This restaurant lights up the street corner facing Colon metro station. As you step off the pavement into the doorway, you are greeted by what looks like a botanical garden, the atmosphere is inviting.

Garden vibes in the the city centre of Madrid, Habanera may look pretty, but one thing I will say is that it was a bit too ,dark inside. This puts me off a restaurant because I almost feel like they don’t want you to see what you are eating?!

This aside, the dishes at Habanera were tasty and the drinks were decent.

I tried a variety of dishes, starting with some tapas (obviously, when in Spain and all that). The burrata salad was fresh served with courgette, croutons and sun dried tomatoes, the flavours were a pleasant surprise.

I also ordered the potato omelette and crispy aubergine with hummus. Both dishes were tasty but the aubergine stood out for me, the drizzle of cane syrup gave it a real edge.

For mains, I chose Iberian pork with mushroom rice and a mushroom orzo risotto. The pork was a bit too salty for my liking, but the mushroom orzo was spot on.

Dessert was a creamy cheesecake, this was really good. Smooth, sweet and a nice ending to the night.

Food was tasty but service was a bit hit and miss. I know some basic Spanish, enough to get by, but when chatting to the staff I didn’t feel very welcome. This brings the rating down for me.

Would I go back? probably not. There are plenty of other worthy eateries in Madrid, but if you like an “instagrammable” location, this might be for you. Just take your torch!