Miranda & Suizo Café

The Miranda café

The café is on the ground floor of the Hotel Miranda & Suizo, on calle Floridablanca, a few metres from the Royal Monastery. In the town they call it "El Miranda", and the hotel itself describes itself as the oldest hotel establishment in San Lorenzo. Its history begins in the 19th century: part of the building was the Fonda de San Luis in 1846, and later Isidro Miranda turned the old Casa de Comediantes into a guesthouse. According to the hotel, Isabel II spent a night at that inn on her way into exile, and the young Isaac Albéniz played his first compositions here.

The dining room keeps that air: dark wood, high ceilings, chandeliers and stained-glass windows onto the street. It is a place to sit down without hurry.

What to order

The classic is the hot chocolate with picatostes (fried bread fingers), a house recipe more than twenty years old that everyone in the town knows. It is the afternoon snack that ends many monastery Sundays.

It also serves raciones (sharing plates), tostas, sandwiches, pastries and cakes. Breakfasts are generous, with sweet and savoury options and also hot dishes, with coffee, juices and herbal teas. The website does not publish prices.

Opening hours

It opens every day from 8:00 to 22:00. From Sunday to Thursday the kitchen closes at 21:30; Friday and Saturday, at 22:00. Since it opens early and does not close at midday, it works both for breakfast before going into the monastery and for a drink in the middle of the afternoon or a light supper.

If you are after a full meal, the hotel also has a glass-walled restaurant serving seasonal market cuisine, with a menu that changes with the season, open every day from 13:00 to 15:30; for dinners, ask at reception.

Before you go

The hotel accepts pets for a supplement; in the café, ask when you arrive. Telephone: 918 90 47 11.

From here everything is within walking distance. In the morning you can see the monastery and the Friars' Garden; in the afternoon, go down to the Casita del Príncipe or up to Philip II's Seat, and come back for an afternoon snack. If you come by car, see the car parks in the centre.