Restaurant in Madrid, Spain
Serious meat, open fire, book ahead.
Lana is one of Madrid's most compelling Argentinian grill restaurants, with a Michelin Plate, a ranking on the World's 101 Best Steak Restaurants list, and a sharp upward trajectory on Opinionated About Dining. The open quebracho-wood grill, self-dry-aged beef from multiple breeds, and a serious Argentine-led wine list make it a clear booking for anyone serious about fire cooking. At €€€, it delivers more than its price tier suggests.
If you are choosing between Lana and Madrid's fire-cooking benchmark Smoked Room, the decision comes down to format. Smoked Room is a tasting menu experience at €€€€ pricing; Lana is an à la carte Argentinian asado at €€€, where the open grill anchors everything and you control the pace. For most diners, Lana gives you more flexibility, a more recognisable cuisine, and a room that rewards lingering over a bottle of Malbec. Book it.
Lana sits on Calle de Ponzano 59 in Chamberí, a neighbourhood known in Madrid for having more good restaurants per block than most cities manage in a postcode. The room is designed around fire. The open grill is visible from most seats, and the display case at the entrance holds the cuts available that day alongside the breed information: Aberdeen Angus, Wagyu, Hereford, Vaca Gallega. You know before you sit down what kind of restaurant this is and what the kitchen is proud of.
The ambient feel is warm without being loud. Dinner service has energy but stays on the right side of the noise threshold where conversation remains easy. The iron, wood, and exposed flame create a mood that is relaxed and purposeful at the same time. It is the kind of room where a two-hour lunch extends naturally to three without anyone feeling the pressure to leave, and where a dinner for a special occasion does not tip into stiffness. That balance is harder to achieve than it looks.
The kitchen is run by brothers Martín and Joaquín Narvaiz, who remain a visible presence in the dining room. The concept is rooted in Argentine parrilla tradition: beef dry-aged in-house, grilled over Argentine quebracho wood, with the smoke character and crust that wood-fire cooking produces and that gas or electric simply cannot replicate. The collection of artisanal knives on display is more than decoration; it signals the level of care applied to the whole cutting and serving process.
Menu architecture at Lana is not a tasting menu in the conventional sense, but it rewards the same kind of sequential attention. The right approach is to start with something from the kitchen before the main cut arrives. The beef tartare with bone marrow and the empanadas are documented highlights, and charred seasonal vegetables are treated with the same discipline as the proteins rather than as afterthoughts. Then the main event: choose your cut and breed, and specify your preferred cook. The staff explain the distinctions between breeds and aging durations with genuine depth, which means this is a restaurant where asking questions pays off.
Wine list is one of the strongest arguments for Lana over comparable fire-cooking venues in Madrid. Spanish and South American producers dominate, with Malbec selections from Argentina and Rioja offerings from Spain providing the structural backbone. There is also a growing selection of biodynamic and limited-production bottles for those who want to explore beyond the obvious pairings. The list works at multiple price points, which matters at €€€ pricing where the wine spend can easily shape the final bill.
Credentials are in place. Lana holds a Michelin Plate (2025), ranks #173 on the Opinionated About Dining Casual Europe list (2025, up from #129 in 2024 and Recommended in 2023), and appears in the World's 101 Best Steak Restaurants ranking. That trajectory matters more than the current position: this is a restaurant moving consistently in one direction. A Google rating of 4.8 across 1,205 reviews adds crowd-sourced confirmation to the critical recognition.
For context on where Lana fits in the wider Argentinian fire-cooking category, Los Fuegos by Francis Mallmann in Miami and Beba in Montreal occupy similar territory internationally. In Madrid specifically, Charrúa Madrid is the closest local alternative in the Argentinian grill category, though Lana's OAD ranking and award trajectory put it ahead on current evidence. Spain's broader fine-dining context includes reference points like El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Arzak in San Sebastián, and Azurmendi in Larrabetzu for those building a longer Spain itinerary.
Address: C/ de Ponzano, 59, Chamberí, 28003 Madrid. Hours: Monday to Saturday, lunch 1:30–3:30 pm, dinner 8:30–10:30 pm; closed Sunday. Price range: €€€. Booking difficulty: Easy — reservations are available with reasonable advance notice. Dress: Smart casual; the room is warm and polished but not formally dressed. Cuisine: Argentinian grill, self-dry-aged beef, open wood-fire cooking. Closed: Sundays.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Lana | €€€ | — |
| DiverXO | €€€€ | — |
| Coque | €€€€ | — |
| Deessa | €€€€ | — |
| Paco Roncero | €€€€ | — |
| Smoked Room | €€€€ | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
Lana's menu is built around meat and gaucho-style cooking, so the kitchen is not well-suited to vegetarian or vegan diners. The restaurant does serve charred seasonal vegetables and non-meat dishes, but these are secondary to the grill programme. Diners with specific allergies or restrictions should check the venue's official channels — no booking or dietary policy details are listed in available data.
For fire-focused tasting menus, Smoked Room is the direct contrast — structured and more formal versus Lana's à la carte grill format. For high-end Spanish cooking with Michelin recognition, Coque and Deessa both operate in Madrid at comparable or higher price points. If your priority is specifically Argentine beef and an open grill rather than a broader fine-dining experience, Lana has the clearest focus of the group.
Lana does not operate a tasting menu format — the experience is à la carte, built around a selection of premium cuts from breeds including Aberdeen Angus, Wagyu, Hereford, and Vaca Gallega, all grilled over Argentine quebracho wood. At €€€ pricing, this suits diners who want to choose their own cuts rather than follow a set progression. If a structured tasting menu is what you're after, Smoked Room is the Madrid fire-cooking alternative.
The meat is the focus: cuts from multiple breeds are displayed at the entrance and explained by staff, so use that briefing to guide your choice rather than arriving with a fixed order in mind. The Argentinian wine list, with its emphasis on Malbec and South American producers, is the natural pairing. Beyond meat, the kitchen also runs gaucho specialities and traditional Argentine dishes worth considering alongside your main selection.
The venue database does not confirm private dining or maximum group capacity. Given the tightly formatted service windows (two hours at lunch, two hours at dinner), larger groups should check the venue's official channels before assuming availability. Parties of four or more during peak Friday and Saturday dinner slots should book well in advance.
Yes, with the right expectations. Lana carries a Michelin Plate and ranked #129 on OAD Casual Europe in 2024, rising to #173 in 2025 — credentials that support a celebratory booking. The open-grill dining room, attentive service, and an extensive Argentine wine list create a strong occasion setting, as long as your group is happy with a meat-focused à la carte format rather than a tasting menu.
Both services run the same 1:30–3:30 pm and 8:30–10:30 pm slots Monday to Saturday, with no Sunday service. Lunch in Madrid's Chamberí tends to draw a local crowd and can be slightly easier to book; dinner is where the open-grill atmosphere comes into its own as an evening focal point. For a first visit, dinner makes the most of the room and the fire.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
