For students rooted in Manhattan, it might be easy to take Chinatown’s authentic bites and late-night spots for granted. But if you’re currently thinking about studying abroad, you may be surprised to learn that Madrid has a Chinatown of its own that’s also just a public transit ride away from the city’s NYU campus. While students abroad may miss those bright lights and the familiar buzz of Canal Street, Madrid’s Chinatown delivers a lineup of spots that prove you don’t have to give up those comforting meals when you leave Manhattan behind.

If one were to ask a Madrid local where their Chinatown is, they would likely point south to the district of Usera, a neighborhood with many Chinese restaurants and a subway stop in the middle. Yet another, smaller, less recognized Chinatown exists closer to the center of Madrid, near Plaza de España, Calle de San Bernardo and Calle Gran Vía, one of Madrid’s main drags. Here are some spots to check out in Madrid’s official and unofficial Chinatowns if you’re missing the iconic culinary ecosystem of Manhattan’s Chinatown.

Chila

C. de Silva, 4

In the middle of this concentration of Chinese restaurants in central Madrid sits Mercado de Los Mostenses, an indoor marketplace where Chila is located. Serving Hunan cuisine, Chila has a modern, business-casual interior. Versatile, it can be a date spot, a place to go with your partner’s family or with a regular menagerie of school friends on a Friday night. What distinguishes Hunanese cuisine from other Chinese cuisines is its xiang la, a fragrant, spicy flavor profile achieved by using fewer peppercorns when preparing chili peppers, giving the food a stronger aromatic character. At Chila, make sure to order Mao’s Favorite Pork Belly (€15), a dish of strictly fat cubes of pork belly, in which you can see the striations of muscle and fat as if they were the side of sandstone. Other must-gets include Juicy Pig’s Head Meat with Chili Peppers (€12) and the stir-fried beef slices (€15). The melt-in-your-mouth flavor of the pork and the gamey chewiness of the beef slices juxtapose well, texture-wise.

Restaurante De Sichuan

C. del Caballero de Gracia, 8

While not exactly located in the unofficial Chinatown, Restaurante De Sichuan is still right off Calle Gran Via. Like Chila, this spot is a tad pricier than your average Chinese takeout-and-dine-in establishment, but like any Sichuan dish, it gets the job done by numbing your mouth. Mala is a popular, pungent seasoning profile used in Sichuan cuisine that creates a tingling, spicy taste, attained through the heavy use of Sichuan peppercorns. To get the most out of this sensation at Restaurante De Sichuan, start with the crispy duck (€13.90); its thinly sliced, crunchy exterior and juicy interior will warm the palate for dishes denser with Sichuan peppercorns, such as the stir-fried spicy chicken (€12.90) and spicy Iberian pork loin (€14.90). Make sure to go with a group of people because the food at Restaurante De Sichuan is meant to be shared.

Restaurante Hong Kong 70

C. de Nicolás Sánchez, 11

Transitioning to Usera, Restaurante Hong Kong 70 is a traditional Cantonese restaurant, complete with neon lights, movie posters of Jackie Chan and Wong Kar-wai’s “In the Mood for Love” and a laminated menu covering each table. For €10.50, one can enjoy both the soup of the day and the char siu honey-glazed roast pork. In just a few minutes, you’ll be served a bowl with thin slices of gleaming pork, mounds of bright green cabbage, a hard-boiled egg and some collard greens, all orbiting a ball of rice with a touch of soy sauce drizzled on top. I recommend leaving out the egg white, mixing the egg yolk into the rice and then combining the pork and vegetables to create a nice blend of textures in each bite. Students should come here if they want to reminisce about the classic Cantonese roast pork over rice that is available on every corner in New York City’s Chinatown. Plus, the movie poster decor will educate one on the vast array of quality films that have been produced in Hong Kong.

Jin Yun Shao Bing

C. de Nicolás Sánchez, 59

Just a five-minute walk from Restaurante Hong Kong 70 is Jin Yun Shao Bing, which specializes in its namesake — a stuffed flatbread originating in northern China. Chinese cuisine has a unique way of meshing with whichever atmosphere it finds itself in, and this restaurant has adapted to its Spanish surroundings by naming jin yun shao bing “tortas” on its menu. After conversing with the owners, they pointed me in the direction of the classic torta jinyun (€2.75), which is filled with pork, grilled onions and dried fermented vegetables that appear black. Its flavor is the most distinctive among the Chinese dishes I’ve had in Madrid. More akin to Central Asian food in taste profile — which makes sense given northern China’s geographical proximity to Mongolia — the torta has no spice. Still, the dried fermented veggies, paired with the sesame seeds sprinkled into the dough, add complexity to the pork’s straight saltiness. Wash it all down with a Tsingtao (€2.50), a popular Chinese beer with a light, crisp profile that complements any variety of Chinese cuisine.

Contact Aidan Levin at [email protected].