Madrid: Food and Restaurants
Our approach to Madrid food was highly affected by a few things:
We had already been in Seville 10 days, tried lots of tapas, and had grown tired of potatoes, jamon, and fried foods
We got food poisoning from a cone of mini sausages in Seville
So we started our Madrid experience with a search for vegetables, fruits and mild foods and worked our way up to cooked salmon.
3 Restaurants Recommended
Tripea is a set course Peruvian-Asian restaurant in a market. The food was very good and cheap compared to comparable food experiences. Reservations required. Their max capacity is 20!
Naked and Sated is a restaurant chain featuring healthy foods with clear options for foods free of gluten, dairy, and animal products. We tried a lot of different vegetarian or vegan spots in Madrid and were happy when they were mostly edible. This place was great. The food actually tasted good (or great) and things were not over-salted or sugared (a problem we found throughout Spain). If you are near the National Museum of Natural Sciences or the US Embassy, it is close. There is another branch in the central tourist area. Other vegetarian/vegan/gluten free options we can recommend are BumpGreen (great lentil salad, nice vibe, gender neutral bathroom), and Artemisa (2 locations, totally gluten free, tasty eggplant dish and plentiful fruit salad)
Options for Off Hours
Obviously, in the main tourist areas it is easier to find restaurants serving during siesta hours, but finding anything but tapas can be a challenge. We had good luck with a food court near the Four Seasons Hotel called Galeria Canalejas. Also, the department store El Corte Ingles (many locations) has groceries and small cafes in its basements. Some of the restaurants listed above also have extended hours.