite like biting into a chocolate covered fried stick of dough.

Tasting the bitter sweet chocolate on my tongue…
Biting into crispy outer skin…
Chewing on the soft inner dough…
While slowly mixing it all together across my palate!

Pure Sugar High Heaven!

Sadly, this wasn’t our favorite but couldn’t argue with how enjoyable it was. The chocolate seemed to have coagulated a little too quickly or perhaps it wasn’t as fresh and hot as we have had at others. Typically the cup would still be swirling with viscous liquid, never cooling to a more solid pudding consistency before being entirely used up.

The churros were hot, crispy, chewy, and everything we came to expect from a churro. Though to be fair, unlike most other places that offer sticks of churros, Las Farolas fry them up in wish bone shapes adding a novel step to the eating experience.

Last Thoughts About San Gines

While minor, the chocolate wasn’t nearly as sweet as other places that we’ve had. I did see locals sprinkle sugar over churros, so maybe I was supposed to do that. But in my heart of hearts, I rarely like to alter the way things are presented to me. I’ll eat it as they had intended, for better or for worse regardless of the cultural norms that may or may not grate with me.

Las Farolas style may not have been my ideal, it was still without a doubt tasty. Considering how cheap these churro experiences are, don’t deny yourself the pleasure of trying them all!

Churrería-Chocolatería Las Farolas

• Calle Mayor, 11, 28013 Madrid, Spain
• +34 913 66 02 44
• Street View

What’s your favorite dessert in Madrid?