Healthy Eats of NYU Madrid
By Sydney Cheng
Food is one of the best ways to experience the culture of a country, and there are tons of new foods to try. It’s so irresistible: after all, when’s the next time you’ll find yourself in Brussels, Prague, or Florence again? The struggle of the “study-abroad-15” is no joke. If you thought the freshman 15 was difficult, study abroad is even worse. Personally, the way I handled this problem was by eating healthy at home--at NYU Madrid—in order to give myself a little more room to splurge when I visited other countries. More importantly, I found a significant increase in my mood and well-being when I was mindful of trying to eat more unprocessed, healthy foods! That being said, here is my list of healthy eats I tried in Madrid!
1. Avohaus
Avohaus is a trendy, avocado themed restaurant just up the block from school. While the aesthetics and neon lights are appealing, I found the food to be sub-par. The menu del día, the lower priced, three-course weekday menu, typically offered in Madrid, cost 13 euros. The appetizer consisted of four raw tomato slices topped with fresh mozzarella, avocado puree, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper. Charlotte chose soup as an appetizer: it was an over-salted green puree with a pile of arugula on top. My entree consisted of a bland piece of steak, almost-raw onions, and four measly slices of warm avocado. The chicken entree ordered by my friend, Charlotte, was strangely rubbery: as if it wasn’t real chicken, even though it was (or was supposed to be). Dessert was one scoop of avocado ice cream and one scoop of chocolate ice cream. Overall, I found the ice cream to be the most exciting part of the meal. Everything else was extremely underwhelming.
Ratings:
Worth it: 2/5
Flavor: 2/5
Service: 5/5, no complaints
2. Aliño Take Away
Aliño is a no-frills healthy food restaurant, also close to campus. As part of the menu del día, you can choose a drink, appetizer, and entree. For drink, Charlotte and I both chose the lemonade. It had no sugar, and tasted like a mildly sweet lemon water, which I really appreciated, since I’m not a fan of super sugary drinks. For appetizer, I got a bowl of lentils, as pictured, and Charlotte got hummus. For entree, Charlotte and I both ordered chicken with roasted vegetables. Overall, the food was pretty basic, but good. If I remember correctly, the entire meal was about 6 euros, making this meal definitely worth the price.
Ratings:
Worth: 5/5
Flavor: 3/5
Service: 5/5, no complaints
3. Ohanasana
Ohanasana has a wide variety of offerings, including desserts both with and without added sugar, acai bowls, smoothies, wraps, healthy tapas, healthy salad bowls, and more. My go-to is the Elton John Wrap, which includes chicken, goat cheese, dried cranberries, and spinach. It costs about 7 euros, and comes with yucca chips. The food, while it may not be fully natural, since a lot of their food has dressings and some processed toppings, is decently priced. Their service, however, fluctuates. Sometimes the service is good, but other times, it can take me 30 minutes just to get the bill.
Ratings:
Worth: 3.5/5
Flavor: 3.5/5
Service: 4/5
4. Roots Lamarca
Roots reminds me a lot of Dig Inn. I’ve only ordered warm bowls from Roots: you can choose a base, sides, toppings, and dressings. I love roots because the ingredients taste wholesome, as if I had cooked them myself. The pesto was so delicious! The chicken and quinoa were also good sources of protein. Furthermore, although the price was a bit steeper at about 14 euros, the portion was so big that I ate the rest of it for lunch the next day. Roots also offers a selection of desserts made without added sugar, acai bowls, and smoothies.
Ratings:
Worth: 4/5
Flavor: 5/5
Service: 5/5, no complaints
5. Honest Greens
Honest Greens is like the Sweetgreen of Madrid. But one salad doesn’t cost an arm and a leg: the price of Honest Greens salad starts from 6.90 euros, and you have the option of adding different proteins and other toppings. The sweet potato fries are BOMB: crispy, healthy (air-fried!), salty, and sweet. The ingredients are vibrant, fresh, and locally sourced. However, the lines can get incredibly long during lunch time and on weekends, so it’s best to go on off-hours.
Ratings:
Worth: 5/5
Flavor: 4/5
Service: 5/5, no complaints
6. Big Little Café
Although this isn’t a traditional healthy place, but rather a cafe, there are many healthy and vegetarian options on the menu. The ambiance in this cafe is wonderful for studying, chilling, or meeting with friends. I ordered a plate of roasted vegetables with beet hummus. It cost about 10 euros.
Ratings:
Worth: 4/5
Flavor: 3/5
Service: 5/5, no complaints
7. La Hummuseria
La Hummuseria has my favorite menu del dia out of all the places listed. The mint lemonade tastes like a delicious sangria (except without alcohol) with natural cane sugars. The vegetarian tapas are creative and yummy. I like the roasted figs stuffed with goat cheese and the roasted sweet potatoes with oranges. The hummus is filling and a good source of protein, served with pillowy soft pitas. The dessert was a delicious brownie-like banana bread. Although it is on the more expensive side, costing about 13 euros, the portion and quality is worth the price.
Ratings:
Worth: 4.5/5
Flavor: 5/5
Service: 5/5, no complaints
8. Batavia Healthy Foods
Batavia Healthy Foods is like the lower quality, lower cost sister of Roots. The depth of flavor is not as profound. First, the lettuce in my salmon bowl wasn’t very fresh, and the flavors did not go very well together, since the bowl consisted of smoked salmon, lettuce, quinoa and tzatziki dressing. Also, I got a carrot cake for dessert. The cream cheese frosting was good, but the cake tasted heavily of baking soda. The bowl itself cost about 11 euros.
Ratings:
Worth: 4/5
Flavor: 3/5
Service: 5/5, no complaints
9. Frutas Prohibidas
I ordered an acai bowl from this place. Charlotte’s pitaya bowl, pictured, came out almost immediately, whereas I was kept waiting. After waiting for a while, I saw one worker walk outside to the grocery store, and he came back with a box of chocolate cereal from across the street. Then, another customer came in, and her order was fulfilled before mine! The chain of command is highly inefficient, and the bowl wasn’t that great either: the texture of the acai bowl was too soupy and thin.
Ratings:
Worth: 3/5
Flavor: 4/5
Service: 2/5
10. Restaurante Xanacuk
Prices are pretty low here: a wrap would cost about 5 euros. They also sell pre-made noodle bowls, which they pop into the microwave before serving. Their acai bowls are really delicious, with a lot of toppings and costing less than 10 euros. However, the quality of the rest of the food doesn’t seem very high.
Ratings:
Worth: 4/5
Flavor: 4/5
Service: 5/5, no complaints
There are endless healthy options for food in Madrid, and I hope that this guide has been of help to you. Catch me on Instagram @thesilkbowtie to see my other eats and bakes!