Being the capital of Spain makes Madrid one of the best places in the country to try a variety of Spanish cuisine. The tapas and bar scene is great here. It might not have the beach like Barcelona, but the architecture is beautiful, it’s incredibly clean for a capital city and it’s pedestrian friendly/easy to get around.
📝 It’s only €30 from the airport to town and take around 30 minutes, depending on traffic.
📝 Taxis in general are pretty cheap, as is Uber & Bolt.
📝 Scooters & eBikes are great way to get around. There are loads of bike paths. Download your apps ahead of time.
📝 Drinking: 1862 Dry Bar for cocktails. For old school Spanish bars checkout La Dolores, La Venencia & Taberna de Angel Sierra. Casa Camacho for a yayos (vermut with gin & soda).
📝 Overall Madrid isn’t known for its pastries, but if you are in search of a place open early for a quick pastry and coffee in central Madrid then La MallorquinaI is the place to go.
📝 DO NOT go to El Doble. You might get recommended to go there or read about it on other guides but prices have gone up ridiculously over the last year. They are greedy scam artists charging more than double the standard price. This is why the Google score has dropped to 3.9. If they charged normal prices they might have been my favourite spot in town.
1. Bodega de la Ardosa
📍Universidad
One place you’ll find on almost everybody’s Madrid list is Bodega de la Ardosa (est 19882). It’s got to be one of the most beautiful bars in town from the front. For some reason, they only serve Pilsner Urquell & Guinness here instead of Mahou, but they do have Spanish vermouth on tap too. The Guinness is poured completely wrong but I’ve definitely tasted worse. In terms of food the tortilla de patatas & salmorejo (cold tomato soup topped with hard-boiled egg and jamon) are crowd favourites. The artichokes are great too. The place has a great vibe. I love that to get to the back of the bar you have to crawl under the counter. Open 09:00/10:00 – 01:30/02:30 daily.
2. El Boquerón
📍 Embajadores
A near-one-hundred year-old tavern that specialises in seafood in central Madrid. Try the cigala (langoustines) spider crab, carabineros and gambas.
3. Sala de Despiece
📍Almagro
Sala de Despiece (est 2013) – An old butcher shop turned meat-focused restaurant. Dishes are built in front of you and served on paper-lined metal trays. The menu changes often but some of the highlights for me were the Rolex (foie gras & egg yolk wrapped in Serrano ham fat & touched), the baccala & the fruit basked. The tasting menu is only €48 and you can built to it if you are very hungry. It’s incredible value. Service is great too. If you are planning a trip to Madrid then book a table now as it’s difficult to get a table.
4. Bar Santurce
📍 Embajadores
Everybody goes to Bar Santurce for the grilled sardinias and padrón peppers. We also ordered boquerones (anchovies), calamares & bravas. I love a simple menu like this – just doing a few items well. Great fresh seafood at great prices.
5. La Castela
📍 Ibiza
Established in 1989. Go for seafood. They serve a good selection of fresh shellfish, seafood rice and the milhoja ventresca (millefeuille belly) – a tower made of tuna belly, grilled peppers in vinegar, olive tapenade and topped with a soft goats cheese. The massive vermut collection behind the bar is impressive and the cañas (draft beers) are crisp.
6. Casa Revuelta
📍Sol
If you’re bar hopping in the city center be sure to add the tajada de bacalao (fried baccala) at Casa Revuelta to your list. Just off Plaza Mayor, this is great spot for an ice cold beer or vermut and quick snack.
7. Casa Dani
📍Salamanca
Another restaurant that is contending for the best tortilla in the city. They make more than 200 of them a day.
8. Takos
📍Sol
Tacos here range from €1-€1.50 and are probably some of the best I’ve had outside of Mexico or the US. Al Pastor, suadero, arrachero, cochinita pibil – everything is good here. They come served on a fresh corn tortilla. Some of the quesadillas looked great too.
9. Casa Macareno
📍Universidad
Casa Macareno (est 1920) describe themselves as renovated Spanish tradition. It’s a beautiful bodega inside and out and great for an early evening drink. All the Instagram photos were of the patatas bravas for good reason. Order the bravas.
10. Hermanos Vinagre
📍 Justicia
A great bar for pre-dinner cañas or vermuts. Hermanos Vinagre brings a modern twist to Madrid bar snacks; escabeche ahumado (mussels with smoked brine) is served in giant mussels and Russian salad in a Russian doll.
11. Chocolatería San Gines
Probably the most famous churro cafe in Spain. The walls are decorated with photos of visiting celebrities. Here they serve churros and porras (a thicker churro) with a thick chocolate sauce. Open 24 hours.
12. El Cisne Azul
📍 Justicia
El Cisne Azul specialise in all the varieties of mushrooms that grow around Spain. They serve them fried and topped with salt only to allow the the flavours to come through. I liked the courgettes with flowers too. I didn’t have the steak but it looked great. This is a sit-down restaurant, not a tapas bar, so prices are a little higher but the dishes are beautiful.
📍 Cortes
13. La Venencia
An old-school sherry bar where the waiters keep track of what you are drinking by chalking it on the counter. It was supposed to have been a visited often by Hemingway. You’ll notice there are a lot of ‘no photos’ signs around the bar – the photo ban was put into place during the Franco era because spies captured their enemies on film here. The only choice of drink here is sherry; Fino, manzanilla, palo cortado, amontillado, and oloroso.
14. La Campana
📍Sol
One of the most popular snacks in Madrid is a calamari sandwich and a popular place to get ones is La Campana. Open 10:00 – 23:00 daily.
📍 Barrio de La Latina
15. Juana La Loca
A busy restaurant in La Latina serving modern tapas dishes. The tortilla de patata, heavy with caramelised onions, is one of the most popular items here, and spoken as one of the best in the city. This place is very popular so if you haven’t made a reservation then make sure you show early, or you’ll be left fighting for a space at the bar.
16. Taberna de Ángel Sierra
📍 Justicia
A stunning old bar open open from 12:00-02:30 everyday. Go for drinks, not food. Great beer and vermut on tap.
17. La Dolores
📍Cortes
A beautiful bar in Cortes open from 11:00-midnight daily. Great beers and cold tapas and pintxos dishes.
James Dimitri 