Despite Ajenjo Café’s veiled windows and modest location, it’s well on Madrid’s beaten track; it’s appeared in several newspapers (e.g. El País), magazines (e.g. Vogue) and guidebooks (e.g. Lonely Planet). With all this attention, surely there’s a catch, yet somehow Ajenjo Café has kept its charm, dignity and low footfall.
I’ve been running this place since 1978, and the carrot cake is still the best in Madrid – my wife makes it. I used to get up to 200 people in here a day – you couldn’t move! I had to hire three waiters to manage the place! Now it’s just me. Malasaña has changed a lot. It’s always changing, but people still come to me because they love it here.”
The dust may have settled in Ajenjo Café but, with nearly 40 years under its belt, the place has developed a ghostly charm that fills your head with visions of its heyday: literati movers and shakers are waving cocktails at each other over the marble tabletops while Helios and his waiters jaunt through the labyrinth of rooms keeping the thinkers inspired (inebriated with Pilsner Urquell). The swing music and silver-print photos of family and old regulars add to this haunting vibe, especially the one of Helios’s parents that takes prime position above the snug.
CAKE AND TEA
The carrot cake is as good as Helios built it up to be, but he skilfully left out a couple of surprises: it came with two homemade shortbread biscuits, and my pot of black tea was spiced. By the time I noticed the cardamom and cloves perfusing my aura, Helios was already gesturing towards his tea selection behind the bar.
I choose the finest teas for Ajenjo Café. I don’t necessarily know what they are, but I know they’re the best.
This was all followed by a highly unpredicted shot of crema de orujo and I’m just glad I happened to have my camera with me that afternoon…
INFO
- Address: C/ Galerías de Robles, 4
- Nearest metro: Bilbao & San Bernado
- Opening hours: Mon-Fri: 3.30 pm–1.30 am / Sat-Sun: 3 pm-2.30 am
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