Madrid - Food & Drink

Have your fill of dishes hailing from las Españas (the diverse provinces of Spain) and traditional Madrileño cuisine like spicy tripe and chorizo casserole. Great value three-course menú del Días that give you change from €10 are in abundance, though forking out on Spanish new wave cuisine will let you into what all the fuss is about.

Some of the oldest restaurants in Europe line the streets of Cuchilleros and Cava Baja. Order traditional Madrid stew cocido Madrileño (with chickpeas, meat and vegetables), or a hearty Castillian roast of suckling pig and lamb served the same way they have been for centuries. Close by, in this city of contrasts, the newer tapas joints of La Latina await.

Home to many of Madrid's most exclusive and expensive restaurants, Salamanca is also a hotbed of culinary creativity thanks to the top chefs that the high prices can attract. Just as much emphasis is placed on the décor and atmosphere, while wine lists can be unparalleled – from local vineyards comes, appropriately, Vinos de Madrid.

In fashionable Chueca, über trendy restaurants have opened alongside old Madrid favourites, leaving the hungry traveller spoilt for choice. Actor Javier Bardem has joined the party and opened a restaurant, La Bardemcilla, in the thick of Chueca.

Madrileños take their evening meals late, sometimes well after 9pm. Tapas bars serve food before this. Most restaurants close Sunday evenings; many close throughout August. Tipping is not required but is appreciated, particularly in upmarket restaurants where smart dress and reservations are advised.