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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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....

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...