Reina Sofia Restaurant: all you need to know to enjoy it

With all the activities and things to do in Madrid, it’s only natural that we’d want to recharge our batteries. After touring the many galleries of the Reina Sofía Museum, you might start to feel peckish, so you’ll be pleased to know that sharing the building with the great works of artists such as Miró and Picasso are two superb restaurants: Arzábal and NuBel.

Both restaurants boast a prime location, offering a modern, artistic and pleasant atmosphere. As for the food, get ready to enjoy flavours as unique as the paintings you’ve just seen. Both Arzábal and NuBel are renowned for their market-fresh cuisine. Mind you, eating this well doesn’t usually come cheap, but I simply must recommend them!

By the time you finish your visit to the Reina Sofía Museum, you’re bound to be hungry; all that walking and looking at paintings would tire anyone out. To save time searching for a restaurant and keep enjoying the art, the best thing to do is stay and eat at one of the museum’s restaurants: Arzábal or NuBel. Both offer plenty of options, although the menu at the former is somewhat more traditional than that of the latter.

You’ll see that you won’t be short of options, because the Reina Sofía has two restaurants, and each one offers a varied and delicious menu.

Whilst Arzábal is seemingly more traditional, innovation reigns at NuBel, from the way the tables are arranged to the dishes they serve.

What to eat at the Arzábal restaurant

The Arzábal restaurant describes itself as dynamic, perhaps because its menu features traditional dishes but always with a twist. So, expect to find some excellent croquettes served with sheep’s milk, one of their star dishes. But if there’s one thing you simply must try, it’s their cheeses; they have a trolley dedicated solely to their selection of over 20 cheeses. The burrata is spectacular! If you’re more of a meat lover, you’ll be pleased to know that the meat at Arzábal is of the highest quality, especially the sirloin.

Who’s in charge of the kitchen? Two great chefs: Álvaro Castellanos and Iván Morales, who have been at the helm of this gastronomic venture for years, which also includes other restaurants scattered across Madrid. Their aim for this establishment was to bring a traditional tavern—but with a revamped menu—to the city’s most important cultural and contemporary art centre.

At this restaurant, they know that any meal should be accompanied by a good drink, which is why their waiters are always happy to recommend a wine from their dedicated wine list. Do you prefer beer? Once you’ve tried the one they serve there, you will. To finish off, order their gin – after all, it’s a digestif, isn’t it?

What to eat at NuBel

After admiring the finest paintings at the Reina Sofía, are you in the mood for something equally exclusive and artistic to eat? Then you simply must try NuBel. A café-restaurant that completes the museum experience through cutting-edge cuisine. A must-try dish? It’s hard to choose, but their ‘raw’ section, where raw ingredients take centre stage, is one of the best.

The great thing about NuBel is that, whatever time you go, you’ll find a delicious menu created by Michelin-starred chef Manuel Berganza. Although it’s common to go for lunch after your visit, you can also enjoy their breakfast or brunch menu (their cakes, especially the cheesecake, are incredible).

Although the menu might be a bit too modern for some, the whole family will love it, so if you’re visiting Madrid with children, I’d encourage you to stay for a meal at NuBel and order some tapas or dishes to share.

Quality comes at a price, and when you add in the prime location enjoyed by both the Arzábal restaurant and NuBel, you can only expect to pay a high price.

That’s just how it is when eating lunch or dinner at the Reina Sofía Museum, so be prepared to pay around €20 for each main course. In total, a meal for two can cost around €50–€70 (desserts included), to which you’d need to add the wine (around €30 per bottle). Mind you, don’t expect a discount just because you’ve bought a museum ticket, as there’s no such arrangement.

Although it might seem so, Arzábal and NuBel don’t have high prices simply because of their location, but because of the quality and originality of their dishes. Even the simplest or most traditional dishes have been devised by top chefs, and only the finest ingredients from the market make it into their kitchens.

You won’t need to worry about opening times, as the Reina Sofía’s restaurants, Arzábal and NuBel, are open almost all day. That said, you’ll need to check in advance, as opening times tend to vary throughout the week.

Generally, El Arzábal is open from 10am to 1am and NuBel from 9am to midnight. As you can see, they’re always open during the museum’s opening hours, but they stay open later so that late-arriving visitors can still have lunch or dinner.

Arzábal restaurant opening hours

Arzábal is open every day from 10 am. Closing times do vary from day to day, so please check their opening hours on the website. Generally, from Monday to Thursday it closes at 1 am, on Fridays and Saturdays at 2 am, and on Sundays at 8 pm. They don’t close for the weekend, so you’ll always have the option to eat there, even when the museum isn’t open.

NuBel restaurant opening hours

NuBel does close two days a week, so forget about trying their food on a Monday or Tuesday, as you can see on their website. However, the rest of the week it has fairly extensive opening hours, always opening at 9 am and closing at midnight (Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays) and at 2.30 am (Fridays and Saturdays), so you can enjoy its cocktails any night whilst a DJ plays some music.

Please note that although the opening hours are continuous, NuBel’s various menus may only be available at specific times of the day. For example, its Afternoon Tea menu is only available from 5pm to 7pm, whilst the Tapas menu runs from 4pm to 8pm.

As you’d expect from the Reina Sofía Museum, the NuBel and Arzábal restaurants boast a dynamic, modern and, in a way, artistic atmosphere. Innovation is evident not only in their dishes but also in the spaces themselves, which act as an extension of the museum and are open and lovingly decorated.

What’s more, everyone who visits agrees that the waiters are friendly and always advise you on the best choices from the menu, which can sometimes be a bit confusing if you’re not familiar with certain culinary terms.

Both venues are suitable for the whole family, though NuBel is particularly so as it features original, colourful furnishings—something the little ones always love. For example, instead of traditional chairs, there are sofas or armchairs. This doesn’t make the space feel chaotic, as it’s spacious and allows for pushchairs to move around.

El Arzábal, for its part, whilst having an innovative feel, is still a traditional tavern. The interior spaces can accommodate many diners at once, but you’ll soon see that the terrace is spectacular.

The best thing is that it’s partially covered, so it can be enjoyed just as much on rainy and cold days. Overall, there’s a cosy atmosphere that invites you to chat over a glass of wine and a delicious dish at the table.

Great chefs know that the dining experience doesn’t begin on the plate, but in the venue itself. As you can imagine, given that El Arzábal and NuBel are located in a contemporary art museum such as the Reina Sofía, it’s to be expected that their décor is meticulously designed, yet each has a very different style from the other.

Arzábal boasts a style that blends the traditional and the innovative within the same space, just as it does in its dishes. Inside, it is a warm restaurant with classic aesthetic elements (such as the wooden bar) but in perhaps more elegant colours (black predominates). Furthermore, to showcase its extensive wine list, the bottles form part of the décor and are displayed in glass cabinets, as if they were paintings.

NuBel, on the other hand, is much more colourful, with an orange hue predominating thanks to the lamps that illuminate every corner and every table. Furthermore, as it is situated beneath the red dome of the Nouvel building (constructed as an extension of the museum), its interior is bright and has a very modern feel.

If you want to secure a table at one of the Reina Sofía’s two restaurants, my advice is to book. Especially at the busiest times (lunch and dinner), they can get quite full, even though both have plenty of indoor and outdoor seating.

I know it’s very difficult to know exactly when you’ll finish your tour of the museum, so normally both the staff at Arzábal and NuBel take this into account and hold your table for about half an hour.

You can easily make a booking via their websites, both Arzábal’s and NuBel’s, which is very convenient for checking table availability as you near the end of your visit to the museum. If you can’t book, I still recommend popping in to see if there’s a free table or a spot at the bar.

One of the great things about eating at the Reina Sofía Museum is that you have even more time to admire its art. What do I mean by that? Well, this museum has some of its works on display in its courtyard, so from the windows and terraces of Arzábal and, particularly, NuBel, you’ll have a privileged view of them.

The NuBel terrace is situated in the courtyard of the Nouvel building. If you sit at one of the restaurant’s outdoor tables, you’ll be sharing your meal with Roy Lichtenstein’s ‘La Pincelada’ (Brushstroke), a monumental sculpture that has stood there since 2004.

Although the view from Arzábal may not be quite as artistic, the vistas impress everyone, especially diners lucky enough to be seated in its garden. This space is reminiscent of the Alhambra or a conservatory, filled with plants and exuding a distinctly Mediterranean atmosphere.

It’s not all about eating, especially when there are such spacious venues to celebrate in. That’s why the Reina Sofía’s restaurants make the most of every hour they’re open to organise events, concerts or DJ sets. Which ones will you be heading to?

NuBel, which closes at 2.30 am on Fridays and Saturdays, extends its dinner service by inviting local DJs and other bands to liven up the night. It also has a varied cocktail menu to combine the best of food and music. You can check all the events they’re organising on their website.

El Arzábal isn’t far behind and also often features DJs to set the mood for dinner. That’s when you’ll find the most young people there enjoying a few drinks.

Perhaps one of the elements I would highlight about both the Museum’s restaurants is that they are rooted in Spanish cuisine.

Modernity or concepts such as ‘fusion’ do not eliminate tradition, allowing you to savour classic dishes with a contemporary twist. In addition to the chefs’ creations, something that caught my attention is the personality of each venue and what makes them so distinct, even though they are practically in the same space.

El Arzábal, for example, is more welcoming, and its big selling point is the semi-covered terrace. On the other hand, NuBel’s avant-garde style gives it a major advantage: its versatility. You can go there for breakfast before visiting the Reina Sofía Museum or for lunch when you’ve finished. If you find yourself running late, you have an excuse to stay for their cocktail and music evenings.

As with everything, some reviews are better than others, but generally speaking, everyone who eats at NuBel or Arzábal leaves satisfied and even keen to return. If there’s one thing people highlight, it’s the quality of the ingredients and how beautifully presented the dishes are.

Ultimately, when a restaurant combines a great atmosphere with good food, success is almost guaranteed. At NuBel in particular, diners appreciate its more avant-garde dishes, which bear the clear signature of a Michelin-starred chef. That said, as is often the case with the trendiest spots, the portions can be a bit on the small side, though this perhaps enhances the flavour.

Arzábal is another great choice for its menu, but if there’s one aspect that always receives the highest praise, it’s the décor, especially that of the terrace. You could say it’s worth eating there just to spend some time surrounded by art, although some might feel the overall price is a bit steep for the portion sizes.

Have you decided what to order yet? I’m sure reading my tips has made your mouth water, so don’t hesitate to dine at one of the two restaurants at the Reina Sofía Museum.