Restaurant in Madrid, Spain
Salamanca's strongest case for serious Chinese food.
China Crown is Madrid's clearest recommendation for quality Chinese cooking at an accessible price. The Salamanca restaurant holds a Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025, with a menu spanning dim sum, Sichuan-spiced dishes, and a signature lacquered Peking duck. At the €€ price tier, it delivers Michelin-recognised cooking without the spend of the city's starred venues.
If you are looking for a Chinese restaurant in Madrid that goes beyond generic dishes and delivers the kind of cooking that earns Michelin recognition, China Crown is the right call. It works particularly well for a mid-week dinner with someone who appreciates regional Chinese cooking, or for a group that wants to share multiple dishes without the ceremony of a tasting-menu-only format. At the €€ price point, it is also one of the more accessible ways to eat at a Michelin Plate level in the Salamanca district, where most of the noteworthy restaurants run considerably higher bills. Tourists staying in the area and food-focused travellers who want to explore Chinese cuisine beyond the usual Madrid options will find this a worthwhile stop.
China Crown sits on Calle de Don Ramón de la Cruz, 6, in the Salamanca district — one of the busiest commercial stretches in Madrid. The restaurant holds a Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025, a signal that the guide's inspectors consider the cooking here worth a detour. It is run by siblings María Li Bao and Felipe Bao, and the room takes its visual cues from Far Eastern design , expect considered décor rather than the utilitarian fit-out common to mid-range Chinese restaurants in European cities. The Google rating sits at 4.5 from over 1,349 reviews, which at that volume indicates consistent performance rather than a lucky spike.
The menu spans Imperial Chinese references alongside Sichuan-influenced dishes. Documented highlights include bao buns and dim sum, Yuxiang-style aubergines, spicy diced chicken with chilli and cashews in Sichuan sauce, and the restaurant's centrepiece: lacquered Peking duck. The à la carte is extensive, and a tasting menu is available for those who want the kitchen to sequence the meal. The Peking duck alone is a reason to visit , this is a dish that demands precision at every stage, from the air-drying to the roasting, and it is the dish the restaurant has publicly positioned as its signature. If your group has the appetite, the combination of dim sum and Peking duck covers the range of what the kitchen does leading.
The menu's breadth across regional Chinese styles , Cantonese-adjacent dim sum, Sichuan spicing, Yuxiang technique , is unusual for Madrid, where most Chinese restaurants default to a generalised Cantonese-Mandarin offering. For an explorer focused on the depth of Chinese regional cooking, the menu here gives you genuine variety to work with.
Michelin entry describes a room with Far Eastern-inspired décor, and the format accommodates both table dining and, depending on configuration, closer counter or bar positions. For solo diners or pairs who want to watch the kitchen rhythm rather than settle into a full table service experience, asking about counter or bar seating at the time of booking is worth doing. In Chinese restaurants operating at this level, counter access often provides a better vantage point for the Peking duck carving , a dish that benefits from being seen as well as eaten. The visual element of the lacquering and the tableside preparation is part of what you are paying for, and positioning yourself to see it adds to the experience rather than just the meal.
China Crown occupies a specific gap in Madrid's dining map. Among Chinese restaurants in the city at this quality tier, it faces limited direct competition. The Michelin Plate puts it in a credible position without the price escalation of starred venues. For context at the international level, restaurants like Restaurant Tim Raue in Berlin and Mister Jiu's in San Francisco represent what Chinese cooking at a fine-dining standard looks like in other markets , China Crown operates in a comparable register for Madrid, without the price point of either.
Madrid's most discussed creative restaurants , DiverXO, DSTAgE, Coque, Paco Roncero , all run at €€€€ and require planning weeks or months ahead. China Crown is a different decision entirely: easier to book, lower spend, and focused on a cuisine category none of those restaurants occupy. It is not a substitute for Deessa if you want modern Spanish, but if Chinese cooking is what you are after, it is the clearest recommendation in the city at this level.
Address: Calle de Don Ramón de la Cruz, 6, Salamanca, 28001 Madrid. Reservations: Booking difficulty is rated Easy , walk-ins may be possible but calling or booking online in advance is sensible given the Michelin recognition. Budget: €€, making it one of the more accessible Michelin Plate options in the Salamanca district. Group size: The à la carte format works well for groups of two to six who want to share; the tasting menu suits pairs or smaller groups. Dress: Smart casual is appropriate for the Salamanca setting. Getting there: The Salamanca district is well-served by Madrid metro , Velázquez and Goya stations are both within walking distance of this address.
If China Crown works for you as a quality benchmark in Madrid, the city has a broader dining scene worth mapping. See our full Madrid restaurants guide, our full Madrid hotels guide, our full Madrid bars guide, our full Madrid wineries guide, and our full Madrid experiences guide for fuller coverage. For those building a wider Spanish trip around serious restaurants, benchmark comparisons include Quique Dacosta in Dénia, El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Arzak in San Sebastián, Azurmendi in Larrabetzu, Martin Berasategui in Lasarte-Oria, and Cocina Hermanos Torres in Barcelona.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| China Crown | €€ | — |
| DiverXO | €€€€ | — |
| DSTAgE | €€€€ | — |
| Smoked Room | €€€€ | — |
| Paco Roncero | €€€€ | — |
| Coque | €€€€ | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
The lacquered Peking duck is the documented signature dish and the clearest reason to book a table. Beyond that, the Yuxiang-style aubergines and the spicy diced chicken with chilli and cashews in Sichuan sauce are the standout main dishes. If you want to graze, the bao buns and dim sum work well as a starter run. There is also a tasting menu if you want the kitchen to make the decisions.
The Michelin record describes a room with Far Eastern-inspired décor that accommodates both table dining and closer counter-style seating depending on configuration. Specific bar-seating availability is not confirmed in available data, so call ahead if that format matters to your visit. For a guaranteed seat, a reservation is the safer call.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy, so you are unlikely to need weeks of lead time the way you would at a full Michelin-starred room like DiverXO. That said, China Crown sits in one of Madrid's busiest commercial corridors in Salamanca and holds two consecutive Michelin Plates, so weekends and dinner slots will fill faster than lunch midweek. A few days' notice is reasonable; same-day may be possible but is not guaranteed.
At the €€ price range, yes — this is one of the clearer value cases in Madrid's dining map. Two consecutive Michelin Plates at mid-range pricing puts it in a different tier from the generic Chinese options in the city, and the à la carte format means you control the spend. If you are comparing it to a full tasting-menu investment at somewhere like Smoked Room, the format and price point are entirely different; China Crown is the call when you want quality without committing to a long multi-course evening.
The menu covers significant ground — dim sum, bao buns, vegetable-forward dishes like the Yuxiang aubergines, and meat-centred mains — so there is range across the à la carte. Specific allergy or dietary accommodation policies are not documented in available data. check the venue's official channels at the Calle de Don Ramón de la Cruz, 6 address to confirm before booking if this is a hard requirement.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
