On Agreement Street, in the Conde Duque area, between Noviciado and San Vicente Ferrer, there was for many years a long-established bar called El Chorrillo.. Its tin counter, with those geometric shapes that are so characteristic and so old, can still be touched and enjoyed.. Although now the name, the concept and its interior have completely changed.

Behind them are the guys from Kitchen 154, a reference in the most restless and unprejudiced Asian cuisine.. Experts in recipes from countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand or India. And from their base camp, in the Vallehermoso Market, where they opened nine years ago, they mark Madrid's passion for spicy food..

They are one of the best exponents of the diversity that can be found in our kitchens.. With Alejandro Zurdo, a resident of Puerta del Ángel, a medievalist by training and one of the great chefs of oriental gastronomy, who has been studying it for 25 years, traveling continuously to those countries that continue to stir his heart, as one of his best representatives.

Novitiate, the oriental bar

The spirit of El Chorrillo can still be felt on the walls and in the atmosphere of Kitchen 154. “We are very fond of bars, and upon entering here we noticed that El Chorrillo was very present,” confesses Zurdo, who we caught preparing some of the dishes that will be served at lunchtime.. “We tried to make a Southeast Asian cuisine menu but make it a bit like bar food”.

They have marinated anchovies that emulate those made on the coast of Sri Lanka, “with a lot of spices”. They also have a salad with fried cauliflower, “which I think is what we sell the most.”. What else do you have? “We have a bonito nam tok, which is a Thai salad. There is also a fried ear with a habanero sauce that is very good”.

When we chat with him he confesses that he is preparing a green curry with marinated chicken. “We try to make each one as different as possible and to be quite orthodox with what is done in Thailand.”. Of course they are spicy. We have managed to ensure that they have their acidic points, their sweet, salty, and spicy points,” he says..

Regarding the green they will have, he confesses that they have finally found a Thai basil, which has an aniseed touch: “Because actually Thai curries have much less cilantro than basil and we had to add cilantro because we couldn't find that basil.”.

Vallehermoso, the first to experience

About his flagship house, opened in 2014 in the Vallehermoso Market, he only has good words. They landed there out of necessity. “When we arrived in Vallehermoso there were very few things. About 75% of the stalls were closed and there were very few places that provided food,” he points out.. We settled because the price suited us, we could afford it.. And without having a very clear idea of what we wanted to do, we set up the restaurant there and it went very well”. And while they did well, in some way they also greatly energized the market, which today is one of the hot spots if we talk about eating well at reasonable prices.. With Batch, El 2, Tripea, Güey, Craft 19, Prost, Washoku or Drakkar.

“At first we started selling tacos, we focused on spicy and sous vide cooking. In the vacuum kitchen, which were not things that were seen too much at that time in Spain,” he recalls.. That was like the common thread.. Then spicy food led them towards more Southeast Asian cuisine.. “When we opened we continued making tacos, making dishes that were a little bit Southeast Asian, dishes that were a little bit Indian, a little bit from everywhere, whatever we wanted,” he says..

“The first things we took out when we had the restaurant were the ribs. “We had ribs, we had dumplings, we had tacos,” he continues to explain.. “We started playing more purely Thai or Southeastern dishes”. And what happened was that, naturally, the public began to opt for the more Southeast Asian dishes, “because I think that at that time, I also talk about a mythical place and time, 10 years ago, in which “Asian food in Madrid was 1% of what there is now”.

In this way they refined a recipe book with classics and innovated with preparations that went beyond the most conventional line. “We try to ensure that in all the establishments we have there are three dishes that are the same, that are more or less iconic.. The red shrimp curry, the ribs and the sweet chili wings, which have been with us since the beginning. They have always been there and are like our symbols”, lists those basics that one cannot ignore if visiting them for the first time..

Now, they also have an ear that they make in the wok with a chilli and ginger sauce. Also a yellow curry, a Thai curry with fried marinated dogfish. A fish that they fry in chickpea flour and put on top of the curry. “It has the Cádiz roll, let's say, the Andalusian roll, but we also put our things in it, we put garlic, ginger, we put coriander, we put some chili pepper in it,” he clarifies..

From their kitchen they also come out with a Sichuan eggplant and some crabs that are like chili crab with black pepper.. “And I think this month we are going to add some sautéed mussels with nam prik, which is a toasted chilli jam.”. We continue to hit it hard and change dishes often depending on the time we have”.

Off menu and Asian culture

The Kitchen menus and cards rotate regularly, as Alejandro comments, his enormous knowledge of different oriental cultures and cuisines allows him to play with all of it.. “The last trip I took was three and a half months,” highlights a man who has been visiting those countries for more than two decades.. “Everything has changed a lot. Before there wasn't this whole foodie movement, a word I don't like, so it was very easy to get into the kitchens, for people to invite you or give you recipes.”.

In any case, now his way of learning is very different, “I already have many more years of experience in the kitchen, so I don't need to get into the kitchen so much, but rather to take ideas.”. Zurdo travels and settles in cities for a long period: “I don't travel to see monuments. I'm just eating and I'm writing and I try to talk to people, I try to get to know them and they take me places.”.

Among the cities that he has visited and are fascinated by are Hanoi, Hue, Bangkok, or Penang. “The last thing I did was spend two weeks with an incredible chef, in the north of Thailand, in Chiang Mai, called Hanuman and who, well, is a reference for all the people who make Thai cuisine,” he confesses. one of the last courses you have received.

What will be in the future? “I want to make a Sri Lankan menu and put it here in the store. “I lived there for two years.”. And about the off-menu items, he confesses that he adds new things whenever he can: “Recently, before I went on a trip, we made stewed bacon with caramel and black pepper, which is a typical dish from Phuket, in Thailand.. We made a fried egg salad, Thai, jam kai dao. It is a very typical salad from there, which is made with a fairly crispy fried egg and then with a lot of herbs and fish sauce, lime, all that,” he explains. “We are also trying a sea bass in banana leaf, which is called ikan bakar, it is a Malaysian dish that is made with a chilli paste. I think we started releasing it this week. What do I know, with a lot of stories.”