What it costs
Luxury Restaurant in Madrid: What You Are Actually Paying For
Four closed prices, from €158 to €228 per person, published before you book. This is what sits inside that figure, broken into its parts.
Why a vegetable menu costs what it costs
- 01Four published prices, per person: Vegetalia €158, Gastrobotánica €168, and their Experience versions at €218 and €228
- 02More than fifteen courses per menu, and the menu is rebuilt every week around the season: there is no fixed repertoire to amortise
- 03The Experience versions carry the pairing inside the price, with water, bread, a cheese service and liqueurs: no second bill at the end
- 04Expensive vegetables are not expensive by the kilo but by the hours: long ferments, reduced stocks and species that never reach a market stall
- 05No à la carte and no extras: what you reserve is what you pay, and the amount is confirmed before the card is given
There is no per-dish supplement, no corkage and no service charge: the figure you see is the figure on the bill.
The four prices, and what each one includes
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SPEC. 01
Vegetalia — €158 per person
Pure plant cuisine: more than fifteen courses of vegetables and mushrooms, served 100% plant-based. It suits vegan and vegetarian guests as it comes. Animal protein can be added as seasoning if you prefer.
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SPEC. 02
Gastrobotánica — €168 per person
The omnivore line: more than fifteen courses of vegetables and mushrooms with fish and meat inside the menu. It is not adapted to a vegetarian version.
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SPEC. 03
Vegetalia Experience — €218 per person
All of Vegetalia plus water, bread, a cheese service, liqueurs and the pairing included, chosen between wines, cocktails or house fermented drinks.
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SPEC. 04
Gastrobotánica Experience — €228 per person
The same on the omnivore line. It is the full sequence of the house and the one most often given as a gift card.
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SPEC. 05
What is not charged separately
No per-dish supplement, no corkage, no service charge and no parallel menu. The amount is confirmed in the booking engine before the card is given.
How to compare with other expensive restaurants in Madrid
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SPEC. 01
Compare the total, not the headline
A €140 menu without drinks can end up above a €218 one with the pairing included. The useful question is what leaves the table once the bill is paid.
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SPEC. 02
Check whether the price is published
Ours are, all four, on each menu's booking page and before you reserve. A price that only appears once you are seated forces the decision at the worst possible moment.
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SPEC. 03
Ask how often the menu changes
A menu rebuilt every week costs more to produce than one that lasts the season. It is also why two visits are never the same meal.
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SPEC. 04
Count the time at the table
Around two hours, in two fixed sittings. If you want a long dinner with nothing after it, the later sitting is the one to take.
Questions about the price
How much does dinner cost at El Invernadero?
From €158 to €228 per person, depending on the menu: Vegetalia €158, Gastrobotánica €168, Vegetalia Experience €218 and Gastrobotánica Experience €228. All four prices are published and confirmed in the engine before payment.
Are drinks extra?
On the base menus, yes. On the Experience versions the pairing is inside the price, along with water, bread, a cheese service and liqueurs, and it is chosen between wines, cocktails or house fermented drinks.
Why does a vegetable menu cost that much?
Because the value is manufactured rather than bought: ferments that take weeks, stocks reduced over hours, and species that never reach the usual market circuit. And because the menu is rebuilt every week, so there is no repertoire to amortise.
Is there a service charge or corkage?
No. No per-dish supplement, no corkage and no service charge. What you reserve is what you pay.
Can I eat more cheaply by taking fewer courses?
No. There are only tasting menus, with no à la carte and no individual plates, and the menu is chosen for the whole table: everyone at one table takes the same one.
What happens if I cancel?
Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before, by phone or email. Cancelling later, or not turning up, carries a charge of €90 per person booked, except in justified cases of force majeure. With a gift card the consequence is different: the card is voided.
Is this the most expensive restaurant in Madrid?
No, and we would rather say so. There are tables in this city that cost considerably more. What we can tell you is exactly what our four figures include, which is the part that usually goes unsaid.
There is a widespread assumption that cooking vegetables is cheap, which is why a €158 plant menu unsettles people more than a €158 meat menu does. It is worth explaining, because anyone about to spend that deserves to know where it goes.
The first answer is labour. A gastrobotánica course is not solved by putting an expensive ingredient in the middle of the plate: it is built from ferments that take weeks, vegetable stocks reduced over hours, and technique applied vegetable by vegetable.
Where another kitchen buys its value in a noble cut or the day's catch, this one manufactures it. That is hours of work, and labour is the large chapter in any restaurant at this level.
The second is the pantry. A good part of what comes through this door never passes through the usual market circuit: it is grown to order or sourced from small producers, and its price has nothing to do with seasonal vegetables at a supermarket.
Because the menu is rebuilt every week around whatever is alive at that moment, there is none of the saving that comes from repeating a repertoire all year. Each week is redesigned, retested and recosted.
The third is what you cannot see: a small dining room, two sittings and a fixed number of covers per service. Produce is bought, cleaned and prepared for the places in the book, so there is no volume to spread the cost across.
In exchange, the price is closed and published — four figures, no supplements, no corkage, no service charge. What you reserve is what you pay.
Luxury restaurant in Madrid: the price, taken apart
Searching for a luxury restaurant in Madrid returns lists of expensive places and almost never an explanation of where the money goes. Here is ours, with the four figures in the open.
The four prices, published
Vegetalia at €158 per person, Gastrobotánica at €168, Vegetalia Experience at €218 and Gastrobotánica Experience at €228. Each has its own booking channel with the amount visible before the card is given. No per-dish supplement, no corkage, no service charge.
What the Experience versions add
The pairing inside the price, plus water, bread, a cheese service and liqueurs. The drinks are chosen between the wine sequence, the house cocktail pairing and the house fermented drinks. That is the difference between a closed figure and a bill that grows at the end of the night.
Seguir leyendoWhy vegetables are not cheap at this level · Comparing with other high end restaurants in Madrid
Why vegetables are not cheap at this level
It is the question we are asked most, and it has three answers.
The value is made, not bought
Where another kitchen pays for a noble cut, this one pays for hours: ferments that take weeks, vegetable stocks reduced over hours, technique applied vegetable by vegetable. Labour is the large chapter in any high end restaurant, and in a plant kitchen it is almost the whole bill.
A pantry that is not the market's
Much of what arrives here is grown to order or sourced from small producers. Gastrobotánica was born precisely from bringing to haute cuisine species that do not travel the usual circuit, and that produce has its price.
A menu rewritten every week
The menu changes with what the season gives and never falls below fifteen courses. Redesigning, testing and recosting every week costs more than repeating a repertoire all year. It is also why two visits are never the same meal.
Comparing with other high end restaurants in Madrid
Three questions that order the list better than the headline price.
The total with drinks inside
A €140 menu without a pairing can finish above a €218 one that includes it. Compare what leaves the table with the bill paid, not the figure in the window.
Whether the price is published before you book
Ours is, on each menu's page. A price that only appears once you are seated forces the decision at the worst possible moment.
How long the table is yours
Around two hours, in two fixed sittings at 19:00 and 21:30 from Tuesday to Saturday and public holidays, and at 14:00 on Saturdays and public holidays. Knowing it beforehand avoids the one disappointment that has nothing to do with the cooking.
