Restaurant serving dishes from the País Vasco
(Basque) region of northern Spain.

Brilliant food, and that's why I am taken here by my hosts in Madrid who seek a change from the usual.
The most popular delicacies are patatas con bacalao, cocochas de merluza y centollo, zortziko de almejas, solomillo dantxari -al vapor, bacalao al pil-pil, con aceite de oliva virgen y pimiento, and tarta fina de manzana.

You could avoid these and try the more innovative dishes. I appreciated the excellent use of seasonal products and dishes such as 'pil pil' and their cod croquetas.

Ventura Rodríguez 8, 28008 Madrid
Tel: 915 423 524
www.dantxari.com

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Marisqueria in Madrid, best restaurant to eat fish. Not very stylish but really good food.

Tribunal

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This tiny and historic tiled bar in a sidestreet near Sol serves up sensational cod croquettes and battered fish pieces fresh from the fryer, as light and fluffy as deep-fried cloud.

Wash them down with glasses of house wine if you can get to the bar. A Madrid institution.

Calle Tetuán, 12
www.casalabra.es

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Part of me is loathe to share this tip - it's my restaurant. No trip to Madrid is complete without lunch here for this former Madrid resident.

A local neighbourhood restaurant, sandwiched between the traditional madrileno working class district of Lavapies and Plaza Santa Ana.

Don't be put off by the long menu translated into English and German as I initially was. If you arrive on a Monday or Thursday lunchtime the queues of Madrilenos, business men in suits to builders in boilersuits, waiting for their cocido and paella specials will convince you it's not a tourist trap.

The service is at times brusque. I ate here at least once a week for a year and only during my last week in Madrid did the waiters show me any familiarity - and I lived next door.

The food is simple but good. There are a selection of menus at various prices to suit any budget.

The atmosphere is pure Madrid. TV blaring in the corner, twice as many tables crammed in as should really fit and shouted conversations echoing off the tiled walls and wooden floor. You do not come here for a relaxing lunch. But all the same don't come here if you are pushed for time. You can be out the door in 40mins having eaten a 3 course meal or waiting for your dessert 2 hours later.

Try the pollo al ajillo. Or the grilled asparagus. or the fried aubergines. or just about anything!

Enjoy.

C/Amor de Dios
M. Anton Martin.

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If you're ever fortunate enough to visit the exciting city of Madrid during the hot summer months, you might welcome a bit of respite from museums, galleries and shopping. A great way to sample a slice of local life and cool off is to visit the Instalación Deportiva Municipal swimming complex in the endless Casa de Campo. For 3.8 euros or 2.15 euros for under 16s, you'll have the use of an Olympic sized pool, a smaller pool and a childs pool. There are plenty of shady areas for relaxing and a cafeteria on site and you won't hear an English word spoken! The El Lago Metro station stops right outside the entrance. Having worked up an appetite, you will find a great choice of restaurants just outside the complex under shady trees overlooking Lago lake.

Numancia, 128039Tel: 34 91 459 9871

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After a visit to the fabulous Palacio Real a rest and a drink might be needed and the ideal place for this is just a stroll across the road to the Cafe de Oriente situated in the beautiful Plaza Oriente next door to the Opera. In summer you can sit outside on the terrace, admire the view of the Palace and its gardens and watch the Madrilenos walk their dogs, collect their children from school or meet up with their friends at the next table. Despite being next to one of the main tourist attractions the cafe is mainly patronised by the locals and is a brilliant place to people watch especially during the opera season when it is fun to watch the fashionable Madrilenos meet for their pre-opera drinks. The elegant mirrored interior in the style of the Belle Epoque is inviting on a chilly winter evening and is the perfect place to enjoy a drink and a tapas before heading off to one of the many traditional restaurants in the area.

Cafe de Oriente
2 Plaza de Oriente; metro Opera
Open daily 8.30am-1.30am
Fri, Sat. 8.30am-2.30am

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Malasaña is a street and an area well known by all true 16-30 Madrileños. In the day time you can shop for some retro treasures in the two 'Popland' boutiques (one for bags, badges and tee-shirts, the other for sixties home decorations and posters). Then, well after dark, you can return and be part of the Madrid sub-culture night life. Go into some bars off Plaza Dos de Mayo and you'll think you've stepped onto the set of Austin Powers (without the irony!) There are all types of bars and clubs round here, but they all have one thing in common: the cool factor. The music is cool, the people dress cool, but most importantly, the attitude is cool, that is to say, laid back.

Malasaña district. Nearest tube: Tribunal.

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A small, yet wonderful, restaurant with a great menu, good wine list and reasonable prices - all in a friendly and modern setting.

Calle Espronceda, 14
Telephone 914 422 244

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This is a very very smart and very very expensive restaurant. The chef Sergi Arola is a disciple of Ferran Adria (of El Bulli fame).
The restaurant is a pure white space like an art gallery (altho' it is funny to leave temporarily to go to the loos which are in the actual hotel and are all ostentatious ruching and brass signs.)
Food is served either a la carte or in degustacion menus of up to 12 (or maybe more) courses- €125!!!

The food is aspiring to be techno gastronomy. Not sure that all the dishes worked, but the theatre with which they were served was fab.
It's not an every day restaurant, but it feels pretty special.

Altho' alot of customers seemed to be anglophone the waiters did struggle a little as some ingredients were unusual and neither their English, nor our Spanish could fully cope. So if you have a Spanish gourmet dictionary that might be useful.

La Broche
Hotel Miguel Angel
Miguel Angel, 29-31
28010 Madrid
Tel: 00 34 91 399 37 78

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Just the comfortable, moderately-priced
restaurant one needs in Madrid to restore energies after exhausting sightseeing. A three minute walk from the Prado and Thyssen-Bornemisza museums, half way up narrow street leading from Paseo del Prado to
Plaza Sta Anna and the old town.

Dining room is cool minimal Scandinavian and there's a comfortable bar to relax in downstairs.
Food is excellent: fresh ingredients, cooked with unusual flair, generous portions. Service friendly, attentive, English-speaking.
Good lunchttime set menus. 80 different vodkas.

Calle del Prado 15
Tel: 91 429 3659

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Cheap and good value. Every restaurant has one. On our last day, the Opera restaurant charged us 22 euros for an excellent three course meal, with a bottle of wine, water and coffee, with tax and service included.

Opera Cafe and Restaurant, Plaza de Isabella II

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Try the cocido madrileno, only cooked at lunchtime and very busy at the weekends. You will have to take a long walk afterwards and maybe not eat anything more for 24hrs!

C/Bola 5 tel 915 476. Metro santo domingo

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