Gabriel, C/ Conde Duque 10

I haven't really been out much recently and when I was, I repeated places. It's always good to repeat a place I think, especially when it was good the first time. That would be the first reason, the second would be to find out if the first time wasn't just a fluke. I had a menú del día in La Negra Flor a few days ago for €11 and it wasn't bad. Not great, but definitely not bad either. A run of the mill pasta salad, and skewered pork with a few lost pieces of veg. Anyway the novelty of the place seems to have worn off already, especially for the waiter. Was he nervously friendly the first time, this time he was just not in the mood I guess. I do think it's a good bar and a nice restaurant though. I'll keep you posted on it.
Last night I went to the movies with a few friends at a quarter past eight, before dinner time. So when we came out of the cinema we were hungry. Not familiar in the area we decided to have a pintxo (tapa) and a caña first in Lizaran. You'll find Lizaran all over Spain and the pintxos are actually good, just don't make a meal of them. It's a bit of a scrummage getting to them as it is self service, but that's to be expected on a Saturday night.
I had read something about a restaurant around the corner from where we were in Conde Duque but when we found it it was full and we would have to wait an hour at least. With full I mean 7 or 8 tables, so I guess this will have to wait for a quiet Tuesday or Wednesday. As there are more restaurants in the area we ended up in a place called Gabriel, a bit of a mixed bag really, but clean. The menu was maybe a bit limited, but we weren't really going to have a big meal anyway. We ordered a Salad of Foie and Mango between the four of us and a Tostada each. Mine a pork sirloin with a mustard sauce which was very nice. The others had good looking toasts too, but with goat's cheese which is the only thing I don't eat or want to go near. I was fine with my caña, but the girls ordered a Mojito Sorbet which did taste like a mojito and that was that. Nothing really vey exciting, but all in all OK, especially for a little more than a tenner per person. I will go back some time.