Bona Ventura

Walking routes · Madrid

Food graze: Sol, La Latina and Lavapiés

A neighbourhood grazing walk: cod at Casa Labra, a warm napolitana, a calamari sandwich, a La Latina market, tortilla and croquettes, then down to Lavapiés for a market lunch and Madrid's oldest tavern.

Best time: Saturday 11:00-15:00 (markets open), or Sunday after the Rastro (markets closed, bars full)

The route, stop by stop

  1. 1
    Casa Labra

    Salt-cod soldadito and a vermouth; 15 min.

    Since 1860: battered salt-cod strips (soldaditos de pavía) and cod croquettes eaten standing at a wooden bar where the Spanish Socialist Party was founded in 1879.

  2. 2
    La Mallorquina

    Warm napolitana from the counter; 10 min.

    Pastry shop on Puerta del Sol since 1894: grab a warm napolitana (chocolate or custard) or an ensaimada from the ground-floor counter.

  3. 3
    Antigua Pastelería del Pozo

    Madrid's oldest bakery (1830); 10 min.

    Madrid's oldest pastry shop (1830), known for pastries made with Ibérico lard, roscón de Reyes and puff-pastry treats; neighbours queue here at Epiphany.

  4. 4
    Casa Revuelta

    Battered cod; 15 min.

    Serving bacalao (battered salt cod) since 1966 in a tiny bar south of Plaza Mayor; also torreznos and fried eggplant with honey.

  5. 5
    Mercado de la Cebada

    Neighbourhood market; 20 min.

    La Latina's everyday two-level market, known for fresh fish; a neighbourhood shopping stop right by the Sunday tapas streets.

  6. 6
    Taberna El Almendro 13

    Almendritos and a fino; 25 min.

    La Latina tapas bar known for almendritos (crackling rolls), roscas and sherry; the standing crowd on Sunday afternoons is mostly Madrileño.

  7. 7
    Casa Álvarez

    Cocido for about EUR 15 if hungry; 60 min.

    Family-style bar since 1920 on the Rastro's edge with one of the cheapest cocidos in Madrid (about EUR 15); neighbourhood regulars rather than tourists.

  8. 8
    Mercado de San Fernando

    Lavapiés market bars; 20 min.

    A 1940s Lavapiés market where neighbourhood stalls sit beside cheap bars and international food counters; weekend afternoons are a local social scene.

  9. 9
    Taberna de Antonio Sánchez

    Finish with a vermouth at the oldest tavern; 20 min.

    Considered Madrid's oldest tavern: zinc bar, bullfighting décor, oxtail stew and traditional tapas in Lavapiés.

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