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'...

A tiny, bright and friendly mother-and-son operation, Bodegas Ricla does a great line in garlicky boquerones and an incongruous one in soft rock. Cheap but good wine and sherry...

Still the classic Madrid bar, with its original battered brown leather seats, revolving doors and marbled walls. A nod to the modern age comes in the shape of the internet...

Madrid's original gay café is a sedate place where the lace curtains, 19th-century chandeliers and winding wooden staircase lend themselves nicely to a cosy destination for...

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...

A rough diamond, the diminutive Casa Camacho has changed little since it opened in 1928, except for the addition of a fruit machine and a TV - both in constant use. Pre-war...

One of the best sources of cocina casera, or home cooking, in Madrid, Casa Manolo has an endearing, homely atmosphere, enhanced by the black-and-white photo of the owner's...

Serving chocolate and churros (deep-fried batter sticks) to the city night and day since 1894, this veritable institution has had to introduce a ticketing system - pay before...

El Bierzo is one of the best of Madrid's long-established casas de comida - honest, dependable neighbourhood joints where you can get a good menú del día at a reasonable price....

Well-chosen stock from the likes of g-sus, Miss Sixty, Kangol and Black Flys, all presided over by über-hip and highly pierced, highly tattooed staff.

Still going strong after a century, this is the best place in the city for deep-fried lamb intestines and other tasty titbits. Not for faint stomachs, this offal institution...

For a real taste of Spanish guitar-making, drop by at this master guitar-maker's shop, which also has a great display of old and rare string instruments. Call first to avoid...

Having an affair? Then simply duck under the counter to find the most intimate bar-room you could wish for. Out front, meanwhile, this is a lovely old tiled taberna lined with...