This is the emblematic Malasaña hang-out, packed at weekends and drowsily mellow in the afternoons, with a tiled bar and engraved mirrors, nicotine-stained walls and lazily...

A tiny local bar with a lovely old tiled exterior (confusingly marked No.58) and walls lined with bottles of wine. There are especially good patatas bravas and fried pigs'...

The belle époque interior is entirely fake yet entirely convincing, making this one of the most peaceful and elegant spots to flick through the newspapers or recover from the...

A quintessential point of reference in the city's café society, the Bellas Artes is utterly elegant. Under new ownership, it is now free to enter at lunchtime for the menú del...

Still charming after all these years, this is Madrid's definitive literary café, open since 1888. It still holds poetry tertulias on Monday nights, and publishes a magazine...

An elegant shrine to Isadora Duncan, with a chequered floor, marble-topped tables and an eerie collection of prints of 'that scarf', alongside frequently changing exhibitions....

Stacked to the rafters with board games, Café Manuela has been a hive of activity since the Movida days. Its handsome art nouveau decor and conveniently nicotine-coloured walls...

Escape from the beer-crawl route that is Huertas by slipping into this superb jazz club. There's no cover charge, but the drinks are a bit pricey. A strong backer of Spanish...

One of the city's most evocative old tabernas, hung with oil paintings and presided over by a septuagenarian. It still has its old zinc bar complete with running water trough...

A tiny jewel among tapas bars, with wonderful tiling inside and out. The tapas are mainly from Galicia, with lots of octopus, gammon, pig's ear and, of course, caldo gallego,...

A restaurant unsurpassed by any other in Madrid for its famous patrons: King Juan Carlos, Bill Clinton and Penélope Cruz among them. This is the place of historical rendezvous,...

Housed in a former barracks, built in the 18th century for Philip V's guard by Pedro de Ribera, the magnificently restored Conde Duque is a multipurpose cultural centre. Around...

The Círculo de Bellas Artes occupies a superb building, designed by Antonio Palacios and completed in 1926. It is a key player in every aspect of the Madrid arts scene: as well...

The Carboneras nuns make a selection of speciality cakes and biscuits including mantecados, yemas and almond biscuits. As this is a closed convent you buy them through a grille.